Making toys and rebuilding lives
Workshop helps people with disabilities move from charity-dependent roles to market-driven employment
On a late morning in May, the high-pitched whine of 3D printers filled a small workshop in Beijing's Chaoyang district.
Cao Qiuping, a former Paralympian who uses a wheelchair, had arrived early and was sorting piles of brightly colored plastic toys — stress-relief ribbons, Minecraft-style blocks and cartoon character figurines.
The souvenirs were destined for a Children's Day event in the nearby Sanlitun neighborhood.
The team's real goal was not just to make the children smile. They planned to give the toys away for free, while asking recipients to scan and join a WeChat group to become potential future customers for the workshop's other 3D-printed products.
For Cao and her two able-bodied partners, each free trinket is a small bet on a brighter future — one in which workers with disabilities compete in China's creativity market on the basis of their skill, not sympathy.
