Children are a vulnerable group in society and this is especially
so for the kids of prisoners. For eight years Zhang Shuqin a
54-year-old prison officer, has been working tirelessly to raise
funds to set up children's villages to take them in.
"If I had started helping the prisoners' children say fifteen years
ago, questions would have been asked and I would have been called
upon to give a formal explanation," Zhang said.
Eight years ago at the age of 45 Zhang established the first
children's village to help the criminals' kids in Shaanxi Province.
Now at 54 she has three children's villages.
At
the end of 2000, she set up a children's village in Shunyi District
in Beijing. This served to demonstrate how such villages could be
used to provide support for the prisoners' children who are at the
heart of her mission.
Over the past eight years, Zhang and her children's villages have
through very considerable efforts managed to help more than 300
prisoners' children. But even if they could continue in the same
way for another 30 years they would only be able to help something
over 1,000 of these children.
Currently some 70 percent of inmates are married. The total number
of children across the country would be enormous if each married
prisoner had just one child. Faced with such an awesome social
need, Zhang has real concerns about the ability of non-governmental
organizations with their limited resources being able to cope.
The first steps have been taken and the feasibility of the
children's village concept has been demonstrated. When she first
started, Zhang had little in the way of resources other than good
wishes. Now with eight year's experience behind her she is in a
better position to carry forward her goal. She is applying for the
registration of the "Beijing Sun Village Special Children's Support
and Research Center." It would aim to develop academic study in the
field and offer professional guidance to those involved in the work
of the children's villages. Zhang would consider her eight
difficult years well spend if they could have helped provide a
focus that might lead to the government bringing in measures to
protect the children of inmates.
An unfair world
After graduating from senior high school, Zhang spent three years
living in the countryside. Following this and by then accompanied
by her daughters, she went on to become a nurse in a county
hospital. Later she was transferred to a hospital in a mountainous
area and spent her days travelling about the countryside. Thirteen
years later she became a prison officer at Shaanxi Prison. She took
charge of running the in-house newspaper and so began her contact
with the world of the inmates.
"My working life was spent first with people who were ill and then
moved on to bring me in contact with those who had offended against
society. The patients and the prisoners were to show me the
unhealthy aspects of life, physically and mentally respectively. It
was to be an experience that would lead me to feel a strong sense
of mission.
For the sake of their children some female prisoners broke jail.
Others committed suicide of fell into the grip of depression. Some
watched their hair turn a premature white. Some even lost their
sanity," said Zhang.
As
a mother herself, Zhang could understood them and feel compassion
for their forgotten children. On one occasion she proposed that the
jail should initiate inquiries about the prisoners' families. She
held the view that handcuffs, jails and loss of liberty could only
be part of the story. They were the stuff of punishment but
reeducation called for a different approach, it needed human
care.
A
mother in prison is still a mother. If she didn't know where and
how her child was, how could she be in the right frame of mind to
benefit from reeducation? She would strain against the system
complaining about the police, the jail and society itself. Her
proposal was however not adopted for it was quite
unprecedented.
When she first put up the idea of setting up a children's village,
she met with stiff opposition. People said "China has so many
children from decent families, like orphans and kids who had to
drop out of school. Why don't you care for them? Why do you only
care for the children of the prisoners?"
Traditionally, people have always looked down on criminals and
their offspring and discriminated against them. "People admire
martyrs and are grateful for their sacrifices. This leads them to
transpose these positive feelings onto their children. But with the
children of criminals they have nothing but hate and abhorrence to
transfer. It's not fair to the kids," said Zhang.
Indifference follows the prisoners' children wherever they go. Some
of them have no residence cards, some don't go to school, some even
beg on the streets while their relatives and neighbors turn a blind
eye. Zhang said that she was neither a Party member nor a
do-gooder. It was because she was a mother that she couldn't bear
to see the children roving the streets.
In
a village in Shaanxi Province, an honest man was pushed beyond the
limit of his endurance. He killed his wife who had been unfaithful
and then gave himself up. Back home were three children and a
grandmother in her 70s.
The children had three uncles and an aunt but not one would take
them in. Zhang came to their house and found the children
bare-footed and with rotten persimmon all over their faces. On the
table were a half pumpkin and a pot of dirty water.
Outside the door a crowd of onlookers stood with folded arms. Zhang
couldn't hold her tongue. She said to them "I guess you are much
better off these days from the look of your clothes and houses. As
neighbors in the same village, how could you not spare a kind
thought for these children and this poor granny?"
