'Cozy Harbor' cares for left-behind children

GUIYANG — After breakfast, Tang Shixu leaves his home for a village center where he can enjoy chess, play with toys and participate in cultural and sports activities.

Shixu, 10, lives in a village in Gangdu township, located in Huishui county in Guizhou province, a major source of migrant workers in China. Since his mother works in the coastal province of Zhejiang and his father does odd jobs nearby, he was often left alone at home.

During previous vacations he would spend his summers scrolling through short videos on his smartphone or wandering around with other left-behind children.

This year, however, Shixu has a new place to turn to. With the support of some organizations and kindhearted people, the village has set up a center stocked with books, toys and calligraphy stationery to take care of children like him.

The village has also upgraded its basketball court, hoping to encourage children to play there.

"It's fun here, with lots of toys and many friends to meet," Shixu said.

The center is named "26 C Cozy Harbor", as 26 C is considered a comfortable temperature for people, said township cadre Liu Zhengxin.

"We hope the cozy harbor will convey warmth to more people," she said.

Liu, who has been stationed at the village for many years, said it has more than 1,700 residents, but most of the breadwinners work as migrant laborers.

"The center aims to keep children from being left unattended after school and during vacations," she said.

It takes care of around 20 children a day, and sometimes as many as 40 when free lectures are offered, Liu said, adding that some villagers also like to send their children there when they have errands to attend to away from home. The center's workers also film the children's daily activities and share the videos in a WeChat group, keeping their working parents informed.

In another center in a residential community in Lushan township, 10 volunteers from Tiangong University in Tianjin help children with their homework or handwriting practice.

Chen Yun, a Party official in the township, said they invite senior citizens and other volunteers to give free lectures every Tuesday and Thursday.

Chen said the Lushan center not only helps rural children enjoy the holidays more and reduces their screen time, but also addresses safety concerns as fewer children are playing beside rivers, effectively avoiding drownings.

Incomplete statistics from the National Health Commission and the Ministry of Public Security show that about 57,000 people die from drowning every year in China, with children accounting for 56 percent of the total. Drowning has become the No 1 cause of abnormal deaths among primary and high school students.

Huishui has been promoting the Cozy Harbor concept in other rural areas, leading to the establishment of 24 such facilities. More than 1,000 tutoring, rights protection and psychological counseling activities have been organized at the centers, benefiting thousands of people, according to county authorities.

Xinhua