What colour is the sky of left-behind children?
In the morning of June 13, 2015, We head for in heavy rain Zhongxing primary school in the Songbai village Zhong county. As the school is located in the mountain of Three Gorges area, the way is rough and narrow. It is the 4th time for Zenker’s volunteers to this school. Zhongxing primary school is a civilian-run village primary school where most of the students is the poorest children in the rural areas.
At the turn of this century, the state-run primary schools in the village were merged into ones in the town. Children in Songbai village had to walk to school more than ten miles away, but in fact it’s hardly possible for them to walk to school. In the meantime, the poorest family can’t afford the monthly accommodation and expenses of school. Hence, in 2003, Principal Han used ten thousands of money earned in Guangdong province through hard work to establish this civilian-run primary school. Because of poverty, many students didn’t pay the low school expenses well. The school ‘s income can’t cover the outlay. And even the wages can’t pay until half a year later and the school couldn’t run normally. Once the teaching in the school had to stop running for a long time. Principal Han had to raise money everywhere, and even did his former job as a”cook”making money to pay the debt.
With the increasing social concern, there are more and more kindhearted people to support the school. To compare with the first time we came in 2012, the situation had already changed a lot. there are four young volunteers teaching in the school this year. They danced The Sky of The Left-behind Children, which arranged by a female volunteer from Sina ,a well-known network media, in Beijing. The dance was just a little sad that touched the audience a lot.
We mignt not know the sorrow in the childhood, but too much one in the eyes of left-behind children has been seen. To compare with the peers in the city, children here are generally shorter than them. However, they needs more spiritual concerns than having materials and nurture. Many children have single parent who worked in remote place and came back once in a year in Spring Festival. Xueyan, for instance, and her sister live together with their almost 70-year-old grandparents and need to walk across a mountain and get through a forest to his school everyday. Huanhuan and her sisters are farther away from school. The way from her house to the road is steep and slippery, even not be a pathway. When volunteers visited her home, they fell down. But Huanhuan and her sisters should get up at 5:00am to go down the mountain for school. She, 12 years old,full of calluses in her hands,takes 7-year-old young brother and 6-year-old sister to go to shool which makes her seem to be the head of the family. However, they are strong to live, like the seedlings between stones, and learn to face all the things optimistically. But they suffer too much in their young minds.
Xueyan and her familiy
Huanhuan and her familiy
On the way of home visiting, the kids were singing and laughing all thetime, because there almost were no visitors at ordinary time. At that time,there were sincere happiness and longing for love in their eyes. Although it rained in the mountain, it must be blue in the sky of their heart.
The primary schools in China has been divided into four categories:the first is primary schools in city, the second in town, the third complete ones in countryside and the forth in countryside. As once upon a time,educational resources are excessively centralized in cities and towns,the third and fourth kind of primary schools need the most supports. As long as the farmers have money, they will bring their children to the first or second kind of primary schools. And the poor farmers will left the children go to located schools. Xueyan’s house mentioned before is located in the hollow. The four or five buildings, much newer than their house , has nobody to live. Their owners have moved into the town and only her family lives here nearby, xueyan said.
Xueyan’s family
There is also a civilian-run primary school in Wanghe countryside, Tuxi town, Quxian county, Sichuan province where we have been and the children’s living and health are also bad. And even there are lots of poor left-behind children in Sibao primary school and Shaping school in Yongchuan district near to Chongqing. However it almost becomes a common character that the district is poorer, the education institution is more bureaucratic. According to current education system, the primary school in countryside is managed by centralized school in town that is managed by educational institute in town. At the beginning of June this year, the Director in one town of Yongchuan district told us: the children here are rich and don’t have anything. But this situation is opposite. As supporting these poor children, it is useless to the officer’s future. And the current system have strict safety assessment quota for principals and other officials , but no quota of students care which can only rely on self-control in the its moral level. On the way to student supports, we have been given cold shoulder many times..
Left-behind children phenomenon is a complex social question that can’t be well solved for a while. However, the concern for them can be given which needs pay and insistence for a long time and depends on public charity awareness. The sky lack of love, like the heavy smog in the sky, is gray; as where filled by love is a home, the sky with love will clear up. Traditional one- to- one support cannot be spiritually sustainable. As we know, 99% kindhearted people has their own family and work and haven’t enough time to visit these children. And once children didn’t seen their parents in three consecutive months, they will feel deep lost and become upset. Then, they need concern and encouragement from friends.
It is said that China is now nearly 300 million middle class, while the poor left behind children nearly 20 million. This is the ratio of 15: 1, if we implement the public service crowd-sourcing model, 10 compassion public figures to form a group of friends and relatives,docking a poor left behind children, in the year of ten months (except the beginning and end of the year) there is a Representative visiting her school and caring about her every month, their growing skies will be colorful.
Maker for Chinese economy,
Zenker for Chinese children.
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