China News Service, Beijing, September 13. Title: "Magic Bean" grows into a big tree to promote more women in distress from "rescue" to "empowerment"
Reporter Zhang Su
"In the past 20 years, 'Magic Bean' has grown from a touching inspirational story to a towering tree that illuminates millions of women in distress." Bei Xiaochao, chairman of the Red Cross Foundation of China, said at an event recently.
In 2006, the "Modou Love Project" was launched to provide e-commerce entrepreneurship training, financial support and entrepreneurial assistance to mothers in difficult circumstances.
It is reported that in the past 20 years, the project has helped nearly 30,000 women regain their confidence in life and achieve independent income increase through e-commerce skills training, handicraft empowerment and employment matching.
"Helping a mother is helping a family, or even a village." Some comments said that "Magic Bean Moms" always use their mother's great love to pass on their love to more people around them.
Empowerment to reshape life trajectory
Guo Yuanyuan, who was born with spinal cord hypoplasia and was paralyzed in the lower body and had been "trapped" at home for 30 years, came to the stage to share her experience during this event. After joining the "Magic Bean Mom Project", she received systematic crochet skills training, and her works were exhibited in Paris, New York and other places.
"This little 'magic bean' helped me improve my skills, help me have a career that I can stand on, and helped me step out of the shadows." Guo Yuanyuan said.
Liu Dongmei from Pingquan, Hebei, is a congenital physically disabled person who founded the Employment Service Center for Disabled Persons. With the support of the "Magic Bean Mom Project", she and key members received professional training and then returned to their hometown to pass on their skills, driving local disabled sisters to work and become rich.
"The qualification rate of the sisters' finished products has increased from uneven to 90%, and each of them has only earned two yuan (RMB, the same below) a day to now earning seventy or eighty yuan a day." Liu Dongmei said, "'Magic Bean Mother' is like a beam of light, shining into our originally gloomy life, turning us into little shining stars."
Build a sustainable development ecosystem
Commissioned by the Red Cross Society of China, in 2017, the officially renamed "Magic Bean Mom Project" was implemented by the Red Cross Foundation of China.
Liao Ling, director of the Disaster Relief and Development Department of the Red Cross Foundation of China, said that from the initial training to supporting the e-commerce entrepreneurship of "Modou Mama" to exploring the county economic assistance model, "the project model has been changing."
According to Tang Zhanxin, the leader of the "Modou Mom Project", the project is not a charity, but an empowerment. She said that many sisters are self-reliant. “Being able to work, worry, and be as tired as a laborer is also a blessing.”
Xia Hong, another "Magic Bean Mom" representative, also said that when she used her feet to demonstrate her skills by cutting paper as a representative of the disabled, she discovered that "it turns out that I can not only accept help from others, but also rely on my own abilities to create value."
"Rescue is very important, but if we want long-term changes in her life, we must help her gain the ability to continue to develop so that one day she can go on her own and even have the energy to help others," Liao Ling said.
to the "next 20 years"
From September 10th to 13th, the "Magic Bean Blooms·Beautiful Walking Together - 20th Anniversary of Magic Bean Mama·Employment Empowerment Plan for Women in Distress in the Digital Intelligence Era" charity fair was held in Beijing.
The public welfare market focuses on the exhibition and sale of wool weaving, handmade cultural and creative works made by "Modou Mama", and also sets up multiple interactive check-in points. In the interactive experience area, many citizens tried the intangible cultural heritage paper-cutting, knitting small objects, filigree enamel and other contents in the "Magic Bean Mother" training course.
A young mother who came to the market with her children said that she wanted her children to know that "women can be soft and strong."
Many participants also wrote down words of encouragement for women in distress and put them into the on-site "message box". These letters will be sent to the "Magic Bean Mothers" who are receiving assistance. "I hope they know that someone is silently cheering them on," said a volunteer.
After visiting the market, Bei Xiaochao said: "I hope more people will see the talent and perseverance of women in distress, so that every effort to strive for self-improvement can be seen, respected and cherished."
Facing the "next 20 years", the "Magic Bean Mom" project will continue to deepen its interaction with all walks of life, focusing on the growth needs of women with disabilities and difficulties, improving the empowerment system, broadening income-increasing channels, and allowing goodwill to continue.
