Saving kids at Sun Village

刘莎

A sit down with Zhang Shuqin， creator of the Sun Village charity

助養服刑人员子女的公益之家： 对话“太阳村”创始人张淑琴

Over 600，000 children across China have parents in jail. Most children who are missing one or both parents get a certain amount of sympathy， but that isnt always the case for the kids who often fall between the cracks of society. Zhang Shuqin， 67， started Sun Village， a non-governmental organization to help these children in 1995. So far， Sun Village has helped over 5，000 children whose parents are prisoners. Currently there are around  500 children living in nine branches of Sun Village across China. Before starting Sun Village， Zhang was a police officer and an editor for 12 years at the Shaanxi Prison Administration Bureau. She was praised for her work for these children， but also criticized; questions were asked about why Sun Village had not publicized its accounts and why it was selling agricultural products grown by children to “make money”.

How did you start the Sun Village project？

Before 1995， I was a prison officer and also produced a newspaper that circulated among prisoners. When I was talking with them， I found that prisoners children were not being taken care of. Some of those kids were begging and some had to work and some even became thieves and others led miserable lives with their poor grandparents. Because their children were not being cared for， the parents in prison， especially mothers， would take risks to break out of prison. I even knew a desperate mother who hanged herself in jail after losing contact with her children for years. I tried to contact the local civil affairs bureau and judiciary departments， but they all responded that theyre not in charge of taking care of those children. Later I found out that this situation was common not only in Shaanxi， but all over China. These kids often suffer from poverty and discrimination because of their parents situation. So， I quit my job at the prison and started Sun Village， hoping to provide a shelter for those children.

How does Sun Village adopt these children？ How do you find kids in need？

First， the parents have to apply to the Prison Administration Bureau， and with official permission the prisons can sign an agreement with the kids parents， who give us approval to foster their kids. Normally we pick up the children and help them settle in the nearest Sun Village， and sometimes prison staff send their children to Sun Village. Sun Village also prints its own newspaper and we send every issue to prisons across China to raise awareness about this organization， to which they can entrust their children. After 20 years， Sun Village has become known to more prisons， and the parents contact us.

What kind of help do you offer to these kids？ How long can they stay at Sun Village？

We provide accommodation and help them go to school. The childrens ages vary greatly from infants to teenagers and we let the older ones take care of the younger ones， forming help groups. At the same time， we also send the kids to visit their parents at the prison and organize some performances to show at prisons. This is not only a chance for reunion but also makes prisoners feel touched. Normally the parents take the kids away after coming out of prison， but after being in jail for so many years， some adults have lost confidence in their ability to rejoin society. So， we let those parents work for Sun Village for a certain period of time， staying with the kids and learning how to get along with people. For example， women can be accountants or do some house cleaning work. We raise some children， whose parents were given a death sentence or life imprisonment， until they grow up， graduate from school， and find jobs. There are also a few of them who come back and work for Sun Village.

How do those kids adapt to living in Sun Village？

To be honest， there are different problems. Helping these kids requires care and patience， as many of them were mentally or even physically abused before coming to Sun Village. After staying at Sun Village for a certain period of time， most children can forget， or at least not be so concerned， about the fact that their parents are in prison for doing something bad and illegal and grow up healthily and receive education like everyone else. But some children can not. For example， there was one kid who was kidnapped by her father at 11 and came to Sun Village when she was 14. She adapted to the new environment quickly and became quite active. However she started to steal during middle school and once ran away from Sun Village and never came back. Some children used to live in wealthy families and cannot get used to the relatively simple life here in Sun Village. We hired psychological experts to give mental tests to the children and found many of them had violent or autistic tendencies and some even tried to hurt themselves. So， we have to try to make a nice living and studying environment and encourage them to talk more and play more， as well as participate in more social activities to open their hearts. Most of the kids are great. This year we have 21 of them being admitted to good colleges.

What difficulties does Sun Village have？

Financing and getting government registration are the two major problems， and I believe those two are common difficulties many Chinese NGOs are confronted with. In China， NGOs have to find a government department to be affiliated with before getting successfully registered at the Ministry of Civil Affairs as a formal NGO. In the case of Sun Village， it has to find government departments in charge of childcare， judiciary work， or education， but after all these years weve talked to so many government officials， and none of them want to be Sun Villages affiliated department. So the Ministry of Civil Affairs did not let us get registered. I sometimes wonder whether it is because none of them want to be responsible for us？ In the public eye， those kids， being the offspring of criminals， are likely to be criminals. I cannot help but guess that maybe some of them have such stereotypes in mind. This year， a new NGO law came out and it suggested that the registration process could be simplified and there is no need to be affiliated with a government department. So， we tried again but it still did not work.

Whats the major financing source？

Donations play a major part. This year we received over 4 million RMB from donors. And there are more people donating goods like oil， rice， noodles， and clothes. The other major source comes from the farm. Since the government does not subsidize us as an NGO， we run Sun Village as a social enterprise. We have farmland and the children help， at their leisure， growing grapes， strawberries， and plant jujube trees without any fertilizer. So many people come to buy the fruits， vegetable and plants. Farm work also benefits the kids.

Some people criticized Sun Village， saying you do not make your accounts transparent. How do you respond to these questions？

The reason that we do not put donation numbers on our website is because all donations for Sun Village need to go direct to the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children and every years donation details are posted on the foundations website. As for the money the Sun Village has made through selling agricultural products， I dont think its necessary to publicize all the accounts. As a social enterprise， we pay our taxes and every year end we are audited and the audit is published. I think its enough to prove that we are an honest social enterprise. Some people even question me for helping the “bad peoples” kids and they think I must gain certain profits through this. They ask me： why dont you spare more time on the good peoples offspring？ I think these questions are very disappointing.

Sun Village sold some donated goods and that also aroused controversy. Can you clarify what happened？

In fact， most of the products donors give cannot be used by children， like high-heel shoes， mini-skirts， and so on. So were making use of them.

How is Sun Villages relationship with government？ What do you think the governments role should be in taking care of those kids？

I cannot say its bad or good. I think its getting better. Taking the Sun Villages branch in Beijing as an example， local officials often visit the children and bring some goods for them， although none of them promise to get us registered as a formal NGO. Though the welfare for these special children was not well-established， I think authorities have recognized our efforts. In 2006， a government report written by four ministries， including the Ministry of Civil Affairs， praised the “Sun Village model” as an effective way to help children whose parents are in jail. However， there are some other things I think the government can help with. Many of our kids in the Beijing branch are not local Beijing residents and they do not have a hukou， or household registration， so its hard to get them admitted to some schools. Medical insurance is difficult. When we want to buy health insurance for kids， were told only immediate relatives can be the policy-holder. I hope there will be policies that help us solve these problems. But this year， a piece of good news worth mentioning is that four of our Sun Village kids successfully joined the army. This would have been unimaginable in the past， because in order to join the army you need to pass the political examination and it is hard for a criminals kid to pass that. This is progress.