Library opens new chapter for left-behind children

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Yilin got up when the first light of the day began to creep in.

She and her three siblings were surrounded by piles of pink petals made of plastic spread out on the floor. They picked them up, put on some glue, and stuck them to green stems.

Yilin and one of her sisters make plastic flowers to earn money. / CGTN Photo

The 14-year-old girl lives in the remote village of Lanbiao in south China's Guangdong Province. Without any industry to bring in money and employment, the rural community has been trying hard to stay afloat economically, and many residents have turned to illicit ways, including drugs, to make ends meet, while others have looked elsewhere for opportunities.

"Around 60 percent of young people leave for cities to make a living. Many of them just leave their children behind with the elderly," said Cai Yufeng, a local official.

Yilin is one of those children.

She and her siblings moved in with their grandparents after her father went to jail.

Wu Lizhu was a left-behind child herself.

After years of wandering between cities, Wu, now 33, came back home in 2014 to open two reading rooms for local children.

Wu Lizhu reads stories for children in the library. /CGTN Photo

"What shocks and bothers me is that many children still drop out of school at a very young age," Wu said. "They have a false illusion of the outside world."

The situation is even worse for girls.

Longstanding beliefs that require girls to sacrifice their education for the sake of helping the family financially have hampered generations of young and eager minds bound by tradition. Back in Wu's time, a large number of young women received little or no education in Lanbiao.

"Through the library, we hope to at least provide books to children, giving them a platform to realize the significance of knowledge," she stressed.

Longstanding beliefs in the village often require girls to sacrifice their education for the sake of helping the family. /CGTN Photo

The library has been a safe haven for Yilin.

She and her siblings make plastic flowers to pay for their tuition fee at school. It's not a lucrative business, but with no other option, the family makes do with what is available.

Every 1,000 flowers get them between 40 yuan (5.8 U.S. dollars) and 200 yuan (29 U.S. dollars). That leaves them with little time to do anything other than gluing pink petals on green stems outside school hours.

However, the library has given them a breather.

Yilin was chosen as a "little librarian" and helps with arranging and lending books.

"Now I have one hour each day that only belongs to me," Yilin said with a smile on her face.

The teenager is a bookworm and can read a Harry Potter novel from cover to cover in two nights, sometimes one.

Yilin works as a little librarian in Wu's library. /CGTN

"She is the eldest of her siblings. Her grandmother was worried she might have to leave school to work with her mother," Wu said. "We hope the library can somehow help her continue her education."

Yilin's story is shared by many of her peers in the village.

"If we have 60 students in the class, less than 10 would go to high school," said Wu Dongqiang, a seventh grader.

"Some kids drop out of school because of their family's finances; others because they think they could earn more money by leaving home," Wu Lizhu said.

Yilin and her two sisters prepare to go to bed. /CGTN Photo

In order to arm students with the knowledge they need, Wu regularly invites people who have worked in cities to share their experience. She's also launched sex education and music classes, and keeps an eye on the children's mental health.

"I wish they have the power to make life choices for themselves," Wu said.

Director: Jiang Yuting, Zhu Danni, Li Tianfu

Film editor: Zhu Danni, Jiang Yuting

Filmed by: Jiang Yuting, Zhu Danni

Designer: Li Xiaojie

Article Written by: Jiang Yuting

Copy Editor: Nadim Diab

Producer: Wen Yaru

Chief Editor: Lin Dongwei

Supervisor: Mei Yan