Name: Hayley Felten
From : Crawley, West Sussex
Living in: Beijing

“China is my home.  My heart is here.  I feel that I can make a difference here, not on a grand scale, but rather in one-to-one relationships with those suffering from the emotional pain of abuse, neglect and trauma.”

Hayley Felten is another Briton who grew up convinced that China was the place she should be. Aged six, she dreamt about China, without knowing precisely where it was, but the influence remained and she later became penpals with a teenager in Beijing.

Hayley studied English Literature at the University of London, then learned Mandarin before coming out to China, firstly to Hong Kong. Here she spent five years as a volunteer with ‘St Stephen’s Society’, helping local gangsters detox from heroin and rehabilitate their lives. Having no experience or training for this tough environment, the first months proved very difficult. Speaking no Cantonese, Hayley learned the language while working with recovering addicts, but with little free time, no privacy, or money, a monotonous diet plus the loneliness anyone would experience at leaving behind all that is familiar she initially struggled. 

Gradually, she saw that her efforts improved the lives of those she was helping and this knowledge, that she made a difference, proved its own reward; her new skills eventually bringing her responsibility for the mens rehabilitation project.

While working in Hong Kong, Hayley met Erik, an American, whom she married in 1999, moving to Beijing soon after. They now have a daughter with another baby expected very shortly.

Her faith is supremely important, directing her unremitting involvement in helping the needy in a variety of practical ways.  She is now a very experienced, knowledgeable and vital backstop and is well known within the community for her commitment, humanity and humour.