Agape Family Life House (AFLH) aims to help orphans and the poor in a real and tangible way. Its main focus is to care for children with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as “brittle bones condition.” Its objective is to provide a safe and loving environment for the children who live here and give them the opportunity to thrive through education, discipleship, and loving care. AFLH strives to offer orphans with special needs a place to call home and family at their house in Langfang, China.

Open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5.30pm. (Chinese speaker contact: 186 3262 6404 or email Wang Laoshi at 876937404@qq.com / Chinese and English speaker contact: 159 3363 4994 or email Sara Zhou-Mun at sarazhouhs@gmail.com) Hebei Sheng, Langfang Shi, Kaifaqu (Development Zone), Hongrun Dao, Dongfang Huayuan (Oriental Garden), C14 | 河北省，廊坊市，开发区，鸿润道， 东方花园，C14号

Roundabout is a free service /social enterprise. Your donations are either forwarded to charities that are registered with Roundabout (48 in Beijing and many more throughout China) or sold to raise money to help those in need. (010 6040 8794 / English contact: 137 1877 7761 / Chinese contact:  137 1895 3814 / www.roundaboutchina.com) Roundabout Store, adjacent to Yosemite Villa Compound, Yuyang Road West, Houshyu, Shunyi District | 众爱慈善商店北京市顺义区后沙峪优山美地别墅西街榆阳路. Roundabout Community Center, N4-1-4, Shine Hills, No.9 Antai Dajie, Houshayu, Shunyi District | 云爱汇社区中心北京市顺义区安泰大街9号院祥云小

Beijing Gender Health Education Institute (BGHEI) was founded in 2002. It is a non-profit and non-governmental organization that focuses on issues of gender, sexuality, and sexual health. They spearhead multiple projects raising awareness around sexuality and sexual health. Volunteers can join their organization and help out with projects such as their China AIDS Walk and Queer Comrades, their non-profit LGBT webcast. (010 5229 3801 / bjghei@gmail.com)

The Bread of Life Bakery is a sister organization to Agape Family Life House (AFLH), which continues its mission by providing handicapped young adults with not only a job, but a promising future of independence through education, job readiness, and a family.  The bakery operates as a non-profit and is run by young adults with special needs who have grown up in orphanages in China.  All profits of the bakery are used to provide funds for surgery, wheelchairs, and other needs of orphans and handicapped children in China.  Monday-Saturday, 9am-5.30pm. (WeChat: breadoflifebakery / contact Danny Mun at 137 2262 2864 or bread.of.life.bakery@gmail.com / breadoflifebakery.org) Hebei Sheng, Langfang Shi, Kaifaqu (Development Zone), Hongrun Dao, Dongfang Huayuan (Oriental Garden), E9 | 河北省，廊坊市，开发区，鸿润道， 东方花园，E9号

Friends of Nature is one of China’s first environmental NGO pioneers. The company, founded in 1993, does a variety of activities that protect the environment as well as promote awareness of China’s most pressing environmental problems. Volunteers can contribute through various activities such as helping out with environmental education through camps, field trips, and awareness-raising campaigns. (010 6523 2040, 6203 6981 / office@fonchina.org / www.fon.org.cn) Room 406, Building C, Huazhan Guoji Gongyu, No. 12 Yumin Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Dew Drops Little Flower Dew Drops Little Flower (小水滴新生项目) provides specialized care to children born with complex medical conditions. Its Orphan Care Project is located at Beijing Jingdu Children’s Hospital where it has 20 beds and employs nurses to take care of children from orphanages around China. While in Beijing, Dew Drops provides these children with restorative care and life-saving surgeries, as well as individualized early education plans. Its Family Support Project provides poorer families who have children with medical conditions with a safe place to stay, access to treatment and medicine, training on post-operative care, and emotional support.

Visitors are welcome 9am-5pm. (For volunteering or charity queries, contact: 吴佳宁 137 1698 2343 for Chinese speakers and email visit@littleflowerprojects.org for English speakers. Visit www.dewdropslittleflower.org for more information)

The Migrant Children’s Foundation (MCF) is a non-profit organization whose sole aim is to enrich and develop the lives and education of migrant workers’ children in and around Beijing, China. MCF achieves this by providing a variety of resources from English-speaking teachers, Chinese university volunteers, and organizations such as the Royal Society of Chemistry, Institute of Physics, and the Beijing United Foundation and Hospital. Volunteering operation every Friday and Saturday 9am-12.30pm. Meeting points will be confirmed upon an interview with volunteers. (lorna@mcfchina.org / www.mcfchina.org) time of operation; Friday and Saturday morning 9.00- 12.30

