Children At Risk

How should we protect children who are at risk of exploitation? Most of us would hardly know how and where to begin such a vitally important task. As with anything really important it needs training. So that is what we have been doing - but we're not doing it alone.

Christian Action has cooperated with the Qinghai Provincial Civil Affairs Department (QHCAD) for more than 20 years to better address the challenges that are brought on by severe poverty. There are child protection laws, but they are regularly violated.

In 2015, we entered into a new 10-year partnership with the QHCAD in the hope that our efforts would contribute to the well-being of the disadvantaged communities in Qinghai. Under the agreement, Christian Action assists the Provincial Government to care for 36,000 at-risk children, develop a new training programme for the local child welfare workers; facilitate the development of local NGOs, and support services for the elderly and disabled.

Kenson, one of our Qinghai colleagues, conducted a recent training workshop, which focused on how to better serve children from different backgrounds. He was deeply inspired by the content of the workshop and we believe strongly that it will have a lasting impact on the work of child welfare workers in Qinghai. The workshop went beyond what many of them had learned in university. It went a long way to equipping them with the practical skills they needed to meet each child's unique needs.

Pray with us that Kenson's success in training these faithful workers will result in better care for helpless little ones.