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Half the Sky provides model programs and caregiver training designed to offer loving, family-like care to children of all ages and abilities.
It is our goal to ensure that every orphaned child has a caring adult in her life and a chance at a bright future.
THere are a mIllIon
orpHaned cHIldren In cHIna.
When three-year-old ZiYun entered a Half the Sky Foundation Little Sisters Preschool, she always sat alone and “kept silent.” When her teacher, Dong ZiQi, tried to communicate with her, “She just listened to me and had no facial expression….she didn’t look into my eyes.” ZiYun didn’t communicate with other children either; when the children played, ZiYun would sit in a corner and watch. “When she was unhappy or angry, she opened her eyes and cried hard.”
Like many children who have lost their families, ZiYun had built a seemingly impregnable shell around herself, a shell that Dong ZiQi patiently tried to crack: “I knew ZiYun had to feel more love. I took more time to play and talk with ZiYun. I told her that I hoped she could look at me when we talked. I often hugged her and stroked her. I encouraged her to participate in the activities. When she cried, I carried her in my arms and said, ‘Don’t cry, I’m here.’” At first ZiYun continued to keep her distance. Then, bravely, she started reaching out, holding her teacher’s hand and shyly making eye contact, and then tentatively joining in games with other children. Dong ZiQi knew that ZiYun was on the road to becoming the happy child she was born to be when she started responding to the music played at the beginning of each school day by nodding her head and waving her arms to the rhythm.
Soon ZiYun started greeting her teacher like an old friend, tapping her on the back and saying “fine.” Then ZiYun started taking part in all of the preschool’s activities and even liked to clean up after she had a snack. Finally, ZiYun can feel the love around her. Her teacher is thrilled: “She will grow up happily.”
The children We Serve
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Growing up happily with the ability to feel love is a challenge for children who have lost their families and who are living in crowded orphanages. Half the Sky Foundation, a global NGO based in Beijing, Hong Kong and Berkeley, offers innovative programs that enable these children to learn to love and be loved.
Half the Sky trains its staff to provide nurturing care no matter how long and how often they are rejected by angry, wounded children. Since Half the Sky was founded in 1998, there have been thousands of children like ZiYun who have been transformed – so many wounded children who have courageously reached out to receive and give love.
The care that Half the Sky provides is as ancient and basic as a mother’s kiss, but its impact is pro-found. When children learn to receive and give love, neuroscientists tell us that their brain devel-opment is enhanced. So watching children blossom when given unconditional love is not only a heartwarming miracle to behold, but also a way of helping fend off the problems so common in institutionalized children who have been fed and clothed, but not cherished.
Thanks to Half the Sky’s generous supporters, once forgotten children are learning what it means to have a doting adult exulting over every one of their developmental milestones. Like doting Half the Sky nanny Xia Gu, who wrote this report about HaiYan when she was seven months old:
When I first met HaiYan she was very weak. She could raise her head only for 30 seconds when lying on her stomach. I often helped her move her legs and arms so she would become stronger and I sang to her. When I sang to her and played with her she would get very excited and would smile at me. I made sure her food was very nutritious. Now HaiYan can raise her head for about ten minutes when lying on her stomach and she can turn over easily. She is very active – she can sit for 10 to 15 minutes with my help or three to four minutes on her own. She can hold the milk bottle to drink milk. When I talk to her, she smiles at me.
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In the nearly two decades since it was founded, Half the Sky has brought the love of family to ZiYun and HaiYun and nearly 100,000 more at risk children of all ages.
Some of the children in Half the Sky’s programs are adopted, including some with severe, congenital medical conditions who received lifesaving surgery; others are thriving in local primary schools in China; some attend vocational schools; others have defied the odds by studying at universities.
Some children whose special needs preclude them from being adopted and who would likely otherwise grow up in institutions, live in Family Villages with loving parents who have committed to taking care of them until they reach adulthood. Finally, these children have a mom and dad to call their own.
Some children have learned to move on with their lives after being traumatized by a natural disaster, including the devastating 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province.
But despite the many thousands of children whose lives have been transformed by trained, loving adults, there are still too many children who have not yet been reached.
Launched in 2011, the Rainbow Program is designed to reach every child by co-training (with the government) and mentoring every child welfare worker in the country. This groundbreaking public/NGO/private partnership (with crucial funding from JPMorgan Chase Foundation), will, over six years, upgrade the entire social welfare system.
In addition, because the government has committed to opening the doors of social welfare institutions to at risk children as well as orphaned children, the program will eventually reach disadvantaged children all over China who have been waiting too long to know that they too are loved and they too have a chance for a bright future.
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Infant Nurture ProgramStimulation and Love for Orphaned Babies
Half the Sky’s Infant Nurture Program employs HTS-trained “nannies” from the local community, to provide comfort and nurturing for orphaned babies (0-3 years). The nannies provide the physical and emotional stimula-tion essential for normal development of the brain and psychological well-being. The program focuses on the tremendous gains infants can make in the first three years of life physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually, and on what babies can learn with the help of a caring, attentive adult. Nannies are trained in the basics of child development, attachment theo-ry, special issues and therapies for institutionalized children, and are assigned three to five babies each, to provide ongoing individualized care.
Little Sisters Preschool ProgramPreparing young children to reach their potential
At Half the Sky’s Little Sisters Preschools, trained teachers use a unique and progressive curriculum that blends principles of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education with contemporary Chinese teaching methods. The program is designed not only to prepare the children (3-8 years) to succeed in Chinese schools, but also to help develop the “whole child” so the children develop a positive sense of self that is so often missing in institutionalized children.
Special areas are designed for art, music, reading, imaginary play and developing motor skills. Teachers build on the approach fostered in the Infant Nurture Program by developing curriculum and projects based on each child’s interests.
Teachers have a teaching certificate or a college degree and also undergo Half the Sky training, which emphasizes documenting each child’s progress to create a personal history and permanent record for children who do not have a family to mark their milestones and achievements.
Youth Services ProgramA second chance at a bright future for older orphans
Older orphaned children, especially those who have spent their lives in welfare institutions and have not had the benefit of early education, often simply give up on themselves. But when encouraged by caring mentors and teachers, they have the same dreams as every child. Half the Sky’s Youth Services Program provides young people – some abandoned at birth, others orphaned by AIDS – with individualized education and job opportunities according to their own interests, talents and aspirations.
Half the Sky’s programs
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Family Village Program A loving home for even the most challenged child
Children whose medical and developmental challenges preclude them from finding adoptive families face the probability of spending their entire childhoods in welfare institutions. Half the Sky’s Family Village Program provides an alternative: the loving care of a permanent family.
In cooperation with local governments, Half the Sky offers apartments on or adjacent to orphanage grounds. Each family consists of a full-time mother, working dad, and four children. The foster parents commit to taking care of the children until they reach adulthood. The children grow up knowing the love of a permanent family while also receiving the support services provided by the welfare institu-tion and Half the Sky’s programs.
China Care Home Beyond survival for China’s most vulnerable citizens
A baby arrives at an orphanage somewhere in China. The child is premature – too small and weak to survive. Or she has a life-threatening birth defect that requires specialized treatment that cannot be provided at any local hospital.
The China Care Home – a national model for comprehensive care for medically fragile orphaned children – provides doting pre and post-operative care for orphaned babies fighting for their lives, including round-the-clock care for the children while they are in the hospital.
When a child has recovered, she returns to the sending orphanage with a government-approved handbook of specific instructions for her follow-up medical care and a plan to ensure the child grows up in a loving and stimulating environment.
The young children study art, sewing, computer science, English, fashion design, music, calligraphy, cooking, hairdressing, soccer, ping pong, etc. Through this program, Half the Sky also pays school fees for those who have defied long odds by being accepted into vocational schools and universities throughout China.
Youth also receive mentoring and emotional support by trained mentors so they are better equipped to face the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood and especially the challanges of being an orphan.
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1997
Jenny and Richard Bowen adopted their daughter, Maya, a toddler from a welfare institution in southern China. They received a first-hand education in early childhood development and the trauma of institutionalization: she suf-fered from both physical and cognitive developmental delays. But after just one year of individual attention, love and nurture, Maya was transformed.
1998
Half the Sky Foundation – named for the Chinese adage, “Women hold up half the sky” was founded. The Foundation’s mission at its founding is the same as it is today – to train staff to provide family-like nurturing care in the lives of orphaned children.
2000
Half the Sky’s first pilot programs were launched to evaluate whether infants and preschoolers living in institutions under the care of trained, loving nannies working in Half the Sky’s Infant Nurture and Little Sisters Preschool Program would thrive as they do in families. The pilot programs found that children living in institutions did thrive under the patient, loving care of trained nannies and preschool teachers. Listless babies learned to coo, to laugh, to cuddle, and to follow the sounds of their nannies’ voices. Withdrawn, sullen preschoolers learned to draw and plant sunflowers, ride bikes, negotiate with their peers for toys, and greet their teachers with open arms.
2002
Half the Sky started its Big Sisters Program (now called Youth Services) to provide individualized learning opportunities and mentoring for older children growing up in Chinese institutions – everything from language classes, computer training, music and art lessons, vocational education, and even college tuition for those who have defied long odds to pursue their higher education dreams.
2003
Half the Sky celebrated its 5th anniversary by hosting a national conference on nurture and education in China’s welfare institutions in Hefei, Anhui. With support from the Ford Foundation, Half the Sky published For the Children, a teacher and nanny training manual for its signature approach (developed by Chinese and Western educators) to providing high-quality, nurturing care for institutionalized children. For the Children is distributed free-of-charge to welfare institutions across China.
Half the Sky’s milestones
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2005
Half the Sky announced the publication of Mei Mei (Little Sister): Portraits from a Chinese Orphanage, a spectacularly beautiful book of black & white photographic portraits of children in Chinese orphanages. The haunting photographs by Half the Sky co-founder Richard Bowen are not easily put aside.
Half the Sky opened its first Family Village, providing permanent, loving, two-parent homes for children whose physical and developmental challenges preclude them from being adopted.
2006 Half the Sky, in partnership with the Henan Province Bureau of Social Welfare, implemented a program designed by HTS, to address the special needs of children orphaned by AIDS.
2007
China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs invited Half the Sky to participate in its ambitious “Blue Sky” plan to dramatically improve care for orphans all over the country. Half the Sky was honored to accept the challenge of bringing nurturing care to social welfare institutions in all 31 provinces and municipalities.
2008
Half the Sky was deeply honored to receive the 2008 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, presented in Oxford, England to Jenny Bowen by Former US President Jimmy Carter.
Half the Sky provided relief for 98 institutions affected by the snow disaster in early 2008, and for Dujiangyan, Sichuan province when the May earthquake hit Wenchuan. In Dujiangyan, Half the Sky set up ”Big Tops,” giant tents with toys and games where children could be children again and where psychological mentoring was available for them.
Jenny Bowen was an Olympic torch bearer in Wanzhou while children from our programs cheered her on.
2009
Half the Sky starts operating its new China Care Home that provides nurturing and specialized medical care for orphaned infants and toddlers in Beijing.
2011 The groundbreaking public/NGO/private partnership, the Rainbow Program, was launched at the Great Hall of the People on Children’s Day. The Rainbow Program is changing the face of orphan care all over China.
2012 Our Chinese sister organization, Chunhui Bo’Ai Children’s Foundation (“Chunhui Children”) was registered as a charity in Beijing.
2014
Half the Sky Founder & CEO Jenny Bowen’s memoir and history of Half the Sky Foundation, Wish You Happy Forever: What China’s Orphans Taught Me About Moving Mountains, was published by HarperCollins in March.
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Q:Why is the Foundation called Half the Sky?A: When Half the Sky was founded in 1998, it was named after the Chinese adage “Women hold up half the sky” because the vast majority of healthy abandoned children were girls. Today, orphanage populations have changed somewhat, but it is still Half the Sky’s goal to help orphaned children hold up their half of the sky.
Q: What is Half the Sky’s mission?A: Half the Sky was created in order to enrich the lives of orphaned children in China. We provide model programs and caregiver training designed to offer loving, family-like care to children of all ages and abilities. It is our goal to ensure that every orphaned child has a caring adult in her life and a chance at a bright future.
Q: Where in China does Half the Sky work?A: Half the Sky works all over China and through the Rainbow Program is helping to train every child welfare worker in the nation.
Q: Is Half the Sky involved with adoption?A: No. Half the Sky is not an adoption agency. Though many of our loyal supporters are adoptive families, we have nothing to do with the adoption process.
Q: How did Half the Sky develop its approach to child development?A: Half the Sky’s approach to nurturing the institutionalized child draws from Italy’s Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, which is focused on helping the “whole child” develop a strong sense of self, love of learning, and individual expression; and then it incorporates traditional Chinese methods to best prepare children for success in local community schools.
Frequently asked Questions…
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MAINLAND CHINA Half the Sky Foundation Unit 4-2-142 Jianguomenwai Diplomatic Compound Chaoyang District, Beijing PR CHINA 100600 Phone: +86(10) 8532-3042 Fax: +86(10) 8532-1920
USA Half the Sky Foundation 715 Hearst Avenue, Ste 200 Berkeley, CA 94710 USA Phone: +1-510-525-3377 Fax: +1-510-525-3611
HONG KONG Half the Sky Foundation (Asia) Ltd. Room 2703, 27/F Shun Feng International Centre 182 Queen’s Road East Wanchai, Hong Kong Phone:+852 2520-5266 Fax: +852 2520-5168
ON THE WEB:
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HaLF tHe SkY CHiLdren’S CenterS
anhui - Hefei, ChuzhouChongqingFujian - XiamenGuangdong - Guangzhou, Huazhou, Maoming-Maonan, Qingyuan, Shaoguan, ShenzhenGuangxi - Beihai, Guilin, Nanning, WuzhouGuizhou - GuiyangHainan - Haikou, SanyaHebei - ShijiazhuangHeilongjiang - HarbinHenan - Luoyang, Xinyang, ZhengzhouHubei - Huangshi, WuhanHunan - Changsha, Chenzhou, Shaoyang, Yiyang, Yueyang inner Mongolia - Hohhot, Baotou
Jiangsu - Changzhou, Gaoyou, Lianyungang, NanjingJiangxi - Fuzhou, Jiujiang, NanchangJilin - ChangchunLiaoning - ShenyangNingxia Shaanxi - Xi’an Shandong - Jinan, QingdaoShanxi - DatongSichuan - Chengdu, YibintianjinXinjiang - UrumqiYunnan - KunmingChina Care Home in Beijing: Serves 250 medically fragile infants and toddlers annually
annuaL BudGet (uSd)2012 $10,797,000 | 2013 $9,657,000 | 2014 $8,435,000
INCORPORATED IN 1998; CHARITABLE REGISTRATION IN US (1999), HONG KONG (2006), CANADA (2004, 2009), PRC (2008), UK & THE NETHERLANDS (2009), AUSTRALIA (2009)
Quick Facts about Half the Sky
