Rubing's grandma Xiang Jiayan says she first heard of ECD during volunteer campaigns. "In the past, I only worried whether the pigs had been fed and the tea leaves picked. Now I also think of doing some reading with my granddaughter."
Two years ago, Wang Haiyan quit her job in a foreign trade company in Shenzhen, where she earned 100,000 yuan (about $14,500 dollars) a year. She was trained in the UNICEF-ACWF joint project to become an ECD volunteer in Wangjiaping Village. Her new salary is just 1,500 yuan (about $210 dollars) a month.
She walks 40 minutes on mountain road to the ECD center, where she welcomes children, sorts toys and books, and organizes parent-child activities every week.
"It's difficult to fix the problem if a child fails to develop properly at early childhood. I hope parents in rural areas can see the benefits of early education for children," says Wang.
Lingbao Village, in the suburbs of Hubei's Yichang City, is home to another pilot ECD center. Since 2014, the center has given 73 children under 3 years and their families ECD support.
Liao Xinyi was born in August 2014, the same time Lingbao's ECD center was established. Xinyi's mother, Lian Lanlan, has been taking her to the service center every week to listen to music, read books, and play with other children since she was just a few months old.
Xinyi is lively and cheerful. She can sing the English alphabet song and loves watching Peppa Pig cartoons. "We used to go to the center three times a week. Now the place is under renovation so we haven't been there for a while," Lian says. "Whenever Xinyi walks past the center, she says, 'I miss my teachers and friends'."
Lingbao is renovating and refurnishing the center. Village head Wang Kangjun says that the village has invested 300,000 yuan (about $43,700 dollars) in expanding it. The activity room has been expanded from an area of 20 square meters to 400 square meters, so all the village children will be able to enjoy it with their parents. The building materials are environment-friendly, and the construction work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
"The ECD pilot project also drives improvement of infrastructure in the village," says Wang Kangjun. "To encourage villagers to bring their children to the center, the government invested 15 million yuan (about $2.18 million dollars) last year in a new paved road and planting trees."
The project has also changed the lives of the volunteers. Yang Rong was the first ECD volunteer in Lingbao Village. With a qualification in advertising design, she used to work in the village council and had no knowledge of how to mix with children.
"When I attended the UNICEF training, there was a simulation task requiring me to manage children at play. I was so nervous I could barely speak. My hand, which was holding the book, was trembling and the entire scene went out of control," Yang recalls. "All I could do was to read through the manual provided by UNICEF again and again. I gradually managed to master the techniques of getting along with children, and started to enjoy the work."
Yang's volunteer work won support from people in the village. Last month she was elected by an overwhelming majority as a member of the People's Congress in the district as a representative of Lingbao Village.
This year, 26 new pilot sites have been added to UNICEF's Early Child Development Community and Family Support Program. By 2020, it will support 146 ECD centers.
"We hope the Early Child Development Service Program can be replicated and developed in a sustainable manner," says Zhao Qi, education officer of UNICEF China. "The model and experience gained from these pilot projects provide a basis for the government to develop and implement policies. They will improve childhood for more children and families."
