Charity provides abandoned children with family structure

A nonprofit, charitable organization in Putian, Fujian province, provides care to children who cannot live with their biological families.

The Putian SOS Children's Village, at which single women take care of healthy orphaned and abandoned children, has SOS "families" living in a village structure to support one another and so children can learn to participate actively in community life.

China introduced the family-based care model from SOS Children's Village International, a non-governmental organization that was founded in Austria in 1984. There are 10 SOS Children's villages on the Chinese mainland, and the Putian village, established in 2000, is the seventh.

There are now 15 family groups in the Putian village. Each family has a caregiver and eight children. Since 2000, 226 children who grew up in the village have attended universities and many have found work and married.

Zeng Suqiong, director of the village, said the village provides children with access to non-formal education through group activities and play. Access to counseling and therapeutic treatment is also ensured.

Zeng said all the caregivers, also known as SOS mothers and who play an important role in the children's lives, are professionally trained.

Zheng Feiyun, 34, who has worked as an SOS mother for the past three years, said she is kept very busy caring for eight children.

But it is worth it, she said, when the older children learn to help with housework and the children score highly on school tests.

"It's important to be patient to create a nurturing home and you will feel you really are a mother as the children give their love to you," Zheng said.

Liu Huawen, deputy director of the Center for Human Rights Studies at the China Academy of Social Sciences, said the SOS Children's Village model is a good example of protecting the interests of children as it does not simply provide financial aid to needy children but highlights children's rights to development.