“The importance of providing love, care and human connection for Chinese communities facing racism”
Dumplings of Love: Connected, not Abandoned
During the Covid-19 lockdown, basic human contact was a lifeline for many elderly and vulnerable Chinese people that the Wai Yin Society supports. A few weeks ago marked the Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated annually, especially amongst the older members of the Chinese community. They were very excited, some of them waiting for our minibus in their housing complex car park. Others stood outside their own doorways, waving, excited to receive their dumpling and to wish us a “Happy Dragon Boat Festival”. We delivered over a hundred dumplings that day. It was a new way for us to celebrate using social distancing measures. I was so happy to see them all safe and well, especially Ms A, who is 100 years old! As soon as she saw me at the door, she called out, ‘Chan Kin Li’, which means ‘Manager Chan’ (my maiden name); she still had her good memory and eyesight! Sadly, one of our volunteers, Ms B, told me that her mother with dementia died recently during lockdown restrictions and she was unable to travel to North East England to visit her. Ms B said, “My mother was wondering why nobody visited her and so was feeling abandoned and rejected by me; she didn’t understand that we couldn’t travel long distances during lockdown. So she refused to eat and later died… If it was not for the lockdown, my mum could have lasted a bit longer.” Whether it was helping the older and most vulnerable people, including those with dementia, to continue their traditional cultural celebrations, or provide the human connection with those feeling lonely and isolated due to ‘shielding’, or providing comfort and love for those grieving the loss of loved ones during Covid-19 pandemic crisis, it was a privilege to be available to provide support and to be able to understand and meet them at their time of need. This community spirit of love and care deeply touched my heart, and the celebration of a meaningful tradition in Chinese history enabled us to share ‘dumplings of love’ at a time when love is needed most.
“This community spirit of love and care deeply touched my heart, and the celebration of a meaningful tradition in Chinese history enabled us to share ‘dumplings of love’ at a time when love is needed most.”
Safe from abuse
On the other hand, I have received a number of reports about Chinese people being victims of racist comments as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. One such case was Ms C, a Chinese single mother with young children, who experienced domestic violence and moved out of the family home into separate accommodation during the lockdown. In her new accommodation, she experienced hostility from residents, who called her ‘Covid Virus’ because she was Chinese. She became extremely anxious about the racist comments and attitude toward her and her children, so much so that she decided to move back to the family home and her ex-husband, despite him being the perpetrator of the domestic abuse that she was attempting to escape. Ms C had to choose between being a victim of domestic abuse or a victim of racial discrimination. In the end, Wai Yin Society was able to support her to move into new accommodation, where she and her young children are safe. Nobody should have to tolerate abuse and during the pandemic – which brought a double impact of abuse in both domestic violence and racism – it is even more vital to ensure safety and peace in every part of society.
“Nobody should have to tolerate abuse and during the pandemic… it is even more vital to ensure safety and peace in every part of society”
Resilience in jumping over hurdles
My experience tells me to never give up, and to keep running the race right until the end. Paradoxically, challenges, difficulties and rejections provided the additional fuel for my drive and motivation in ‘jumping over hurdles’, particularly when advocating on behalf of the vulnerable in the Chinese community. The statutory sector initially refused funding to Wai Yin based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, which did not identify the Chinese community as high priority. This ‘cold’ statistical data does not reflect the reality of the life of the Chinese community we know. They, alone, are insufficient without the deep understanding of the needs of the Chinese people that comes from the warmth of connection that Wai Yin has. One of our Wai Yin service users is a cancer patient, whose wife sadly died from cancer during the Covid-19 crisis, and needed bereavement support. Another service user, suffering with anxiety (worsened by the Covid-19 lockdown), was referred to statutory services, but even with an interpreter, she felt that it was not helping, as it lacked the personal ‘warmth’ that she would have received in a culturally deeper way through a Chinese-speaking counsellor. These examples show us how much we need our services to be ‘culturally competent’ to support the most vulnerable people in building resilience at this challenging time. Whether it is ‘dumplings of love’, protecting and providing safety from domestic and racial abuse, or building resilience in ‘jumping over hurdles’ to advocate for the most vulnerable, I am so thankful to each of my dedicated team members during this critical time. We must always remember how life-giving it is to provide the love, care and human connection – not abandonment – so that we can all share with one another the true ‘oxygen’ we all need during this Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
“We need our services to be ‘culturally competent’ to support the most vulnerable people in building resilience at this challenging time”
{Wai Yin Society is one of the largest BME community centres in the UK, providing a range of employment, education and community services for Chinese men and women and for other ethnic minority groups.}
The full No Going Back report can be found here: bit.ly/35ZmnPW
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Circle Steele
Chief Executive, WAI YIN |