Help a village care for its left-behind children

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Zhou Dan has worked with Half the Sky/OneSky in one capacity or another for more than a dozen years, but she’s now embarked on her most important assignment ever. As Senior Program Officer for Half the Sky/OneSky’s sister organization, Chunhui Children, she heads the team implementing our pilot projects in four remote villages in central China, with ten more joining soon, then 20 more – a project that has the potential to have massive impact on Chinese society. 

If successful, the pilot project can be replicated in 680 Chinese government-designated poverty counties nationwide to transform the lives and futures of 23 million infants and young children left behind in rural villages while their parents work “outside” to support the family. “It’s a pressing social issue that everyone in China is aware of,” says Zhou Dan. A 46-year-old Chenzhou native and mother of one son, Zhou Dan is herself well aware of the enormity of the task ahead, but after so many rich years at Half the Sky/OneSky, she feels honored to be entrusted with such a vital role. 

She met us in 2002, when we came to open our programs in Chenzhou, Hunan, where she led the children’s department. Her first impression of Jenny and the team was overwhelmingly positive. “They were so kind to the children! And so serious about their work! I was thrilled to learn the many fresh and advanced concepts they brought. From the start, I worked to convince the others who did not understand that every concept was based on scientific principles.”

Once she witnessed the power of positive change in action, Zhou Dan longed to join Half the Sky/OneSky. In 2004, she became a part-time field trainer, getting increasingly excited and enthused as she saw how babies and children blossomed with care and love. Two years later, the institution reluctantly allowed Zhou Dan to join Half the Sky/OneSky full time and she’s never looked back. 

Zhou Dan believes her background in institution management on both sides – for the government and then overseeing programs in 12 orphanages – has given her insight into how China’s local authorities work and think. But she’s rapidly discovering that working in villages is not quite the same as working in orphanages.

Since the pilot launched in April, Zhou Dan often finds her ideas being tested by villagers with strong child-rearing opinions. In fact, the novelty of the project seems to have awakened even the most disinterested adults. Suddenly all sorts of strong views regarding children’s care and education are being voiced, views that Zhou Dan makes sure she takes into account.

Zhou Dan says her greatest challenge is limited education that results in a lack of basic understanding of child development and nurturing. Even the local government, which supports the project with great enthusiasm, has the misperception that the approach will be a quick fix. “They don’t see that nurturing children takes time and trust: they want to see instant effects.”

But thanks to lots of patient conversations, local authorities are gradually coming to understand the theories behind the programs, so Zhou Dan is cautiously optimistic. “Slowly they are beginning to realize the benefits of nurturing care and early education and learning how it benefits generation after generation. Now they feel proud." 

Work in the family centers and preschools is backed up by home visits and so far the feedback is good. But ever the realist, Zhou Dan admits there’s a certain amount of blind faith involved, because many caregivers don’t yet totally understand what is to them a completely new approach. Still they are willing to try, and their efforts are already reaping results. "The children are making real progress, which helps to convince the doubters. “They know we are on the right track,” she says. 

As the children continue to make progress, Zhou Dan knows that her job educating communities will get easier. And she has no doubt that the children will continue to make progress because she's seen orphaned children blossom over and over. “Children are the same everywhere, with the same needs,” she says. “For this project, there are twists and turns, but I can see the road ahead.”