Elinorrowlands

I have set up the first charity without bribes as part of the Student Union of Quzhou University, Zhejiang Province, China. The charity is a Student Volunteering Charity which trains university students to teach and care for abandoned, disabled and disadvantaged children in Quzhou. We have completely renovated the orphanage, we provide nappies, baby stuff and clothing for all the children and despite never handing over a bribe to the leaders of the orphanage and other children's projects we have always donated our time, love, care and necessities to the children first and foremost.

I feel connected to a child despite their disability. We have taught bedbound children who were forced to share a cot in cramped conditions with other children to walk, we have helped children's to be adopted parents with loving and connecting with their child before adopting them and most of all I love showing a child that there's a whole world out there outside their orphanage window.

I want to see the leaders of the orphanage realise that every single child deserves a chance of happiness, love and care despite their disability. Worldwide, I would like there to be more care and support for families who do not have the privileges to provide round the clock care for their disabled children. Desperate parents abandon their children because they can not provide the cost for care for their disabled children. Desperate parents believe that abandoning their child is the best thing because then the government will care for them. Sadly, this is not always the way.

I was born and brought up in Luxembourg where I have always been passionate about children's rights. I was sponsored to go to Boston as part of the Conference for Community Justice 2000 to meet other like minded teenagers who believe in justice for children in schools. At university I was vice president of the Volunteering society and while I was Features Editor of the university magazine I would write alot about the importance of human rights, volunteering and charity work. While I believe it is important to fundraise and donate money I also believe that for people who can not afford to donate money, there are other things they can do like donate some of their free time to a good cause. I spent a few years teaching at Quzhou University in China where I set up a Volunteering Charity with my university students. I held art exhibitions and appealed alot in newspapers and on the TV there about the importance of charity in the city. I left to the UK to study a Post grad diploma in art with the aim of returning to China soon after but I am now studying further to develop my interests in childcare, teaching and art therapy. During my free time I am continuing a second charity work supporting my graduated students who work in an artisan community. They create their own ethically sourced jewellery, materials and clothing pieces and I help them sell them abroad. I also make my own jewellery and clothing pieces using their ethically sourced pieces. I'm definitely a "do-er" and if I see something can be changed then I'm always up for that challenge.