MATTHEW CARNEY: Hefeng
country in Central China – one of the most isolated areas of the country. It
looks beautiful, but this is home to one of China’s biggest social problems.
We’re on our way to meet the kids who’ve come to be known as the “left behind generation”
– an astonishing 61 million children left behind in the villages and towns of
rural China, while their parents work in the big cities.
TITLE: Generation Left Behind
Reporter: Matthew Carney
After months of negotiation the local government
has let us in to film. They’ve assigned us 15 minders. The ABC’s Chinese
producer, Zhang Qian, makes the introductions.
ZHANG QIAN: “This is Mr Xu, the Principal of the
school”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Today she’ll be helping us talk to
the kids.
ZHANG QIAN: [students greeting everyone] “Go
ahead”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: At Xiaoping school about 40% of
the kids are growing up without parents.
“And how old are you?”
GIRL STUDENT: “I’m 13”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: It’s the first time they’ve had a
visit by a foreign reporter.
“How old are you?”
LI YIKUI : “I’m 13 year’s old”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: “Thirteen, wow. And what’s your
name?”
LI YIKUI: “My name is Li Yikui”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Li Yikui hasn’t seen his father
for four years. His mother visits once a year.
LI YIKUI: “I love to be with my classmates so that
I don’t feel lonely”.
TRANSLATOR: “When do you feel lonely?”
LI YIKUI: “When I’m home by myself”.
TRANSLATOR: “How come?”
LI YIKUI: “Because I’m on my own”.
TRANSLATOR: “What about other people?”
LI YIKUI: “Grandma and Grandpa go out and my
parents are away working – and I’m at home alone”.
TRANSLATOR: “Do you miss your parents?”
LI YIKUI: [nods/upset- wipes a tear from eye]
MATTHEW CARNEY: The Chinese residency permit
system called the Hukou effectively stops parents from taking their children to
the cities with them. That’s because public services like schools and hospitals
can only be accessed where you live. If you move, you then have to pay and for
most factory workers, that’s way beyond their means. Li Yikui says he needs to
make sacrifices just like his parents.
LI YIKUI: “If they stayed here just because of me
I’d feel very guilty”.
TRANSLATOR: “Why would you feel guilty?”
LI YIKUI: “Because I feel I’d be a burden for
them”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: On the weekends he goes home but
to get there, Li Yikui has to walk up the mountain for a couple of hours. And
like most left behind kids, he’s being looked after by his grandparents.
GRANDPA: “Do you feel hot?”
LI YIKUI: “No”.
GRANDMA: [greeting him] “You’re back!”
It would certainly be better if his parents were
here with him. We’re not so well educated. All we can do is tell him to be
good, and listen to his teachers because they are educated. We can’t do much
more than that”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Parents of the left behind are
willing to sacrifice a family life in the hope that the money they make will
provide a better future for their children.
GRANDMA: “Our village is quite remote and you
could say we are poor here”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: When he’s old enough Li Yikui
wants to leave too.
LI YIKUI: “I’s not because I don’t want to live in
the village – it’s because I have to go to a better place to have a better
future”.
TRANSLATOR: “Why do you prefer to work in a big
city?”
LI YIKUI: “Because a big city has better
conditions and more opportunities”.
TEACHER: [addressing school assembly] “Are you
allowed to run to the dormitory?”
KIDS: “No”.
TEACHER: “Are you allowed to run to the basketball
court?”
KIDS: “No”.
TEACHER: “Are you allowed to run to the classroom?”
KIDS: “No”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Many of these kids may become part
of what’s being called a damaged generation, millions of children suffering
from emotional trauma, depression and anxiety.
The Chinese Government has only just started
admitting the enormity of the problem. Their response has been slow and small.
They’ve sent in social workers to five provinces, but they’ll only be able to
help 1% of the left behind children.
TEACHER: [in classroom] “Take out your pen and
paper”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: The kids here haven’t seen any
social workers. Local officials say what would help most is for the Central
Government to reform the residency permit system.
ZHU MEIPING: [Hefeng Education Bureau] “I think
our country should allow our migrant workers’ children to go with them, to
where they work. This will be a good solution”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: To understand the true scale of
the plight of the left behind kids, you have to go where there is no help at
all from the authorities. This is Xichehe in neighbouring Hunan province. We’ve
sent the ABC’s Chinese producer and cameraman here to film. As a Western
journalist, I would be stopped by authorities.
Here 80% of the kids are growing up without
parents. Some return from time to time to visit their children, but many are
never seen again. The emotional and psychological trauma under the town’s
peaceful exterior is imploding families, the core structure that has sustained
rural China for centuries.
