Photo source: Project leader Dong Baoyan

On July 4-July7, 2023, under the leadership of Michael Hermann, Chief Representative of the Yunnan Representative Office of Humana People to People, a visiting group headed by Wang Jing, the Secretary Ggeneral of the Foundation, visited the Community Library project in Tengchong City. Among others, the Tengchong Women's Federation, the Education and Sports Bureau and the Public Security Bureau accompanied the project field visit.

The visitors group visited all six community child libraries in Bawai, Xiajia, Manduo, Shangmenglian, Tenglang and Xiangshan. By observing the layout of the libraries and the library activities and discussing and interacting with librarians, parents, caregivers and local officials, they understood the situation of the local children and their families.

The project focuses on family education and scientific parenting, and aims to make up for the gap in early parenting and education of rural children aged 1-4, to improve the situation of left-behind children and their caregivers, to promote family education guidance, and to add a starting point for community building services. In the future, it might be advisable to further explore the cooperation with village ‘Children's Homes’, and effectively promote the inclusive implementation of childcare and early education in village communities.

Everyone agreed that the implementation of the project has achieved obvious results and positive impact.

In addition, the delegation also held a symposium with relevant personnel from the local Women's Federation, the Education and Sports Bureau, and the non-governmental management office of the Public Security Bureau. At the meeting, everyone put forward their opinions and views on the project.

Among them, Ms. Wang Jing, the Secretary General of the foundation, believes that parents are the first teachers of children, preschool education is the initial stage of children's learning, which is of great significance to children's development, and parents' correct parenting concepts and skills can better help children grow and develop. The library provides parents with a supportive environment for the growth and development of young children, and the librarians also bring the right concept of parenting to caretakers. It is believed that the library can provide local children with a better growth environment and help them to grow up healthier and happier.

Gao Minqiang, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Education and Sports, gave a high degree of recognition to the implementation of the project, saying that the project has done a good job in the growth environment of preschool children and the improvement of administrators' skills since its implementation. Through the intervention of rural parenting and early childhood development, it not only improves the human resources of the new generation, but also better develops and strengthens the subconscious knowledge reserve and learning motivation of rural children. The development of children's early education is the foundation for their lifelong education, and the education sector needs support and attention.

Qin Fei, Vice president of the Tengchong Women's Federation, and Chen Lin, Director of the Women's and Children's Development Center Office, also said that the project provides a good place for the development of young children, arouses parents' enthusiasm for scientific parenting, greatly fills the gaps in family education and early childhood development, and contributes to early childhood education and community services in remote rural areas.

Wang Weizhou, a police officer from the NGO management office, said that since the project was carried out in Tengchong, HPP has actively cooperated with relevant government departments, regularly reported and communicated, and the project has been recognized and supported by local education departments, central schools and villagers, hoping that the project can continue to be carried out in the local area.

The achievements achieved so far in the implementation of the project cannot be separated from everybody efforts and support. HPP would like to extend our sincere thanks and heartfelt blessings to all partners who care about and support the implementation of the project.

The early childhood development program model for 1-4 year old children, which focuses on family education and scientific parenting, makes up for the scientific child-rearing gap that is prevalent in rural areas. In the future, HPP will continue to cooperate with the Genwell Foundation, continue to promote and innovate project models, and continue to pay attention to and support the healthy and happy growth of more rural children.

Project introduction:

The Tengchong Genwell-HPP Community Library project is supported by GenWell Foundation and Planet Aid Inc. In cooperation with Tengchong Women's Federation and Tengchong Education and Sports Bureau, the project allocates village-level children's centers, recruiting and training child development and librarians, aiming to promote scientific parenting concepts and skills, improve community family education guidance services, strengthen scientific parenting publicity and advocacy, promote family construction and healthy development of children, and achieve sustainable development of rural children aged 0-4.

GenWell Foundation               

This project is supported by the Genwell Foundation.

This article represents the views of the author and does not represent the views or positions of the donor.