Disabled workers find opportunity at grape farm

The Star Online

5th July 2020

Disabled workers find opportunity at grape farm

JIANGSU: As the weather became hot and wet in June, grapes began to bear fruit like green pearls at a plantation in Nantong, a coastal city in Jiangsu province.

Li Hanlin, 41, checked the grapes and removed redundant or ill ones to help the others mature better.

Though skilled in his job, Hanlin has a mild mental disability. His competence as a grape planter is due to tutoring from his able-bodied colleagues.

“My colleagues teach me when I meet difficulties, ” said Hanlin, who has worked at the plantation for six to seven years.

He is one of 32 disabled employees at the plantation, which the Qinglong Bridge community in Nantong established in 2012.

Disabled workers account for about 30% of the work force and each disabled employee is assigned one able-bodied colleague as tutor, said Li Mingsi, party secretary of the Qinglong Bridge community.

https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2020/07/05/disabled-workers-find-opportunity-at-grape-farm