Social worker Pan Yayun is on a mission to help
the most damaged kids. She understands their pain. Pan Yayun was a left behind
kid herself.
PAN YAYUN: “What they badly need is emotional
support. There’s nothing there for them. I want to let them know that I’m not
someone with empty words. Not someone who hasn’t been through this. No, I’m
not. I first try to understand their feelings. This is very important to them”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: She works for a tiny Christian NGO
called Children Charity International and she treks all over these mountains to
get to the kids. Today she’s come to visit 10 year old Liang Mingzhao and his
seven year old sister, Liang Mengjie. They’ve been abandoned by their mother
and their father who’s working in the city and hasn’t made contact in years.
Their grandparents provide basic care.
PAN YAYUN: “So you three sleep in this bed?
LIANG MINGZHAO: “Yes”.
PAN YAYUN: “Your grandmother and your sister sleep
at this end and you sleep at the other end? Is it crowded?”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “No it’s not”.
PAN YAYUN: “It must be warm in winter. Is it hot
in summer?”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “Yes it is”.
PAY YAYUN: “I want to take your picture with your
brother”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Pan Yayun has managed to track
down their father. She’s taking photos of the kids to send to him and is about
to surprise them with a call.
PHONE RINGS [boy is shocked]
PAY YAYUN: “Who is that?”
[CHECK]: “Should I pick it up?”
PAY YAYUN: Hello? Hello? Are you the father of
Liang Mingzhao?
FATHER: “Yes, yes I went to buy food and just came
back”.
PAY YAYUN: “I see. I am at your home. Did you see
the photos I sent you?”
FATHER: “Yes, I’ve seen them. Thank you”.
PAY YAYUN: “Could you also send me a photo of you?”
FATHER: “Of me?”
PAY YAYUN: “Yes, so I can show it to your kids”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: The boy can’t believe it.
PAY YAYUN: “Come over here and talk to him”.
LIANG MINGZHAO: “Hello?”
FATHER: “Hey son!”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “Yes”.
FATHER: “Are you there with your sister?”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “Yes”.
FATHER: “Will the teacher be with you for dinner?”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “Um… no”.
FATHER: “Work hard and try to achieve a good mark
this year”.
LIANG MINGZHAO: “Yes”.
FATHER: “Do you call your mother?”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “No”.
FATHER: “Did you call your mum?”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “I didn’t”.
FATHER: “Why not?”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “I don’t want to”.
FATHER: “Why not?”
LIANG MINGZHAO: “I’m too scared to call”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: His sister is hiding outside, but
ultimately she’s persuaded to talk to him.
LIANG MENGJIE: “Yes”.
PAN YAYUN: “Have a look at this, your dad has sent
his photo. Have a look at your dad”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: It’s a shaky start. Pan Yayun
knows it will take years to re-establish any relationship and she also knows
it’s the only hope for these children.
PAN YAYUN: “If he’d make more contact with his
children he’d realise that his kids are great, they’re not the burden he’d
imagined and it’s worth spending a few hundred yuan to make the trip home. I
just want their parents to know that their children are precious”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Back in town Pan Yayun is joined
by the founder of the NGO, Joseph Lim. They’re visiting fourteen year old Xiang
Ling. With no parents at home she’s become the primary carer of the household.
She looks after her grandmother who’s had a stroke and her three younger
cousins. She cooks and cleans and goes to school and she’s been doing it since
she was ten years old.
TRANSLATOR: “If you have to go to school, how can
you find time to do all your chores? Tell me how you spend your day”.
XIANG LING: “I get up early to prepare a simple
breakfast and then go to school. And when I return home, I wash clothes and
prepare dinner”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Not surprisingly the pressure can
get too much for Xiang Ling. So Joseph has organised a sponsor to help her
financially and emotionally. Like many left behind girls, she’s lost her
childhood.
JOSEPH LIM: “Xiang Ling, there’s a message from
your sponsor. Have a listen”.
SISTER WEISHENG: “Dear Xiang Ling. Hello, I’m
Sister Weisheng. Uncle Lim told me about your life recently. He sent me your
photos and paintings. I feel really, really sad and sorry for you. I don’t see
you often. I miss you so much, and pray for you. I’m far away and can’t do much
for you, but I want you to know I love you very much”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: The parents in this household do
call and come back once a year, but they’re not there for the key moments, the
milestones in their children’s lives. Xiang’s little cousin’s greatest wish is
to have a birthday cake. She’s never had one.
