When 55 year old Mr Chen visited Crossroads, he was in a desperate state. Diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, he had undergone intensive chemotherapy which left him very weak. Rather than enjoying extra care and comfort in his illness, moreover, he had been dealing with poverty and the breakdown of his marriage. He’d been sleeping on just a bedframe with no mattress, in a lonely, empty, small flat. When our staff met him at our site, he said, “I’m just waiting to die.”
It was our privilege to help him choose things that he needed for his home: furnishings to make his life easier. He also chose a radio, which he said will help with the long days alone and he added a washing machine, which will now save him a slow and painful 20 minute walk to/from the laundry each time he has to wash.
Mr Chen is a typical example of many of the local Hong Kong people we help, who are living close to the poverty line, often because of illness that prevents them earning an income. We are only too pleased to be able to walk with them in their vulnerability.
