Voices from the Factory: Child Friendly Space Motivates Migrant Family to Lay Down Roots in Host City

“I never knew that in the eyes of my children, I am red.” Mr. Miao said. 

He just learned from Teacher Wang that both of his children said their father was always ‘red’ during a recent in-class activity whereby children were asked to associate a colour with their parents. 

“I should have spent more time with my children to get to know them better.” 

Mr. Miao sighed. Before this summer, both of his children – six-year-old Miao Mengle and three-year-old Miao Mengge –  lived with their grandparents back in their hometown in Zhoukou, Henan Province. Mr. Miao and his wife, Ms. Wang, joined his factory in December 2017 and have been living in Wenzhou since then. Though the grandparents were responsible and caring for the children, Ms. Wang worries that they might be too caring or even spoil the children. 

“They [the grandparents) would often satisfy all their needs and let them do whatever they wanted.”

In previous summers, either Mr. Miao or his wife would take some days off to go back home and visit their children. This year, their factory rented a classroom in a nearby kindergarten to start the CFS programme and hired professional teachers. Miao Mengle and Miao Mengge came to Wenzhou to spend the summer with their parents for the first time.

The two children liked the centre very much. 

“My favourite activity here is building robots. We can use different blocks to build a truck, a digger, or we can design a robot ourselves. This is not easy you see, because we have to find the right blocks and put them together. We all need to learn how to use screwdrivers.” 

The brother likes the robotics class a lot, and he would proudly tell Ms. Wang what he made in class that day and show her the picture.

Compared to her brother, Mengge is quieter and a little bit shy. Despite being the youngest child in the class, she behaves very well and is always very active. 

“Sometimes when I asked the children to recite poems or learn new songs, Mengge would always try her best to follow even though she couldn’t read most of the characters,” Teacher Wang commented. 

Besides robotics and reciting classics, the CFS offered a range of activities: drawing, singing & dancing, story-telling and more. Mr. Miao and Ms. Wang were glad that their children learned a lot during the past few weeks. 

“Every day, when they come back from CFS, they will excitedly show me what they’ve learned that day.” Ms. Wang said.

Lessons learned

The parents also learned a lot after this summer. 

“Before they came here for the summer, I usually cooked a simple dinner after work and then played on my phone because I had nothing else to do. Now I pick them up, ask them what they want to eat for dinner, prepare the food while talking to them about their day, play games with them after dinner or take them out for a walk with my husband.  Even though I have more things to do, I feel much more fulfilled because my time is well spent,” Ms. Wang explained. 

“I didn’t spend enough time with them, so sometimes I don’t know how to communicate with them. When I see the children doing something inappropriate, I want to correct them so much that I can be impatient and irritable. Maybe that’s why they think I’m always red.” 

Mr. Miao reflected. After having regular conversations with the teachers at CFS, Mr. Miao and his wife learned how to communicate with their children more effectively to educate them better.

Long-term unity

“I’m grateful to our factory for organizing the CFS programme. Because of the CFS, I can spend more time with them, and we can all get to know each other better.” 

The couple were very satisfied with this year’s CFS programme and decided to have the children stay with them after the summer. 

“It might be a little bit difficult to find schools for them, but there will always be solutions. The most important thing is for the family to stay together,” Mr. Miao said of his family plans. 

“We’ll definitely send them to CFS next year as they enjoyed their time here very much!”

Click here to learn more about our Child Friendly Spaces programme and how you or your supplier can join.