Some in the crowd blamed the kids themselves after all they had
stolen from others. Zhang answered, "It is because they have
nothing to eat! They might go on to climb up onto your house and
steal your tiles and bricks. Perhaps in a few years they will
become real robbers." Zhang took the two younger kids to the
children's village.
In
the children's village in Beijing, there was a 14-year-old boy from
Xi'an City who couldn't afford to go to school. His mother was
doing time for abducting and trafficking children and the
whereabouts of his father was unknown.
At
first he lived in his uncle's home but his aunt was a nasty piece
of work. He was a stubborn boy and was always getting beaten.
Finally he was beaten so badly that he suffered actual brain
damage. The injury was to his cerebellum and his sense of balance
and psychomotor skills suffered. He walked with a limp and couldn't
put the food into his mouth properly when he tried to eat.
His uncle sent him to his mother's sister. But all day long her
husband nagged her threatening divorce. The boy was eventually
deposited at the gate of the jail. Zhang was heart-broken and
quickly took him to Beijing for a specialist consultation.
Safe haven
When rural parents go into prison, their children can make a living
herding sheep and cattle. In the city, homeless children can find
their way into criminal gangs. Having been exposed early in life to
the bad influence of their parents and now finding themselves in a
world of hardship, it would be no surprise to find them learning
how to hate.
Once on the streets their growing sense of alienation is fed by the
contempt of members of the "normal" society. Just to survive they
have no other means but to steal and rob. This has been a group
neglected by society and which falls outside any government safety
net. The emotional barriers they encounter in their lifestyle lay
the foundations for a life of crime.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the children's village, Zhang
promised to offer a safe haven for the kids where they would have
food to eat, a school to study in and medical attention when they
needed it. They could escape from their emotional trauma and enjoy
the same rights that every other child enjoyed.
One of the children told Zhang after class, "Granny Zhang, my
classmates make fun of me because my dad is a prisoner."
Zhang said, "You must tell them that is not your fault, it has
nothing to do with you."
"What can I do if they don't stop?" he replied.
"Tell the teachers what they are doing and if they carry on a
second and a third time, explain it to them with your fists," said
Zhang, a woman of strong character and integrity.
When Zhang first got involved in setting up children's villages,
her detractors accused her of being motivated by thoughts of
personal or political gain. She just carried on, unmoved in her
resolve to see things through from beginning to end.
The second children's village in Shaanxi started with the
opportunity to make use of some retirement apartments. It took a
lot of time and energy to raise the funds needed to fit out the
accommodation. Halfway through construction the funds ran out,
there was just 600 yuan (about US$70) left. Zhang was preparing to
raise a mortgage on her own family home. The very next day she
received 150,000 yuan (about US$18,000) from a charitable
organization in Hong Kong. She has always believed that with
heaven's blessing any difficulty or obstacle might be overcome.
In
order to prevent a funding crisis happening again with the
children's village in Beijing, Zhang decided to develop some income
generating activities.
Two years ago she approached a farming enterprise for a donation.
Though the boss said they were short of funds themselves he did
have a suggestion to make. She would lease 100 mu (6.67
hectare) land. The enterprise would provide fast-growing poplar
cuttings free of charge and buy back the one-year-old plants at one
yuan each.
A
quick calculation showed this to be an exciting opportunity as it
could raise some 300,000 to 400,000 yuan (about US$36,000 to
48,000). Without hesitation she leased a tract of land from the
town where the children's village is located.
On
planting day, more than 200 people from all walks of life came to
help. The media were there to cover the event. But she was to find
out later that there would be more to this than meets the eye for
she had taken no account of risk factors. Unfortunately many others
also rushed into growing the poplars and flooded the market.
Zhang didn't want to impose on the company boss and there was no
one else to buy the plants. She had to sell her poplars off as
firewood to cover the rent of the land. Then she got everyone
organized and they cleared the land in order to grow beans and
maize instead, and they got another 100 mu to grow corn and
jujube trees. So land that had once been unproductive became a
garden.
A better way
The children have plots for tomatoes, cucumbers and other
vegetables. After classes all are expected to work, each within
their own capabilities.
Zhang's priority for the children of the village is that they
should learn self-reliance. They need to develop a spirit of hard
work and self-denial, otherwise they wouldn't return to their
parents having turned over a new leaf.
She tells the children, "Don't make comparisons with the children
of the rich and the one-child families. Face the fact that you grew
up in a different sort of family to these."
Zhang was asked what her greatest wish was for the children of the
village. Her reply was realistic, "To be able to support
themselves, to contribute something of value to society and not to
commit crime like their parents."