TRANSLATOR: “Why do you want a birthday cake so
much?”
XIANG’S COUSIN: “Because I never celebrated my
birthday before”.
TRANSLATOR: “Did your parents call you?”
XIANG’S COUSIN: “No”.
TRANSLATOR: “Did your parents call you for your
birthday?”
XIANG’S COUSIN: [shakes head]
TRANSLATOR: “Would you like to tell your parents
anything?”
XIANG’S COUSIN: “No”.
TRANSLATOR: “Do you have a wish?”
XIANG’S COUSIN: “I want my mum to come home now”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Just up the road a grandma is
venting her anger. She’s not coping raising her granddaughter.
XIE BINGXIN’S GRANDMA: “She doesn’t have a
conscience. There’s no point in her studying. I’m very upset with her. She
never washes the dishes, or sweeps the floor. She doesn’t wash anything. She
doesn’t even wash her own clothes, let alone mine”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Sixteen year old Xie Bingxin’s
mother left for work in the city and remarried. Now her grandmother doesn’t
want her anymore.
PAN YAYUN : “You can’t blame her, it’s not her
fault.
XIE BINGXIN’S GRANDMA: “She’s a disappointment.
Why can’t I blame her? We can barely afford to raise two kids. Her grandpa lost
his father when he was young. It was hard for him but he still behaved well. He
was not like you, failing the family. I’m telling you in front of all these
people. You go wherever you want to go. I can’t afford to raise you. I’m
telling you I’ve cried so much over both of you. I can’t afford to raise you. I
don’t have enough energy to be heartbroken. My eyes are damaged from crying so
much. I’ve tried to talk to you, but you never listen. If you won’t listen,
then you leave”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Xie Bingxin often runs away. Pan
Yayun and Joseph want to remove her for her own protection.
JOSEPH LIM: “We will talk to the sponsors about a
solution for her. But there are many kids like this in the mountain area. They
suffer a lot of stress and psychological trauma. We hope we can help to improve
their low self-esteem and repair emotional damage so they can follow their
dreams”.
PAN YAYUN: “What does your grandma often say about
you?”
XIE BINGXIN: “She says bad things about me”.
PAN YAYUN: “What’s that?”
XIE BINGXIN: “I don’t know really”.
PAN YAYUN: How do you feel when you hear her
saying those things every day?”
XIE BINGXIN: “I don’t know”.
PAN YAYUN: “She’s the kind of child who has
nothing to share with others when asked. She’d be always smiling with her head
down. Or she’d respond with fixed facial expressions and you’d hardly see any
change in her face. It may take more time to build a relationship with her”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Xie Bingxin is typical of many of
the left behind cases they try to help. Many have never known love, only
rejection, so they become totally withdrawn. Joseph says it will take years of
work to begin the healing, to restore a trust and build self-esteem.
JOSEPH LIM: “And we always tell them that, you
know, compared to any children outside, you are the same. You have a name, you
are human being, you are of value. And we come here because we love you and we
will value you as a human being”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: In the hills above town, a crisis
is brewing. A fourteen year old boy they’ve been supporting says he wants to
quit school.
GRANDMOTHER: “Are you there? Hurry up”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Pan Yayun and his grandmother talk
to Xiang Biao. He says his life is finished here.
XIANG BIAO: “I can’t bear it here anymore”.
GRANDMOTHER: “You can’t bear it anymore?”
XIANG BIAO: “It’s killing me”.
GRANDMOTHER: “You’re so ridiculous”.
XIANG BIAO: “I’d rather die than study”.
PAN YAYUN: “You’d rather die than study? Do you
feel study is more suffering than death?”
XIANG BIAO: “Yes”.
GRANDMOTHER: “Stupid idiot. Is mucking around too
hard for you?”
XIANG BIAO: “I will go and find a job”.
GRANDMOTHER: “You won’t find a job!”
XIANG BIAO: “I will”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: They can’t convince him otherwise
so they call in Joseph to try and talk him around. Xiang Biao has no plans
about where and what kind of work he’ll do.
JOSEPH LIM: “Most factories won’t take you because
you haven’t reached the legal age to work”.
XIANG BIAO: “I don’t want to study”.
JOSEPH LIM: “If you don’t study, how can you
support yourself outside?”
XIANG BIAO: “I can… I can”.
GRANDMOTHER: “You’ll collect garbage then”.
XIANG BIAO: “Collecting rubbish doesn’t matter”.
GRANDMOTHER: “A young man picking up rubbish with
a stick!”
JOSEPH LIM: “Don’t give up on yourself”.
