The first Irish-funded rehabilitation facility for special needs Chinese orphans will be opened in Hunan province this morning.
The Irish ambassador, Mr Declan Connolly, will open the rehabilitation and educational unit in Changsha city.
Housed in a former boiler house on the grounds of a State orphan welfare institution, the unit has been renovated by International Orphan Aid Ireland (IOAI), under its Aisling Project, at a cost of €50,000. Ms Sally Keavney, managing director of IOAI, said the unit would offer occupational therapy, physiotherapy, counselling, medical and nursing care, as well as education facilities such as computers and a library, to orphaned and abandoned special needs children aged three to 17. Though the institution accommodates up to 400 children, the new unit will be able to cater to the needs of up to 60.
"They have problems like cerebral palsy, mental handicap. Some are blind or have been badly burned," said Ms Keavney. "This is the first child welfare project totally paid for by an Irish organisation in China."
Several members of IOAI have travelled to China for this morning's opening ceremony, as well as two doctors - Dr Brian Denham and Dr Catherine Chan Mullan - to assess a number of the children for medical treatment in China. Dr Mullan, though she has lived in Ireland for several years, is from Changsha. The local provincial government will pay for the running of the centre.