Most of the kids come from needy families. Already the children's
village in Xi'an has seen a university student and a soldier come
from among its numbers. Under the terms of their adoption, the kids
don't need to leave the village until they are 18. Most of them
will find it a quite a challenge when they go out to make their way
in the world.
Many people have got involved and helped the children's village
gradually set up its own tailoring, carpentry and computer
workshops. In their spare time the girls learn tailoring and the
boys concentrate on woodwork. Everybody attends the computer
class.
The purpose of all this effort is not just to feed the children,
what Zhang really wanted to do was to find a new and better
way.
The children are drawn from many different areas of the country
though most come from Hebei Province. Zhang strategically took in
children from all over hoping to encourage the various local
governments to see the importance of the work.
When local governments find it difficult to resolve problems with
prisoners' children, Zhang's position as head of a non-governmental
organization means she is well placed to coordinate the efforts of
like minded people willing to help. All they need is the financial
support. Children come and go in the villages. Their parents
collect them when they are released from prison. At one time there
were as many as 74 children in the villages. Currently there are 58
with their ages ranging from 3 to 16.
Love, kindness and a sense of being cared for
Zhang has always been fully aware of the effect of her work in
facilitating the reeducation of the criminals. She explained,
"Knowing of one or more inmates with children safe in a children's
village brings a measure of hope to everyone in the prison. Finding
that society doesn't despise their children but takes care of them
brings not only thankfulness but also improvements in conduct which
can in turn lead to a remission in the length of the sentence."
On
the wall of Zhang's office there is a list of well-known
enterprises and foundations. She regularly writes to them as she is
always busy in fund raising activities.
Five years ago, her second daughter came to the children's village
to work on her right hand. But recently her daughter said, "I want
to have a rest."
Zhang was a little angry and said, "How can you leave your mother
to carry on alone?" But she soon regretted the remark remembering
the last twenty years. She had hardly been able to create the best
of living conditions for her own daughters while she pursued her
ideals. They were entitled to have their own dreams and to pursue
their own lives.
"Helping the children of prisoners cannot just be left to the
kindness of individuals. It should be seen as a social public
service. The opening of the village in Beijing was intended to
attract the attention of the national media and place the issue
under their spotlight," Zhang explained.
Moreover, she has been putting considerable effort into developing
the care of the children into a new area of study in its own right.
The hope is that this will encourage more people to support the
needs of this particular group of children and encourage
research.
To
date, the children's village has run four training courses. Foreign
experts have come by invitation to present lectures for the
teachers at the village on the psychological aspects involved. The
curriculum has included standard educational theory and legal
studies. There has also been a focus on ways of removing
psychological barriers and on latent potential for criminal
behavior.
The children's village has received visits from many overseas media
representatives. It has attracted the attention of international
bodies including the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Zhang is happy to have been able to make a difference in her own
area. She has another wider dream. She hopes to see the creation of
a cooperative network of non-governmental organizations in the
field of adoption. The aim would be to regulate management,
supervise funding and train staff to promote a better standard of
care for the children.
What Zhang has been working for all these years is not just the
physical wellbeing of the children but to give them something far
more precious. She brings them love, kindness and a sense of being
cared for.
When she arrived in Beijing, she checked out all the formal avenues
hoping to find an overarching authority for the children's villages
and a source of governance, guidance and coordination.
However, the work of the judicial departments was focused on
education and making arrangements for the parents when they were
released. Their remit did not include the welfare of the prisoners'
children. The civil affairs departments also thought it was beyond
their scope of responsibility. Some even predicted that Zhang's
village wouldn't last a year. But the village carried on
tenaciously.
"I
can only promise that I won't embezzle money, abduct and traffic
children or abuse them. I have no difficulty in accepting the right
of others to criticize the work for after all it is in the public
domain, but I will carry on regardless," Zhang once said.
Zhang knows well that the children's villages do not belong to her.
On the contrary it is she who belongs to the villages. All the
assets have come from benefactors. She considers her tenure to be
like that of a housekeeper charged for a while with a duty of
stewardship. Now 54, if her health permits she intends to work
until she is 64, 74 even 84 and beyond.
Meanwhile Zhang finds herself both happy and anxious. Happy that a
supermarket in Niulanshan Town has promised a free counter for the
children's village to sell the vegetables they produce. But she is
anxious for the future of four of her village children. They will
soon be ready to enter junior high school and she needs to find
them a school where they will get a good education.
(Beijing Youth Daily, translated by Li Xiao for
China.org.cn, July 9, 2003)