ICARE’s projects operate in two broad areas:

(1) HEALTH AND HYGIENE PROJECTS and
(2) CARE FOR ORPHANS, DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY.
Projects in these categories, by necessity, have differing life cycles; thus, many projects have been started and completed to date. ICARE takes a holistic approach to help alleviate poverty. We seek not only to provide immediate relief to needy communities and persons, but also to provide a model of self-help so that projects will be ongoing, transferable and reproducible.

ICARE’s current projects include the following:

HEALTH AND HYGIENE PROJECTS
ICARE co-operates with the local government bureaus and hospitals to enhance the skills of the village doctors and nurses by educating them directly and by inviting them to work side-by-side with our international team doctors. This helps to increase the standards of care and understanding of patient health issues and solutions. We also work to alleviate poverty by helping, person-by-person, to eliminate health problems that contribute to systemic poverty, which, in turn, empowers families to allow their children to continue with their education instead of withdrawing from school to tend to the parents’ heath needs.

VILLAGE MEDICAL PROJECT
Our medical project serves poor and disadvantaged persons, particularly those residing in poor rural settings, and children in the orphanages and foster care homes. We do this by bringing teams of international and local medical professionals, and other support volunteers, to provide general and specialized medical consultations, dental care, general surgeries, eye surgeries and physiotherapy. We usually have two large medical teams each year, and smaller medical support projects throughout the year. Usually, each of our large medical teams consist of about 70 volunteers from twelve countries, plus local dialect translators, who provide loving care to over 2000 villagers (including over 60 general surgeries and 100 eye surgeries to restore sight).


VILLAGE HEALTH EDUCATION
ICARE provides patient and physician community health education in the poor villages. Our goal is to promote health care and hygiene, and to help villagers to better understand proper management of long term chronic health issues that are particularly problematic. We identify patients with long-term chronic illnesses and injuries that would otherwise create a medical and economic burden to their families, and we work together with the local village clinics to help the patients understand and manage their chronic illnesses within the means of their own culture and their own financial capabilities.


SPONSORSHIP OF MEDICAL AND SURGICAL NEEDS OF CHILDREN
We also arrange for and/or sponsor a higher level of medical care for children (and sometimes for needy adults), when necessary, in more regional or international specialized medical centers that are equipped to manage severe conditions.


DISASTER RELIEF
ICARE responds to help communities impacted by natural disasters in the Gansu Province, such as earthquakes, floods and mudslides. This includes direct medical care, food, clothing and blankets, and follow up care for those in need on a more long-term basis.



CARE FOR ORPHANS, DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY
ICARE serves disadvantaged persons in the Gansu Province, including children in the orphanages and foster care homes, families in poor rural areas, and destitute elderly. This helps to improve opportunities available to them for a more meaningful and productive life, such as improved education opportunities, life skills training and health interventions.

ORPHANAGE WORK AND FOSTER CARE
ICARE cooperates directly with orphanages, and our staff regularly visits children in the orphanages, most of whom have severe physical disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, autism, etc.). We directly train the staff to care for children with disabilities, and monitor the children’s needs. We also provide equipment and supplies for the proper care of the children and supplement orphanage staff salaries to help compensate for the additional labour and effort required to implement our training. We also visit and help care for a foster family of five orphan children, to assess and provide for the medical, health and other needs of the family, and seek job training for the children to help prepare them to live independently.


DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN’S EDUCATION AND CAMPS
ICARE cooperates with poor and underserved village public schools and orphanages to provide educational support. This includes sponsoring education fees for vocational and higher education programs, and providing international teams and camps for cultural, moral, health and language education. This provides hope for a better future for these young orphan men and women who would otherwise be lost among the many unemployed in the competitive job market. This also allows us to identify severe needs of some children, such as nutrition, health and social problems, that we can then help to address.


SPECIAL NEEDS ORPHANS – EDUCATION AND THERAPY
ICARE co-operates with a local orphanage to run a free special needs education program inside of the orphanage facility. Many of these orphans cannot attend school due to their severe disabilities. This is very important as orphans with disabilities already have many challenges in life and having an educational background helps to empower them. This program not only give them the hope of learning but also the mental and social stimulation that is so important in their process of restoration. ICARE also has developed daily therapy care plans for the disabled orphans and trains the orphanage staff to carry out the care plans. We also provide equipment and supplies for the care of the children and supplement staff salaries to help compensate for the additional labour and effort required to implement our training.


DESTITUTE ELDERLY CARE
This project is designed help break the cycle of poverty and improve the independence and quality of life of the frail and vulnerable population of the single, destitute elderly. Throughout the year, we provide medical care, social interaction and food in the elderly homes, which helps to empower this at-risk population to live independently and as dignified as reasonably possible.


See Further Information on Why ICARE is Necessary are so necessary.