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.