China hires substitute mothers to care for left-behind children

The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation has launched a project to hire and train 100 local women as substitute mothers to take care of left-behind children.

中国扶贫基金会启动了一项计划：雇用和培训100名当地妇女作为替代妈妈来照顾留守儿童。

The three-year program will select 100 villages across Sichuan province and hire one woman in each village to take charge of all the local left-behind children.

这个为期三年的项目将在整个四川省挑选出100个乡村，每个村子里雇用一名妇女来负责照顾本地的留守儿童。

The program, launched by the nongovernmental organization in late October, will eventually supervise approximately 35,000 children if it is successful.

这个由非政府组织在10月底启动的项目，如果运行成功，将会最终使大约35000名儿童受益。

"It is a model to solve the problem of left-behind children," said Liu Wenkui, secretary-general of the foundation. "The program aims to solve the lack of guardians."

“这个项目是解决留守儿童问题的模型，目的是解决孩子们缺乏监护人的问题”， 该基金会秘书长刘文奎称。

If parents are forced to leave home to earn a living and unable to take their children with them, we are looking for a transitional way to solve the problem, he added.

“如果父母们被迫要离家谋生，并且不能让子女们跟着一起去，我们就寻求一种过渡的方式来解决这个问题。”刘文奎补充道。

The "substitute mothers" will fulfill parents' obligations, finding out what the children need and helping them deal with 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.

这些“替代妈妈”将履行家长的义务，发现孩子们的需要，且帮他们处理问题。每一们妈妈将要照顾300到500名儿童，其中重点关注大约50-70名最需要母爱的孩子。项目经理温慧芳说。

A "children’s home" will be established in each village to be the mother's office and children's activity space. The program will also set up offices in each county to gather information from the "mothers" and help them to solve issues involving government departments.

每个村子里将会建立一个“童心之家” ，它将成为妈妈的办公室以及孩子们活动的场所。这个项目同时会在每个县城设立办公室，以收集各个“替代妈妈”们反馈的信息，并帮助他们处理一些与政府部门相关的问题。

"Their job will be to provide prompt service, discover the children's issues, report to the relevant departments and help to solve any problems," Wen said.

“妈妈们的工作包括提供快速的服务，发现孩子们的问题，向相关部门汇报以及处理其它任何事件。”温说道。

"The substitute mothers' role will be limited, but they will not be fighting alone. Officials from the villages and the county, as well as an expert team, will back them up," Wen added.

“替代妈妈们的角色将是有局限性的，但是她们并非一个人在战斗。县级和乡村干部，以及专家团队，会是他们的坚强后盾。”温补充道。

The program is hoping to recruit women aged 19 to 55 years old from the villages. They must have no criminal record.

这个项目期望招募到村子里19-55岁的女性，必须没有任何犯罪记录。

"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."

“我们需要雇用全职’妈妈’是保证她们不会被其它工作所打扰，我们需要本地的申请者是因为她们熟知当地的语言和文化。”刘文奎称。

In August, two left-behind siblings were killed at their home in Bijie, Guizhou province. Police discovered that the girl had been sexually assaulted before she was murdered.

就在今年八月，贵州省毕节市的两名留守兄妹在家中被杀害。警方调查发现他们杀死女孩前曾有性侵行为。

"Left-behind children's tragedies may hit the front pages of newspapers for a few days, but when the stories go cold, people's attentions shift. The key to solving the problem is to establish a model to help them and prevent such tragedies," Liu said.

“留守儿童的悲剧在几天内可能登上各大报纸的头条被人们关注，但是当事件慢慢降温，人们的关注也随之转移。解决这个问题的关键是建立一个模型来帮助他们，防止此类悲剧再次发生。”刘文奎称。

The program in Sichuan is a pilot scheme, and Liu said: "If it is a successful model, we will promote it nationwide."

这个项目率先在四川开展小规模试验，刘文奎说：“如果开展成功，我们将在全国范围内推动。”