There is such a special group of people, they are good friends of the children, listen to their voices, they are good teachers for the children, teach the children safety knowledge, protect their growth, they are the children's good "mothers", tell stories to the children, play games with the children, warm the children's hearts...... They have a common name - "Child Companion Mother".
In August 2023, the "Child Companion Mother" project, jointly launched by the China Rural Development Foundation, the Hubei Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, and the Luotian County Civil Affairs Bureau, settled in Luotian County, the hinterland of the Dabie Mountains. Up to now, the county has built 10 "children's companion homes" with 10 "children's companion mothers", benefiting more than 3,500 rural children.
Build a warm "home"
The spacious and bright "Children's Companion House" is neatly arranged with all kinds of toys, painting supplies, and sports goods, and the shelves are full of books. The small desks of different colors are a small world for children to learn and do handicrafts.
"Come on, come on!" In the activity room of the "Children's Companion Home" in Mianniudi Village, Baimiaohe Town, Luotian County, Wang Lidan, the "Mother of Children's Companions", is playing with the children, telling stories and playing games together, and the children's laughter spreads far and wide in the quiet village.
According to statistics from the Luotian County Civil Affairs Bureau, the county's 10 "Children's Companion Homes" have been opened 665 times, with 4,276 hours of opening and 585 daily activities. A total of 5,587 children and 1,323 parents participated in the event. The "Companion Mothers" organized 80 themed activities with a total of 2,185 children participating. In addition, some parents participated in parent-child activities together.
Day after day, the "Children's Companion Mother" and the children have a deep relationship, and every weekend, the children come to the "Children's Companion Home" early, waiting for the arrival of the "Children's Companion Mother", and spend a warm and happy day together.
"Most of our parents have gone out to work and are taken care of by their grandparents. There are many weak links in children's summer drowning prevention monitoring, winter and summer vacation homework guidance, mental health education, etc., which are in urgent need of social care. Jiang You, the "child companion mother" of Yanxingpu Village, Baimiaohe Town, Luotian County, said with deep feelings. Under Jiang You's appeal, Ms. Zhu, a caring person, donated dozens of children's story books to the "Children's Companion Home", which became good companions for the children, allowing them to stay away from the temptation of electronic products and swim comfortably in the sea of books in this warm home.
Gather a group of cute "moms"
There are 5 "Child Companion Mother" project villages in Shengli Town, Luotian County, where there is a group of lovely "Child Companion Mothers" who have put a lot of effort into protecting the healthy and happy growth of children.
Chen Changhua, the "child's companion mother" of the town's paper penghe village, learned that a child had dropped out of school in the village, and immediately visited the child's home and successfully persuaded the child to return to school in time. Li Ailing, the "child companion mother" of Huangni Village, carried out the child care service activity of "Bringing Love Home - Warmth of Children's Hearts, Accompanying and Growing Up", and explained the knowledge of sexual assault prevention, drowning prevention, road traffic accident prevention, bullying prevention, and children's mental health to children and their parents by playing easy-to-understand videos and in-depth analysis of typical cases. Li Xiaojie, the "child's mother" in Dejialing Village, taught the children safety knowledge, "what is the fire alarm number", "what are the types of fire extinguishers", and "what to do if the oil pot is on fire", which enhanced the children's awareness of risk prevention in the interactive exchange.
In Fujiamiao Village, Baimiaohe Town, the "Children's Companion Home" has carried out "Fun Activities, Happy Growth", "Fun and Happy Childhood, Wonderful Hand-painted Lotus Flowers" and "Happy Growth, Hand in Hand" Children's Village Evening and "Warm Children's Heart, Birthday Gathering" collective birthday party, so that the life of left-behind children is full of childlike fun. A series of activities such as homework guidance, traditional culture education, thinking training, interesting activities, theme education, handicraft production, safety education, etc., children learn seriously and have fun.
Through various activities and regular home visits, the 10 "Child Companion Mother" project villages have effectively made up for the lack of family affection of left-behind children, enhanced their self-confidence, strengthened their awareness of self-prevention and safety, and effectively ensured the healthy physical and mental growth of teenagers.
Weaving a safe "net"
In order to coordinate the implementation of the "Child Companion Mother" project, the Civil Affairs Bureau of Luotian County established the "Child Companion Mother" project office to carry out the standardized construction of child care project archives, supervise the progress of the project, and ensure the orderly development of the project. The PMO holds monthly online scheduling meetings for "Child Companion Mothers" to provide on-the-spot business guidance to "Child Companion Mothers" on a quarterly basis, regularly recharge the "Child Companion Mothers", carry out exchanges and learning, improve the professional ability of "Child Companion Mothers", and enhance the ability of "Child Companion Mothers" to perform their duties.
In accordance with the work requirements of one person, 10 "child companion mothers" visited all the families of children and adolescents, and carried out precise care, rescue and companionship for left-behind children and children in difficulty. So far, the Luotian County Child Companion Mother Project has set up information files for 3,500 children to understand their difficulties and needs, assisted 7 children to apply for subsistence allowance, assisted 519 children to apply for medical insurance, assisted 11 children to complete household registration, and helped 200 left-behind children realize their "micro-wishes".
Source: Hubei Daily client