XIANG BIAO: “I don’t want to study”.
JOSEPH LIM: “That’s fine if you don’t want to go
to school – learn a trade. Don’t give up on yourself”.
GRANDMOTHER: “I think you should do an
apprenticeship!”
MATTHEW CARNEY: Xiang won’t change his mind, but
most concerning for Joseph is that he wants no support or contact when he
leaves.
XIANG BIAO: “I don’t want contact”.
JOSEPH LIM: “They’ll worry about you and where you
are. You’re their grandson”.
XIANG BIAO: “I don’t want contact”.
JOSEPH LIM: “You are not alone in this world”.
XIANG BIAO: “I don’t want contact”.
JOSEPH LIM: “You have us. You can contact us”.
XIANG BIAO: “I won’t contact anyone”.
GRANDMOTHER: “You just leave. Leave”.
XIANG BIAO: “I want to leave and I will leave”.
PAN YAYUN: “Why?”
XIANG BIAO: “No reason”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Xiang Biao’s parents abandoned him
when he was a baby. After four years, Joseph and Pan Yayun thought they were
making progress with him so they’re deeply saddened to see him go and they feel
the cycle is destined to continue.
JOSEPH LIM: “He pushes us away because it’s quite
difficult for him to accept love from other people and he hadn’t received love
and care from other people for quite a long time. He doesn’t know how to accept
our love, and chooses to push us away, push the grandparents away. We are
heartbroken looking at this”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Joseph’s NGO has built a drop in
centre at a nearby town to provide a safe place for two hundred children. Here
they can get a bed, a meal or just talk. Pan Yayun has managed to get Xie
Bingxin away from her angry grandmother. Rebuilding relationships and providing
hope is the key to saving this generation of left behind kids, otherwise the
cost will be massive.
JOSEPH LIM: “Of the 61 million, one third which is
about 20 million will get involved in short term or long term criminal
activities. I can’t imagine what that would do to China itself. Another 20
million might be in mental institutions short term or long term”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Back in Hefeng county the local
government is trying to deal with the problems too. They’re starting with the
basics, with help from Chinese NGO free lunch, they’re now providing two meals
a day. Previously, many children only had one. Many of them were stunted in
growth and suffered from anaemia, four times as much as city kids. Now they
have protein with every meal and it’s having an impact.
PRINCIPAL OF SCHOOL: “Since the launch of the free
lunch project the average height of students is increasing on an annual basis,
and more students are meeting the target health standards. While they’re
enjoying their free lunches they can feel love and care from society. So they
will be grateful and more likely to contribute to the community. And thus they
will develop healthier personalities”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: “For Li Yikui, the first boy we
met who was missing his mother so much there’s some good news. His mother, Zhou
Qiong has travelled 24 hours in a bus to see him for the first time in about a
year.
ZHOU QIONG: [carrying her suitcase up the mountain
path] “He has changed a lot now. He’s more mature”.
LI YIKUI: [yelling] “Mum!”
ZHOU QIONG: “I asked him, ‘Do you hate me?’ He
said, ‘no’. ‘Do you blame me?’ ‘No’. He has suffered a lot for sure, but he
doesn’t talk about it. You can try to satisfy him by buying him material things
but this will never compensate for the relationship of a mother and son”.
[hugging and greeting on path together]
ZHOU QIONG: [Li takes the suitcase] “Let me take
it”.
LI YIKUI: “I’ll do it”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: The grandparents have prepared a
feast for her return and they slowly get used to each other again.
ZHOU QIONG: [pointing at the dishes on the table]
“Do you like this one? Looks like you like this one. Not for me”.
MATTHEW CARNEY: Then she gives Li Yikui some
presents.
ZHOU QIONG: “Do you like it?”
LI YIKUI: “Yes I like it”.
ZHOU QIONG: “Do you want to try it?” [remote
control car – laughing]
MATTHEW CARNEY: But she has a much bigger
surprise. When he starts high school in two years, she will pay for Li Yikui’s
schooling so he can come and live with her in the city.
ZHOU QIONG: “If my son studies well at the city
school he’ll have opportunities after he graduates. That’s what I think. Every
parent wants their child to have a better life”.
LI YIKUI: “I’m very happy. It’s hard to describe
how I feel. In other words, it’s just like I’m flying”. [beaming]
MATTHEW CARNEY: For most of the millions of
children who’ve been left behind, the promise of a better life may prove
elusive. For them China’s economic progress has come at a price – a price
that’s still to be fully understood. But for one boy, the ordeal may be soon
over.