Light at the end of the tunnel

Dongguan's first visually disabled social worker has set up a job-training and matchmaking service at his Home for the Blind. Huang Yuli reports in Dongguan, Guangdong province.

The apartment with an iron door on Changtou Lane in Nancheng district of Dongguan, Guangdong province, looks no different from the other red-tiled homes in this community, except for the sign next to the window saying "Home for the Blind". Ye Zhaoming and his Blue Sky and Care Organization launched the project earlier this year. They rent the apartment, and provide vocational training and matchmaking services to about 10,000 blind and visually impaired people in Dongguan.

On first meeting the 30-year-old, you wouldn't know he is blind. But when he takes your name card or reads a message on his cell phone, he has to put the phone or card very close to his right eye. He has a congenital cataract, and his sight is just 0.1 in the right eye and 0.01 in the left eye.

Ye became Dongguan's first visually impaired social worker in 2010. After serving one year in another district, he initiated his project for the blind after the city started a philanthropic venture fund for the first time, in which the civil bureau raises money from enterprises and foundations. Ye's project was one of the 28 successful bids, out of hundreds of applicants.