Society

Charity cares for kids while parents in jail

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-29 11:00

ZHENGZHOU -- Wearing a clean white T-shirt, 12-year-old Zhou Fang always smiles. And the scars on his face and arms are barely noticeable.

With their father in jail and their mother too sick to care for them, Zhou and his younger brother used to live on the streets. Over the past two years, they had often gotten into trouble after grabbing others' tributes to the dead at temples or for stealing food to fill their hungry stomachs.

When criminals receive their punishment, their innocent children suffer.

"Everyone of them has a miserable story and some of their psychological wounds may never heal. They need our love," said Wang Min, counsellor at Xinxiang Sun Village, a charity set up in 2004 that helps children of convicts in central China's Henan Province.

Zhou Fang and 47 other children aged 3 to 18 live in the village while their parents serve their terms in Henan's nine jails.

Delicious food, clean clothes and cozy dorms: Zhou could not have imagined it two years ago.

The children of convicts not only receive education and health care at the facility, but also psychological counseling and job training.

The facility is equipped with an entertainment hall, a psychological counseling room, a computer room, a library and a table tennis room. There are also TV sets and video games.

"I like maths, and also computer games," Zhou laughed.

The village also has five "loving mothers" and five "loving sisters" to take care of the children and help them feel love.

"The Sun village not only provides a wholesome life and study environment for the children, but also educates the convict parents," said Zhang Mingsuo, a sociologist from Zhengzhou University.

Zhou Wenzhong, Zhou Fang's father, was in solitary confinement almost every day for his bad temper during the first seven years of his 14-year jail term. Then his sons entered the village.

Comforted by that, Zhou Wenzhong's behavior improved and he recently received 3-months off his sentence for good behavior. He has promised his sons he will take them home early.

"The village is trying to build a bridge of love between convicts and their kids," Wang said.

With the donations received in recent years, Sun villages have also been set up in Beijing, Tianjin municipalities, as well as Jiangxi, Liaoning and Qinghai provinces.

The civil affairs department in Xinxiang also provides a subsidy to each kid - 180 yuan ($26) every month.

"The donations and government support is far from enough. We still have heating and shower problems. But I believe the village will become better and better," Wang said.