Homeless people wait to use the facilities at the Renewal Center, a private-run base in Shanghai. The center opens twice a week. [China Daily] |
Ma said he has twice been taken to centers run by the local authorities in Shanghai, including once during the Beijing Games last summer when he was found "affecting the city's appearance" by police sleeping rough at Zhongshan Park subway station.
Requests by China Daily to visit a State-run center in Shanghai were declined by the municipal civil affairs bureau.
However, Du Derong, a security guard at a large municipal center in Fucun Road, Putuo district, said the facility usually housed around 70 guests. Feng Zhiqiang, a 34-year-old employee of a factory beside the center, also told China Daily he saw around 20 people arrive there each day, some in police vans.
During a campaign in December 2007 to persuade homeless people and beggars in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, to use the city's State-run help centers, social workers approached 15 vagrants and only three agreed to go, said a report on the Ministry of Civil Affairs website.
In contrast to the problems surrounding State-run facilities, experts have hailed the Renewal Center in Shanghai and called for China to help speed up the creation of more non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aimed at helping the homeless.
"There are homeless people and beggars in every country where there is a wealth gap," said Hong Dayong, a professor in social studies at the Renmin University of China in Beijing. "But as we have learned from Western countries, NGOs play the most active role in helping them."
The Renewal Center, which is still in the process of applying to become an NGO, posts job advertisements and holds money management courses for guests.
"These are the kind of services they need to restore the confidence to live a normal, independent life. They do not just need money and a place to sleep," added Lu Hanlong, a professor with Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
The Chinese government has given great support to NGO over the last decade and, last year, drew draft legistlation on charity law, which encourages the establishment and good management of NGOs.
However, NGOs are still far from well developed in China, and Tian Ying of the Shanghai Youth Community said she is not aware of any NGOs focusing on helping the homeless population.
"The central government plays a leading role in helping the programs of NGOs, but, at the moment, most concentrate on children, education and environmental protection," added Zhang Ning, founder of the Charyou Organization, an NGO that promotes charity activities. In the past two and a half years, the 15 staff at the Sunshine Social Workers, an NGO based in the Pudong area, have persuaded more than 3,400 homeless people and beggars to use the district aid center, accounting for 60 percent of the center's guests during that period, Xinhua News Agency reported.
"This shows why more NGOs should be encouraged to run the help centers. Social workers are seen to provide much more humane and professional services," said Yang Tuan, deputy director of the social policy research center at the China Academy of Social Sciences.
There were nearly 400,000 social groups, non-profit enterprises and foundations registered as NGOs in China by the end of last year and at least 3 million more unlicensed grassroots schemes, according to china.com.cn, a government-sponsored website.
The strict rules governing the NGO registration process are to blame for the small number of NGOs and high number of unlicensed groups, said Pan Lijin, a volunteer at the Smiling Library, a Shanghai-based, non-profit enterprise that has been donating books to schools in poor regions for five years.
Under the rules governing social organizations, to register an NGO in China, an enterprise must have an office, registered capital of 100,000 yuan and at least two full-time staff. A local government department must also take responsibility for its operations.
"This last one is the most difficult aspect and makes many grassroots groups hesitate in applying for registration," said Pan. "Most government departments simply don't want to take the responsibility. Also, a license just means the organization is legally qualified to collect money, but we still pay tax on donations."
Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said the strict regulations are due to concerns over NGOs being engaged in activities that may affect national security.
"But after 30 years of development, China needs to be more open minded. We should establish laws to manage NGOs and block them from using operations and capital in certain areas," he said.
While charity and non-profit groups continue to struggle with red tape, the homeless can only continue their daily struggle to stay alive. For Ma Long, the battle has already been won, but for millions like him the light at the end of the tunnel still seems a long way off.