Child Protection China Project #13517

Orphans into loving foster families in China

by Care for Children

Project Report | Apr 1, 2022
Children of Shanghai - stories of transformation

By James Paul | Senior Grant Writer

Back in 2018 we embarked on a project to produce a documentary called Children of Shanghai about the transformation we had seen in some of the very first children placed into foster care in China. Our founders, Robert and Elizabeth Glover, travelled back to the original orphanage in Shanghai they worked in when setting up the family placement project.

Incredibly, we managed to trace five of the children, who are now adults, and visited them to see the difference growing up in a family made to their lives. The outcomes are incredible - and must be seen to be believed!

Filmed in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu and led by an experience UK-based producer, this project has become a moving hour-long documentary which charts the transformation of these children and their wonderful foster parents.

Now working in technology, finance, tourism, arts and sports, these young professionals reveal how they moved on from life in orphanages to achieve success and, in a series of touching reunions, their foster parents recall their battles to help them overcome prejudice and serious developmental difficulties.

One such child is 29-year-old Chaoxiang*. At the age of nine he was abandoned between a railway track and building site. Police took him to an orphanage where there was little hope of a good education. He was asked if he wanted to live in a family and, as he said yes, he was matched with a potential foster family who had been approved and he moved in soon after. Within a nurturing, supportive and loving family, he quickly excelled at school. He is now one of Shanghai’s most sought-after coders.

Although we only traced five of the children who were first moved into foster families, this story of transformation is synonymous with thousands of children who have been moved - with your support - out of institutional care and placed with loving foster families, since Care for Children started its work in China in 1998.

You can see the Children of Shanghai trailer here. Please contact us if you would like to watch the full documentary.

This pandemic reminds us all that children are far better off in safe, secure and loving family environments. Thank you for your support and staying connected to our work.

* Name changed to protect anonymity.

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Dec 9, 2021
Wen Wen's Story

By James Paul | Senior Grant Writer

Wen Wen’s story is a beautiful example of what can happen when a family’s compassion is supported with the scaffolding of a well-functioning foster-care system.

Wen Wen is now a healthy 18-year-old woman, with a clear sense of direction and purpose. But her life could have been very different if it wasn’t for a combination of compassion, good care planning, and loving support. She was abandoned when she was very young, and found by an elderly couple, ‘Grandpa and Grandma Hao’. Grandpa Hao contacted Taiyuan Social WeIfare Institute (SWI) for their advice, and when Grandpa and Grandma Hao shared with the staff at Taiyuan SWI that they were willing to care for Wen Wen, they were shown how they could become her foster parents. It was a successful placement, and Wen Wen enjoyed a healthy and stable early life with her ‘Grandpa and Grandma Hao’.

However, in 2016, it became clear that Grandpa and Grandma Hao’s old age was beginning to limit their ability to care for Wen Wen safely. The social workers communicated with them, and listened to everyone’s feelings and thoughts. After several meetings, and careful planning, Wen Wen moved to a new family during the summer vacation of her last year in middle school. Both of her new foster parents work in a school, and they lost their only child in an accident. Her social workers help her keep in regular contact with Grandpa and Grandma Hao.

Wen Wen did experience some difficulties in coping with academic tasks in her new school, but her family took good care of both her life and study. During the college entrance examinations, which are a particularly challenging time for students in China, her parents made extra efforts to support her. Social workers continued to make home visits to understand the needs of both Wen Wen and her foster parents, often helping to coordinate resources they needed. With the help of her parents and social workers, as well as through her own resilience, Wen Wen's academic performance improved, as did her interest in learning. WenWen has just finished taking her college entrance exam, and says she wants to major in history.

Wen Wen is just one example of thousands of children impacted by Care for Children's work. Please stay connected to our work as we strive to see children right across the world moved out of orphanages and into local, loving families.

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Aug 30, 2021
The importance of secure attachment

By Sun Yuan Jie | China Country Manager

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