Work for migrant women bears fruit

Lei Haizhen says her fate changed in 2009 when she met social workers doing voluntary work for migrant women in Shanghai.

Onlookers could be forgiven for not believing how bitter life once was for the 30-year-old, who comes from a rural area in Zhejiang province, and is now a manager for an environmental services company and happily married. Not long ago she was unemployed and lived alone.

"I feel a connection with the city now," Lei said.

She married a Shanghai native in 2007, and is one of the nearly 2,000 migrant women in Sanlin township in Pudong New Area.

The Shanghai Social Workers Agency for Public Affairs, a nonprofit organization which provides care for families and communities, has been working since February 2009 on a care program for migrant women in the township.

"What we try to do is push them to integrate into the city's life instead of drifting on the edge," said Zheng Yan, deputy director-general of the agency. "It's much more difficult to really get involved in the city's life than to just enter the city," she said.

After an initial survey on the township's migrant women, the agency set up a database and separated the women into different categories based on their demands and concerns. It invited them to lectures on themes like tenancy, employment and children's schooling.

Unemployment is a persistent problem because many of them are from rural areas and have little education, Zheng said.

"We encourage them to work. It's a major step for them," she added.

Lei was told she could work as a cleaner of the pavilions before the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

"I was unwilling at first to do cleaning work, but I was finally persuaded as they explained the importance of being economically independent," Lei said.

Her work was rewarded by bringing her a manager position a year later.

"We saw a different woman after she started working. The job gave her opportunities to associate with colleagues from various backgrounds," Zheng said.

Diversified vocational training is provided for free at the agency. Professional teachers give courses on, for example, baby care.

Data from the agency show that the employment rate of the migrant women in Sanlin township increased from 50 percent to 70 percent in the past three years.

The women are also more confident and reveal higher social skills.

Weekly sessions at the agency usually get a full house, but the number is decreasing - more and more women have found work and have their circles of friends.

"Many of the women now work in kindergartens as babysitters and professional baby bath service providers," said Li Hui, a 41-year-old volunteer at the agency.

Li was once a beneficiary of the project herself. She got a certificate as a nursery teacher after professional courses provided by the agency in 2011. She joined the social workers after getting a job and marrying a Shanghai resident.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn