Free The Children

Free The Children began working in China in 2002 following a disastrous event. While working at a factory and putting together fireworks to pay for their schooling, 38 children between the ages of eight and 11 were killed in an explosion. In response, Free The Children started implementing development and education projects in some of China’s poorest areas. Our projects are located in the rural communities of the Gansu, Hebei, Liaoning, Anhui, Sichuan and Guangdong provinces. While many communities in these regions may have schools, their infrastructure tends to be very old and extremely unsafe.

the issues.

Since we started working in China, Free The Children has built and furnished schools to provide education for impoverished children in the rural Mengquan province. What’s more is that, with great inequality between boys’ and girls’ access to education, a focus of our work in China has been on the girl child and working with women in rural communities through our alternative income projects. By providing communities with access to these crucial initiatives, Free The Children is empowering children to become the main agents of change in their own lives.

China is home to 18% of the world’s poor.
Some 300 million people living in rural areas of China (or nearly a quarter of China's population) don't have access to safe drinking water.
About 150 million people in China live on less than $1 a day.
Of the 10 million Chinese children who are out of school, more than half are working in situations of child labour.

where we work now.

Click here to learn more about Free The Children’s past projects.

mengquan, china

Changing Lives: Meet Jingjing

Twelve-year-old Jingjing lives with her parents and younger sister and brother in the rural community of Mengquan, China. As the eldest of two farming parents, Jingjing is responsible for much of the household chores, including fetching water and firewood, cooking, and caring for her younger siblings.

But even with all her responsibilities, Jingling is grateful that she still has the time and the opportunity to go to the new Mengquan school, built by Free The Children.

Jingjing is a smart girl and loves to study. She dreams of going to university and becoming a teacher. It’ll take a lot of perseverance to get there, but her new school has given her hope that absolutely anything is possible.