In China, people with mental disorders are disregarded in traditional society. Psychiatric conditions are not widely understood and the ill are treated with disrespect. Often the families of the challenged reach a point where they no longer can, or are willing, to take care of a mentally ill family member.
Providing a refuge is the privately-run Beijing Chaoyang District Mental Health Service Center. The institution offers a relaxing and nurturing community for mentally ill men and women, staffed by 40 nurses and three doctors to care for patients who have no where else to go.
While a calming environment is key, each week the center comes alive with the hustle and bustle of bread making.
With the desire to offer these men and women a chance to become involved in a project, and a profitable business, Natascha Prigge introduced Crazy Bake to the institution. Each week, the residents bake 60 loaves of bread and sell them to a regular influx of expatriates hungry for a taste of home.
“When we started to come to the hospital, I think they had nothing to do the whole day,” Prigge told NBC’s Nightly News. “There [were] no occupational programs, nothing that they could do.”
Jeff, a patient at the institution for nearly a decade, explained that many people think that they do nothing at the hospital, and that’s a waste of time. But with Crazy Bake, they know they are doing something beneficial, and it gives them a sense of purpose.
The opportunity extends past baked goods, too. Another set of patients work to package fixtures for a furnishings company. Both jobs provide an monetary supplement as well as a sense of accomplishment. The money earned from Crazy Bake and the packaging business provide the patients with some income, and the hospital with much needed operational funds.
Programs like Crazy Bake are just what China needs in the growing, yet discriminated-against population of mentally ill citizens. Bread isn’t the only thing rising with this opportunity. With the chance to earn business experience, and to feel pride and happiness from a day’s work, spirits are lifted as well.
Photos courtesy of Crazy Bake.