China’s economy is racing ahead at breakneck speed, buoyed by urbanization, development and innovation. With more and more Chinese seeking lucrative job opportunities in cities – a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities – tens of millions of children have been left behind in rural areas.
The “left behind children,” as they are known, remain under the care of relatives, friends, or alone, and live in poverty. Many left behind children, particularly girls, have neither the means nor opportunity to receive more than nine years of compulsory education – remaining stuck in a perpetual poverty cycle.
At JYCGIF, we are on a mission to empower all teen girls to become future generation leaders – to uplift the status of women in work and society and generate upward social mobility. Providing teen girls in marginalized or underprivileged communities with access to education is key to what we do.
In a new partnership with Love Foundation, a Hong Kong-based philanthropy focused on Mainland China’s left behind children, JYCGIF has provided 100 teen girls from Guizhou province with the financial support necessary to complete their university degrees in Guizhou. The new Love Foundation-JYCGIF partnership will span four years.
“We could not be prouder to partner with Love Foundation on a cause so intertwined with our own,” says JYCGIF Founder Jennifer Yu Cheng. “At JYC Girls Impact Foundation, we know the power of education to break the cycle of poverty by building stronger, healthier families and creating the best circumstances for generational upward mobility.
“More educated women tend to be healthier, employed, active members of society who choose to marry and have children later in life. The personal and family gains in health, employment and civic life afforded by education create a lasting domino effect of prosperity. We hope to create such a positive, lasting impact on the girls, families and communities of Guizhou.”
“There is a saying: ‘Robust youths build a strong country; bright youths shape a wise nation,’” says Love Foundation Founder and Chairman Agnes Chiang. “Whether this enormous group of left behind children will become the burden or the hope of our country rests on our decisions today and the actions each of us takes now. We could not be more grateful to JYCGIF for taking concrete, meaningful action today to uplift teen girls in Guizhou for a better tomorrow.”
