JIA - Work Camp Coordination Center

JIA, established in August 2004, is an international NGO based in China that coordinates work camps in Chinese villages affected by Hansen's Disease (leprosy). There are more than 600 of these isolated villages left over from the 1950s and 60s when the Chinese government relocated victims to remote mountain areas. Even though multi-drug therapy became available in the 1980s and cured many of the villagers, they still cannot leave due to continued discrimination. During a JIA work camp, about 30 Chinese university students and foreign volunteers stay together in a village for 7-10 days to fix houses, build toilets, set-up a water supply, teach, and help the disabled villagers in their daily lives. Work camps are currently held in February, May, July, August, and October throughout Yunnan, Guanxi, and Guangdong provinces. We have had volunteers from all over the world, including Korea, Germany, Japan, the U.S., U.K., Vietnam, Guatemala, Australia, France, Indonesia, Italy, Brazil, Turkey, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Note: All our work camps are held in villages where the victims are already cured.