We are in the news! Check out this Global Health Now article on Thailand's left-behind children. Iris Cai was interviewed and shared her understanding of China's left-behind children situation.
Announcing a brand new partner: Youth Spotlight!
One of the missions of Fewer Left Behind is to connect all organizations that empowers left-behind children together. Recently it really warmed my heart when I received a contact form submission from Shelly from Shanghai's American School.
Shelly is the founder of Youth Spotlight, a student led organization that forms soccer teams for left-behind children in rural China to help them deal with the feeling of abandonment by their migrant worker parents.
I finally connected with Shelly last night and am extremely impressed by her determination, leadership and vision. At such a young age, she already led her team to form soccer teams in nine elementary schools and shows no hesitation in expanding her team despite her remaining senior year before university. Shelly also designed and conducted primary research herself among a 500+ sample to understand the needs of left-behind children.
Check out this well-produced 10-minute documentary on left-behind children through the lens of Shelly.
Shelly and her team are constantly looking for new additions to Youth Spotlight, regardless of whether you are a high school student, university student or if you want to help them raise funds to support kids' soccer teams! Youth Spotlight chapters even exist outside of China, too! For more information, check out their website: https://www.youthspotlight.org/.
Until next time!
Iris Cai
Building an On-Site Childcare Facility: The Case of Concord Factory
The Center for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility (CCR CSR) in China is a social enterprise that inspired us tremendously on how businesses, even those outside of China, can do to influence lives of left-behind children.
Check out this successful case study on how Concord, a factory located in China’s main manufacturing hub Dongguan and the main ceramics supplier for Starbucks, took part in CCR CSR's migrant parenting training a few years ago and saw success.
A generation left behind
ABC News has summarized the findings of its half-hour documentary into the following article:
"Li Yikui is a 13-year-old boy who radiates warmth and friendliness. But inside he is hurting. Yikui has not seen his father in four years. His mother visits just once a year."
Photo Credit: ABC News, Wayne McAllister
How Left-Behind Children Impact Businesses
Here is a news article from CCR CSR, a consulting firm in China:
"CCR CSR Exective Director Ines Kaempfer talks about how left-behind children in China impact businesses and why more companies should take steps to address child rights in their operations."
Photo credit: MianShaHua Studio
Wei's thesis on China's left-behind children
Wei Lui has written a thorough research paper, complete with interviews and anecdotes, about China's left-behind children. Here is a paragraph from his abstract:
"The overall aim of this research is to explore the experiences of children‘s being left behind at home, at school and in the community from the perspectives of four main groups of stakeholders: left-behind children, their guardians, their parents and their teachers."
Photo credit: MianShaHua Studio