Sponsor's update from Nanchang, China
SOS Children in China
China, as well as being the world's most populous country, has a continuous culture stretching back nearly 4,000 years. Many of the elements that make up the foundation of the modern world originated in China: these elements include paper, gunpowder, credit banking, the compass and paper money. Post-World War II the country stagnated under the rigid authoritarianism of early Communist rule, but it has emerged in recent years as one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
However, while the booming economy has lifted millions out of poverty, the mass migration from rural areas to the cities has seen children in poor rural areas living in desperate conditions. The influx of families to the cities has also caused an increase in street children; child trafficking is also a big issue in China. UNICEF estimates China has approximately 17 million orphans; this is five per cent of all children in China. Water pollution is a critical issue because industrialisation has polluted vital water sources; fewer than 10% of rural schools have safe drinking water or adequate sanitation. There are also a high number of abandoned children, mainly young girls, because of China’s one-child policy.
SOS Children's Villages provides orphaned children in China with a new mother, a family and a home where they can stay until they are ready for independent life (each family house can give a home to up to 12 children). The charity began its work in the country in 1986. It currently cares for more than 1,000 children at its ten purpose-built Children's Villages, and a further 292 teenagers at its nine SOS Youth Homes, where young adults live while they complete their college studies or vocational training, and where they are taught the life skills needed for independent living.
SOS Children also runs SOS Schools, Vocational Training Centres and Family Strengthening Programmes (FSPs). FSPs aim to prevent child abandonment and to keep vulnerable families together by providing childcare, counselling, vocational training and medical support. In total, through all of its Villages, Schools, Training Centres and FSPs the charity is providing support to over 8,200 people in China.
SOS Children Tianjin (also known as Tientsin) opened in 1987 and was the charity’s first Chinese children’s village. Located approximately 60 miles south-east of Beijing, the SOS Children’s Village is on the outskirts of Tianjin, in Hedong, and has 16 family houses for 160 children and an SOS Youth Home for older children. It also has an SOS Nursery School for 50 little children from the Village and the neighbourhood. Children from the Tianjin Village attend local schools, and there are excellent medical facilities nearby. The charity also runs an SOS FSP in Tianjin, which supports 300 vulnerable families in the community. SOS Children’s Village Yantai is in the eastern province of Shandong. Yantai is an attractive and relatively prosperous coastal town, and the SOS Children's Village with its 16 family houses, two SOS Youth Homes and SOS Nursery School is in the district of Fushan. The SOS Secondary School in Yantai is the largest SOS school in the world, with over 3,400 pupils. The school is ranked among the best schools in the country, and scholarships are awarded to the poorest children. Over 150 families in Yantai also benefit from the SOS FSP.
SOS Children Qiqihar opened in 1992. The industrial town of Qiqihar is in Manchuria, in the province of Heilongjiang, northern China. It is an important economic and cultural centre with a population of around 5.5 million. The Children’s Village is on the River Nen in the western part of the town, an area with a well-developed infrastructure with plenty of schools, hospitals and other public services. As well as the 15 family houses which are home to 120 children, it has a sports area, an SOS Youth Home and an SOS Nursery School. An SOS Vocational Training Centre was opened in 1996 and it offers courses in computer science, office skills, tailoring and industrial arts to around 500 young people, with dormitory facilities for 250.
SOS Children Chengdu is on the outskirts of Chengdu in Sichuan Province in south-central China and was built in 1997. The Village has 15 family houses, an SOS Youth Home and SOS Nursery School, as well as a training centre for SOS mothers and staff. SOS Chengdu also supported the emergency relief programme in Sichuan in May 2008, following the devastating earthquake. The charity set up a temporary tent school in Mianzhu to ensure that local children continued to receive an education.
SOS Children’s Village Nanchang is in the south-eastern province of Jiangxi. Nanchang is the largest city in the province. The Village is just north of the city, near the Nanchang Forest Park, an extensive nature reserve. It has 12 family houses. The SOS children attend the nearby Nanchang Forest Park School.
SOS Children Kaifeng is in Henan province and is situated in one of the main residential areas of Kaifeng. The village has 14 family houses, an SOS Youth Home and SOS Nursery School, and the children attend local schools. A nearby hospital provides for all medical needs.
SOS Children Urumqi is on the outskirts of the city of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Autonomous Region in north-western China. This region is situated in the very heart of Asia; Urumqi is the farthest city in the world from the sea (about 2,000 miles). As well as the 14 family houses, the charity's village has an SOS Nursery School for 120 children. The older children attend local schools.
The SOS Children’s Village in Putian is in south-eastern China in the province of Fujian, an area with much poverty. The charity's Village is situated in a residential area just outside the city centre on a site provided by the local authorities. It is surrounded by lychee groves and a river runs nearby. It has 15 family houses built in the local style, and a community centre as well as an SOS Nursery School for 120 children. There are primary and secondary schools nearby, along with a military hospital.
SOS Children Lhasa is in the capital city of Tibet. The village, with 17 family houses, an SOS Youth Home and an SOS Nursery School, was opened by the charity in 2000. Before then, there was virtually no provision for the many orphaned children in the city and surrounding areas.SOS Children’s Village Beijing, our tenth Village, opened in 2009. The community has 15 family houses, an SOS Nursery School and an SOS Vocational Training Centre.
How you can help
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The traffic is steady between the kitchen and the living room and there is a seemingly endless progression of bowls, pots and plates as all children big enough to carry a container without spilling its contents assist their SOS mother in setting the table. There are noodles, stir-fried vegetables, chicken soup and dumplings - today the family will enjoy a Chinese-style weekend feast. Every seat around the table is taken, with the SOS mother and her eight children, as well as 34-year-old Xia, who grew up in this house, who is back for a weekend visit.
The living room of house number 15 at SOS Children’s Village Tianjin is also more cramped than usual because there is a huge musical instrument, a marimba, standing tall in front of the sofa. It is very valuable to 19 year-old Fu Lin, a talented marimba player who will soon travel to Austria as he has been given a scholarship to study music there.
For Xia this house is still home and she likes to drop by every other weekend to visit her SOS mother, 60-year-old Manna. Sometimes Xia brings her 10-year-old son with her. Xia got married when she was 20 and moved out to live with her husband, and they have an apartment in downtown Tianjin. Xia works as a mechanical designer and produces print machines.
Lunch lingers on, but the spring sun shining through the window entices the children to find their jump ropes and balls and run outside. Their mother lets them go to play once they have taken their bowls to the kitchen.
On the staircase leading to the first floor where all the bedrooms are, a gallery of portraits shows the different "generations" of children who have lived in this house. A few pictures of "grandchildren" are there as well, as this mother has worked in the Village for more than 20 years. "I love my job and my children and it makes me proud to see all their pictures", she says.
Local contacts
SOS Children's Villages China
Beiheyan St
Yin Sha-Hutong 20#, Room 1101
Beijing- 100006 / China
Tel +86/10/65 234592, +86/10/65258997, +86/10/65259001, +86/10/85110145
Fax +86/10/65 259002
E-mail: soschina@public.bta.net.cn
www.soschina.org.cn
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