Children lacking parental love in China's urban fringe areas have started to attract public attention.

Xie Dongmei, who received a camera from a local school to allow her to record her childhood, plays with her friends in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The 14-year-old girl is from a destitute family in the peripheral area of the region.

Dwelling in a simple four-story apartment in Wangjiaqiao Community, Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, the staff at the Hearts for Love Community Service Center has created a dreamland inside a small courtyard for children who have been emotionally neglected throughout their childhood in fringe areas between cities and towns.

With books, magazines, computers, colorful Ping-Pong tables, and clean toilets available at the center, the community service soothes the loneliness of children separated at a young age from the care of their parents.

The service center is a privately-run social organization dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable groups in society. So far, it has worked for six consecutive years in Wangjiaqiao Community, changing locations several times in the past few years.

Located in Wangjiaqiao Community, an area connecting urban and rural areas, more than half of the community's population comes from migrant families affected by social problems, such as low education, single parenthood, unstable incomes, domestic violence, and abandoned children.

Living conditions in the community can be shocking for newcomers. When social worker Yao Xiuxia met Yuan Yuan for the first time, the four-year-old could not say a single word. His mother abandoned the family immediately after giving birth to Yuan and left the boy with his father; he has to take Yuan to the construction sites where he is temporarily hired or leave alone at home.

After frequent visits to families leaving in the fringe area, social workers estimated that about 60 percent children live in single parent households.

Lan Shuji is the director of the Hearts for Love Community Service Center. Since 2015, after receiving funds from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Li Ka Shing Foundation, her social organization has recruited over 60 university student volunteers and 12 professional social workers to help 42 impoverished families.

At first, their services were met with suspicion by the community's adults and children.

"It was almost impossible to interact with the children," a volunteer recalled.

But despite the initial skepticism from the families, the Hearts for Love Community Service Center eventually won the trust of the local people. They bring necessities to the needy children, offer free lunches, and teach them with basic survival techniques, including how to ride a bike and take public transportation.

Ni Ni, a quiet child in the area, wrote in her diary: "My sister, you are the first person in my life to hug me and give me the feeling of being loved."

A large number of children living in the communities are in need of social help, Yao said. The need is so high that the efforts of social organizations pale in comparison.

"We need to create an environment similar to home for these children,” the social worker said. "Although we can't be with them for a lifetime, we can at least bring them some happy moments."

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