The negative effect of poverty often spans across generations. Farmers who migrated to the cities for better opportunities usually find themselves experiencing the same hardships, only in different forms, while putting their children in a specific set of challenges.

Kunming is the destination of a large migrant worker population. Children who migrated with their parents are often very young and suffer from the transition from rural areas to cities. They are often being segregated over their status, and are excluded from the local education, medical, and residential benefits due to the ownership of foreign household registrations. Schools are less likely to admit them, and even if the family could afford the high tuition, the children might not adapt to the different education model so easily. Busy parents lack the time to stay with their children, which aggravates the situation. There are numerous cases where children are being hurt in traffic accidents, drowning, and robbery each year.

To respond to the needs of migrant children, CEDAR is supporting its partner in Kunming in establishing the Migrant Children Care Centre, which had just hosted a children summer camp where college students and volunteers had the chance to care for the migrant workers and their children. The migrant children were able to learn from the center the basic skills to survive in the city such as hygiene practices and self-defense awareness. The center also provides services through its library, children’s choir, and interest classes, where children could enjoy and find purposes in their lives. They also celebrate festivals such as Mother’s Day and Children’s Day, where the families could grow in beautiful memories.

Pray for the migrant workers in Kunming:

• Pray for God’s blessings in the daily lives of the migrant workers and their children, where they could safely grow as complete families despite the hardships. Pray for the provisions and love needed by the children.
• Pray that God would mobilize more college students and volunteers who would walk besides the migrant families.
• Pray for the fruitful service of the Migrant Children Care Centre and the extension of their blessings to include more migrant families.