Xiao Huanhuan (the tallest) and Jin Zihan (second on the left) are close friends. They play games with other children in the village. [Photo by Huang Fuyou/China.org.cn]

The small Anma Village is located in Anlong County of southwest China's Guizhou Province. Most of the adult villagers now live and work in towns and cities, leaving their children at home in the village to be taken care of by their grandparents or other relatives. The children have subsequently suffered extreme loneliness.

On July 7 this year, the Children's Happy Home formally opened to the villagers, providing a warm and pleasant place for the left-behind children to visit and stay. Here, they can read books and magazines, do homework, play games, receive teachers' guidance while making new friends and having fun.

Xiao Huanhuan, 12, is one of the children who loves the Home very much. Her parents divorced when she was only five, leaving her and her sister to be taken care of by their grandmother. Her father works in other cities and the little money he earns is barely enough to feed the family whilst covering the tuition of his eldest daughter who is now a college student. Xiao Huanhuan likes reading novels and magazines and the Home has become an integral part of her daily life.

Jin Zihan is also a frequent visitor of the Home. Her parents work in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, leaving her in the village to be taken care of by her uncle. Each month her parents transfer 400 yuan (US$60.76) to pay for her expenses. Jin used to be a very shy girl, but since she came to the Home, she has become much more outgoing and likes to chat with other children.

Luo Tianliang, 10, has a great affection for the Children's Happy Home in Haizhuang, a village next to the Anma Village. Luo's parents have worked in other cities since he was only two, and he was brought up by his grandparents in the village. "The boy feels lonely and doesn't contact very much with others since his parents left home," said Yu Mei, the boy's teacher who works in the Home. Yu believes that the left-behind children can make new friends and find joy here.

About the charity project

The Children's Happy Home charity project was launched by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and the China Children and Teenagers' Foundation (CCTF) in 2014 to establish centers offering services in education, family-like loving care, safety and protection, psychological counseling, entertainment and leisure for the left-behind children in China's rural areas.

Currently, a total of 874 such centers have been established in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country thanks to donations from various social organizations and public welfare funds. Through the joint efforts of the government, the social community and volunteers, more left-behind rural children can grow up happily and healthily in these centers.

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