Due to the high number of left-behind children in China, a non-governmental organization has launched a pilot project to hire and train more than 100 local women to serve as 'substitute mothers' for the kids while their parents go on to make a living and take on jobs elsewhere.

Like Us on Facebook

For a start, around 100 villages have been selected by the China Foundation For Poverty Alleviation across Sichuan provinces whereby one woman in each village will be trained and hired to take charge of children who are without parents.

The three-year program, launched in October by the Foundation, hopes to eventually supervise 36,000 children.

"It is a model to solve the problem of left-behind children," said Liu Wenkui, secretary general of the Foundation.

Wenkui said the organization hopes to solve the problem of lack of guardians until the parents come back to their homes and return to their child rearing responsibilities.

He added that for as long as parents are forced to leave their children to earn a living and are unable to take their children with them, the Foundation will continue to find ways for transitional steps to solve the problem.

The 'substitute mothers' will take on the responsibilities of the mother such as child rearing and attending to the children's needs and helping them deal with their problems.

Each substitute mother will take care of about 300 to 500 children, focusing on the 50 to 70 children who need her most, said Wen Huifang, the project manager.

The Foundation will set up a 'children's home' in each village where the substitute mother will hold office and at the same time, will serve as the children's 'activity center.'

Add to that, the Foundation will establish an office in each county and gather information from the 'substitute mothers' on various problems the left-behind kids face and involve government agencies in solving these problems.

Officers of the the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation said the 'substitute mothers' responsibilities include providing prompt service, knowing the children's problems, and reporting to the concerned government agency these problems and helping to solve these issues.

Wen said that although the mothers' services will be temporary and limited, people in the community such as officials from the villages and counties will be backing them up in the project so they wouldn't feel alone in this endeavor.

The Foundation is currently recruiting women aged 19-55 years old from the villages. One of the requirements for recruitment is that they do not have any criminal record.

"We want to hire full-time 'mothers' to guarantee they won't be distracted by other work," Liu said. "We want local candidates because they understand local languages and cultures."

Left-behind children often become victims of crimes which is the reason why the Foundation is hoping that their pilot project will be successful.

In August, two siblings were found dead in their home and autopsy reports said one of the siblings was sexually assaulted before she was killed.

Liu said the Foundation hopes to prevent tragedies and crimes from  befalling the left-behind children through the pilot program.

He said that if the program becomes successful, they will replicate it nationwide to help more families who are in need.

Tags'Substitute Mothers', China Foundation For Poverty Alleviation, Sichuan Province, child rearing, 100 'substitute mothers', 36, 36.000 children, Villages, county, Liu Wenkui, Wen Hufang, secretary general, millions of left-behind children, China Substitute Mothers Abandoned Children