Sun Village
Sun Village is a home for children whose parents are in prison. It consists of a number of small colourful houses. In each of those live fourteen children between three months and eighteen years old with one care taker. Between te houses they grow fruit and crops for their own use.
Why is Sun Village not a regular state orphanage?
In China there is no law providing state care for children who still have parents. Traditionally relatives are expected to take care of a child untill the parents are released from prison. In many cases though, the relatives are not capable of doing this. Therefore many many children wind up living in the street, or having to live with abusive relatives.
Zhang Shuqin: founder and director of Sun Village
Zhang Shuqin studied at Northwest University. For thirteen years she worked as a medic in tremote areas, for twelve years she was editor of the newspaper of prison. Later as a officer in the army she got a high position in an jail. There prisoners often asked her to go check on their children. She used to do that and always was confronted with the poor living conditions of those children and the fact that there was no solution for their problem.
In 1995 she resigned from her work in the army and in the prison and used her own savings to found an NGO (Non Gouvernmental Organisation) for raising money to help solve this problem. This is how the home Sun Village was built, a home especially for the children of prisoners, outside Beijing. Meanwhile ther are four Sun Village homes, spread out through the country.
How do they take care f the children?
In each house on the Sun Village grounds live fourteen children and a caretaker together as a family. There are bedrooms, a living room and a bathroom.
The caretaker, called “loving brother”, or “loving sister” , helps them with everything in their daily life, like playing or making homework. They help increase the children’s independence and sense of responsability
Once or twice a year Sun Village visits the parents in the prisons with the children. More often is not possible, There are about 120 children living in Sun Village, whose parents are in several prisons, spread out over the huge country of China. Often in areas where there is no public transportation. Nevertheless Sun Village guarantees at least one visit to the parents per year.
Education
All children older then six attend a local elementary school. Children who are talented enough are stimulated to continue studying, al the way through college or university. Even when the parents ave been released from prison and their kids have returned to the parental home, Sun Village keeps providing money for school, study and basic needs. Those who don’t go to university get help to learn a trade and afterwards to actually find work.
Care in every way
The children of Sun Village get professonal help with their psychological problems. Furthermore, they and their parents all get help to make sure the children keepstudying untill they have e full education, learned a trade or finished university. Both parents and children get help finding a job to be able to become a contributing member of society.
For more information check their own website: www.sunvillage.com.cn
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