SYB trainers and program manager with Baoji Xinxing students and teacher
Visit at Baoji Xinxing Aid for Street Kids Center
Baoji Xinxing: a place for street kids to call home
The first step of our recruitment trip was in Shaanxi, Baoji at Xinxing Aid for Street Kids.
Founded in 2006, Baoji Xinxing (New Star) Aid for Street Kids (ASK) is a non-profit, independent private organization specializing in aid for street kids. Their aim is to provide immediate assistance, early intervention and supportive actions to street kids and marginalized kids.
The children they help are around three to eighteen. The first program of Baoji Xinxing was to help street kids to get in touch with their families and to help them pay for their bus or train tickets back home. However, they realized that in some cases the children do not have a family anymore, or their family is not willing to take care of them. As a result, they created a center for homeless kids to live, develop and get an education.
Street kids are usually brought to the Baoji Xinxing center by policemen, citizens and staff of the center. The association provides them with psychological guidance, medical assistance, education and skill training to help these children integrate into the mainstream society. There the children can heal their traumas, try to solve the conflicts in their families as well as restore their self-confidence. Children will learn how to get along with other people, how to deal with difficulties and how to protect their own rights so that prepare for returning to the society again.
When we got to the center, it was bustling with kids taking part in their summer camp. What was striking was to see how different these kids all were: some of them had physical handicaps, others mental challenges such as autism or Down’s syndrom, others were healthy but unable to live in their families due to poverty. Every one of them needs a lot of care and attention, however Xinxing accepts all of them in their center, believing that by living together they will learn to take care of each other and grow as a family. It was really touching to see them have so much fun together, and I really commend Xinxing’s staff for their professionalism and love for the children. Xinxing believes that “We provide a chance to the children today, and they will create a harmonious world for us tomorrow.”
View their website: http://www.xinxingaid.org.cn/
Floriane, SYB program manager
宝鸡新星流浪儿童援助中心：流浪儿童的家
海上青焙坊第六届招生之路的第一站是位于陕西省的宝鸡新星流浪儿童援助中心。
宝鸡新星流浪儿童援助中心成立于2006年，是一个专业从事流浪儿童援助和保护工作的民间非营利机构。他们的目标是为流浪儿童和边缘化儿童提供及时救援，并在早期介入调停，提供支持。
宝鸡新星流浪儿童援助中心所帮助的儿童年龄介于8-18岁之间。他们的第一个项目是帮助流浪儿童与家庭取得联系，为他们支付公交车费或购买火车票，送他们回家。但是，他们慢慢意识到，有些流浪儿童已经失去了家庭，或是这些家庭已经不再愿意抚养这些孩子。因此，他们成立了一个供无家可归的孩子居住的中心，让他们在那里接受教育、得到发展。
通常，流浪儿童由警察、市民或者中心的工作人员带回中心。宝鸡新星流浪儿童援助中心为他们提供心理辅导、医疗救助、文化教育和技能培训，以帮助他们更好地融入主流社会。在那里，孩子们可以治疗他们的心理创伤，解决家庭矛盾，并重建自信心。在中心，儿童将学会如何与人相处，如何应对困难、如何保护自身的基本权益免受侵犯，为他们重新回归社会做好过渡期准备。
当我们到达中心时，那里很喧闹。孩子们都在参加中心组织的夏令营。令我们感到惊讶的是那些孩子是那么的与众不同：他们有些已经残疾，有些患有心理疾病，如自闭症或唐氏综合症，还有一些虽然很健康，但他们由于贫困无法继续留在家中。他们每一个都需要关心与帮助，而宝鸡新星接受了他们每一个人，并相信他们通过共同居住，能够学会照顾彼此，并在一个大家庭中共同成长。看到他们玩得很开心，我们也很感动。我认为宝鸡新星流浪儿童中心的工作人员非常专业，也非常喜欢这群孩子。他们的行动信念是：“今天我们为孩子提供一个机会，明天孩子为我们创造一个和谐的世界。”
访问主页：http://www.xinxingaid.org.cn/
林兰，项目经理