Magic Hospital helps underprivileged children through fun. Its mission is to develop efficient activities and programs to restore the element of fun in struggling children’s lives. Aside from visiting orphanages and hospitals, volunteers’ tasks include organizing events and translating and/or editing documents. Magic Hospital is very understanding when it comes to commitment, so participants can choose to become core volunteers or occasional volunteers. (http://www.magichospital.org/)

Roots & Shoots is guided by Dr. Jane Goodall’s belief that young people, when informed and empowered, can change the world. The goal of Roots & Shoots is to develop compassionate leaders, primed to make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment. The first group in China was established in 1994 at Western Academy of Beijing(WAB). Roots & Shoots supports children and young people to learn and take action through voluntary groups organized in their school or university. Groups can start any time and will meet on a regular basis. To set up a group you need enthusiasm and at least one responsible adult leader/adviser and two student members. (010 6778 3115 / info@genyuya.org.cn  / www.genyuya.org.cn/en) Beijing office: Room 1309 Beijing City International School, 77 Baiziwan Nan Er Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100022. | 根与芽北京办公室  北京市朝阳区百子湾南二路77号乐成国际学校 (BCIS) ，1309室，100022 镇北区4号楼104

Photos courtesy of Agape Family Life House, Roundabout, The Bread of Life Bakery, Dew Drops Little Flower, Migrant Children’s Foundation, and Roots & Shoots

Rebirth after Childbirth

Labor and delivery is an amazing natural process that can also be a testing time for mothers, especially for those who experience postpartum depression (PPD). Very few people are ready to make themselves available to help mothers during these hardships. More often than not, those who help are those who also experienced difficulty in pregnancy, birth, or depression.

Alessia Chizzoniti and her husband Luigi moved to Beijing from their home country Italy seven years ago for work.  A few years later, the couple welcomed their first son. Though she had a healthy and happy pregnancy, Chizzoniti experienced a terrible delivery that was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Chizzoniti had an emergency Caesarean section, which resulted in psychological trauma. “It felt I was treated like a piece of meat.  But even after I was driven out of the surgery room, I wanted another child,” she said.

However, that feeling changed all of a sudden as she found herself crying every day in the hospital and not successfully breastfeeding her firstborn. The new mother felt that something was wrong, and that she needed help even though her baby was healthy and completely fine. At this testing time, only her husband was taking care of her. Soon after, Luigi soon realized that his wife had been experiencing PPD.

Chizzoniti decided to get breastfeeding help and mental health support. She found an Italy-based association named Innecesareo, an Italian word that means “unnecessary.” It focuses on informing women about the unnecessary procedures in pregnancy and birth and supports women who experience PPD. Currently, she volunteers for the organization, helping others when in Italy or online by collecting complaints and information for the website.

In Beijing, Chizzoniti joined playgroups where she started to realize that she was not the only mother who experienced a traumatizing delivery. That was when she started to meet some doulas, saying that she “felt passionate about becoming a doula” herself.

Doulas are experienced women who make sure that childbirth for mothers is a pleasant experience, and that the birth plan is honored. They also give advice to mothers about positioning and natural pain management, and also making the father part of the birthing process. Doulas also take care of the hospital paperwork.

Chizzoniti said that she had taken an online course by Childbirth International Training and Certification to become a doula and also as a special therapy to deal with her first traumatized childbirth. Along the way of studying the course, she got pregnant. This time she felt not only happiness but also a sense of rebirth.

The couple had a very clear birth plan and created a safe space for Chizzonti to have a vaginal birth after caesarean. “I had the rebirth I wished for, healing from my former birth experience,” she said. Her husband acted as her doula when birthing her second child. “Everything made sense to me after having that second birth. My second postpartum period was the opposite of my first,” revealing that she felt empowered by her newfound knowledge of being a doula herself.

The family went back to Italy three weeks after Chizzoniti gave birth to their second baby. Her breastfeeding was successful and baby wearing had given her free hands to run after her firstborn. The vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) gave the couple the confidence to have more kids, as they always wanted a big family.

Chizzoniti was elated to tell beijingkids she had finished the doula course just after her second delivery. That allowed her to attend births in Beijing and Italy, as well as to deliver postpartum assistance wherever she can. “Being a doula,” she said, “requires me to read the birthing mother during her intense moments. I know it’s painful for many mothers, but I believe being there to help them is the most beautiful part of helping with birth.”

The passion Chizzoniti has to help pregnant and postpartum mothers just radiated while she shared her experience. “Since I was a child, I had always wanted to help the people surrounding me.  It is my nature to be very empathetic,” said Chizzoniti, explaining that it is by becoming that someone for mothers who need emotional and psychological support that she provides a sense of rebirth in their most testing times.

Photos: Courtesy of Alessia Chizzoniti

Meet Other Beijing Community Pillars