Help the future of children in rural China

Many children grow up with parents that play, read and talk to them. However, this is not the reality in rural China for children aged 0-3. Although all parents undoubtedly love their children, many do not see the benefit of playing or interacting with their children at such an early age. Last summer, I did an internship that looked at how different factors affect the health and education of rural children in China. While interviewing families in these areas, I spoke with many parents and grandparents who did not understand the value of engaging infants to play. To them, interacting with their children seems illogical as the children cannot understand or respond . Therefore, they do not buy their children any books or toys. This is a problem as many children need interaction with their parents in order to learn to speak and develop cognitively.  Studies have shown that a lack of interaction at a young age will inhibit a child’s brain development. Ultimately leading to lower overall intelligence and higher dropout rates in high school and middle school.

I will use these funds to buy books and toys for children in rural China. This will provide incentive for parents to read/play with their children as the financial burden of buying these toys and books would be alleviated. 

I am going back to rural China over the summer with the same internship program, which is when I will distribute the toys and books to families in rural China.  I plan to document my work to share the inspiring results with generous donors.

In addition to raising money to buy toys, I am also trying to use this platform to raise awareness for this issue, so that others may also make efforts to help the next generation or rural children.

Any amount of money is appreciated.

Thank You!