Restrained childhood (3)

11 year old Xiao Shengli lives in a small village of Suichuan, Jiangxi province. Due to cerebral palsy, Shengli has to be limited to a one square meter round table, as he can’t control his body. The disease prevents him from walking, standing, or even speaking. After Shengli was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, his already-poor family took all it and sent him to get treatment at the town’s hospital. Due budget constraints and poor local medical resources, Shengli was brought home.

Shengli’s father can’t go out to work because Shengli and his grandma need care. The family’s annual income is only 4000 yuan. Shengli needs his mother’s help when he wants to drink water or relieve himself. His 8-year-old sister takes on lots of responsibility, including boiling water and bathing her brother. The whole family spares no effort in caring for a boy that may never give anything in return.

Although the rural population of those living under the poverty line in Jiangxi has decreased by 1.1 million from 2011 to 2014, there remains 3.2 million people still living under the poverty line.