At the request of her mother, Qiunian performs a dance with her hands clapping and the floor of their tiny apartment creaking. She then sings a song to finish her performance.

No one would think that the pretty little girl was not able to sit upright by herself when she was brought home by her foster parents from Shanghai Children's Home at the age of 17 months.

Qiunian was abandoned by her biological parents right after birth because she had a brain palsy and extremely thin legs. When she was 20 months old, she was still afraid of noise and unable to speak or pick up objects. The medical staff at Xinhua Hospital said the girl was handicapped in her legs, suffered from epilepsy and was mentally retarded.

"I felt lonely at home after being laid off so I though of taking care of a baby," said the foster mother, Chen Guiying. When the foster parents brought Qiunian home, they took care of her whole-heartedly.

Neighbours and relatives were unable to understand why the couple had decided to foster a handicapped child because it was a real challenge for a family with the foster mother laid off and a daughter in high school.

"From the day that we brought her home, we have held the conviction that she would lead a normal life, the same as other children if she was properly cared for and educated," said Chen.

Li Quzhong, the foster father, took Qiunian out every day to help her adjust to her new environment. "When others asked about her age, I had to lie to avoid embarrassment because she was as small as a newly-born infant," Li said.

When she reached her second birthday, her growth surprised the neighbours.

When Qiunian was fostered, she was too weak to walk. "Her legs were as thin as carrots and her hips as large as my palm," recalled Li. To make her stronger, the couple carefully prepared a nutritious diet and fed her with food rich in calcium and vitamins.

Above average

The foster parents refused to think of their child as being retarded. They spent half a year to help her practise walking and Qiunian was able to walk without help when she was about three years old.

They taught her to understand things around her in the words she could recognize. Her foster father made cards to help her memorize numbers and new words.

Qiunian is now studying in a kindergarten with normal children of her age and her performance is above average. But behind this is her foster mother's help which also involves more lessons after class.

"Once we took her home, we will foster her as long as she likes," said the parents.

Project to help

In Shanghai, about 400 handicapped children like Quinian, who are aged from two months to 16 years old and come from Shanghai Children's Home are enjoying normal family life with local foster families.

Of the children, 127 found homes in several villages in Nanhui Industrial Park. Others are scattered around the city's 17 districts and counties. And all of them are physically or mentally challenged to a certain degree.

Fostering the children was initiated in July 1997, when Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, the city's Charity Foundation and local major newspaper, Xinmin Evening News, jointly carried out a programme called, "Let disabled and orphaned children enjoy the warmth of family life."

Later, the Shanghai Foster Care Project was born, based on the aim set out as, "invested by the government, supported by society, foster families and unified guardianship."

The government provides all the living costs, medical costs and education fees for the children and also pays the foster families a subsidy of about 700 yuan (US$84) a month.

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