Qi Wenying

Qi Wenying had multiple orthopedic surgeries due to polio and gave birth to a son and a daughter through the caesarean section successively.

"Disease deprives me of the ability to walk, but it cannot take away my right to pursue happiness," Qi said.

Qi lost her ability to walk because she contracted polio when she was two years old. However, she didn't give up. She repeatedly practiced standing on her atrophied feet.

When she was seven years old, Qi decided to go to school when she saw her other peers starting school, so her father made her a pair of small crutches.

"My performance was among the best in my class. Learning gave me confidence and made me forget the pain", Qi said. Relying on her own efforts, she was admitted to the Chinese Language department of Changsha University of Science and Technology.

In 2009, Qi graduated from her university and was admitted to graduate school where she fell in love with her husband. They married in 2012.

"Then, I got pregnant. Since my pelvis was not wide enough and I had too many surgeries, my doctor suggested I give up the baby. However, I wanted to be a mother," said Qi.

Qi gave birth to her son by caesarean section in 2012, and last year she risked giving birth to her daughter again.

"I believe that people who have and pursue their dreams will be rewarded," Qi said. She failed again and again to find a good job. In 2012, the Federation of Disabled Persons in Hunan Province introduced her to work at a local welfare enterprise.

"There is a Learning from Zhang Haidi Group in the company; I am the leader. We are allowed to do some public welfare undertakings during work time," said Qi.

The company launched the group in 2011 to encourage the disabled to take Zhang Haidi, a renowned disabled woman writer, as their role model, be self-reliant and be a useful person to society. The group now has a total of 141 members.

During the past seven years, the group members have visited some 1,000people with cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and autism, and left-behind children under the leadership of Qi.

One of the members said, "We plan and organize public welfare activities every month. I even take my children with me to those activities to let them grow in a loving atmosphere."

Qi's optimistic attitude to life has touched the hearts of many people.

(Source: Xinhua/Translated and edited by Women of China)

http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/people/everyday/1804/2552-1.htm

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