Media Center

In rural China many people have never even heard of the profession of social work. So building trust, especially in remote and less developed communities, can be tough. Villagers literally swept Ruiying, a barefoot social worker from rural Yunnan Province, out of their homes in her first days on the job. But with time and tenacity, Ruiying has won the trust of the community she needs to deliver welfare services to children in need.

Social workers, who provide services to the most vulnerable population, should be equipped with adequate professional skills and hands-on experiences. As a non-professional social worker, Ruiying started her work with just three days of basic training on social work skills. Despite the enormous difficulties, she never gave up; instead, she learned through practice.

One of Ruiying's first-ever experiences as a barefoot social worker was being driven out of a villager's home with a broom. She was cursed and warned to never step over the threshold again. Just a few years later Ruiying is now a regular and warmly welcomed visitor in that same home. She explains that the woman who behaved so seemingly aggressively, was a HIV positive single mother, and simply acting out of pain and fear. Back then, realizing both the children and the mother needed support, Ruiying paid several home visits, explaining to them that she was committed to help get their life back on track. Ruiying shared with the mother what she just learned about the government's policies supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS and HIV-positive people and the application process. She also listened to the mother and children telling their agony and fears with patience, and gradually helped them access social welfare aid. 

HIV has snaked its way along drug trafficking routes and ravaged villages along the China-Myanmar border area where Ruiying works. Quite a number of children aren't able to live a happy childhood, because their parents or other relatives are either addicted to drugs or infected with HIV. Discrimination toward people affected by HIV/AIDS is a stubborn problem, and Ruiying who works with just over 1,000 children says "Many people don't definitively know whether they have the disease or not, and some of them missed the best opportunity for treatment. We encourage families and children to get tested, but many initially resistbecause they are afraid of exposing their status to the community."

Over the five years in her post, Ruiying has motivated most of the local families and children to get tested and conduct regular health checkups. HIV/AIDS is treatable and preventable, and early testing and treatment are critical, what's more they are free in China. A monthly 600 yuan ($92) financial allowance is also available for children with HIV, Ruiying passes on all of this information to families in the privacy of their own homes to help better protect children and parents living with HIV.

While stigma against HIV/AIDS has not been eradicated, increased education and awareness has broken through some of the silence and it is diminishing.

Reaching children affected by HIV/AIDS is exactly what the first "barefoot social worker" pilot model in 2010 aimed to achieve. The project, which is now rapidly scaling across China, provides social work and social welfare training for people who are already part of the community, and who understand the complexities of local issues, dialects, languages and customs.

While China has built a welfare scheme to help its poorest citizens, many rural families in need don't necessarily access it. Sometimes children remain unregistered meaning they are unable to access services or social benefits, other times families simply don't know the benefits exist. In Ruiying's village, the population is ethnic Dai and over 90 per cent of mothers in poverty-stricken families come from Myanmar. Few speak Mandarin and find it difficult to process the paperwork. Community barefoot social workers help to bridge the gap.

As a single mother herself Ruiying can empathise with difficulties of the community she's working with. Her husband passed away when her daughter was just five-years-old. “She was a weak and sickly child”remembers Ruying, who says she struggled for years, “not knowing where, or who to turn to”for financial support with healthcare. “Sometimes looking back, I don't know how I managed it.”Now Ruiying helps others experiencing similar problems. She's the one that people turn to.

Social work, however, is a relatively new profession in China –in 2006, social work was officially recognised as a profession -, and the concept often remains unheard of, making the job tough. It's especially tricky in the beginning stages and even more so in vulnerable communities like Ruiying's - affected by poverty, HIV and drug addiction. One of the first things required in new communities is to visit families one by one in order to monitor the under 18 year olds and find out which children need help. “I'd visit homes, but people had never even heard of the profession of social work.”Countless times, Ruiying would knock on doors to follow up on children who needed support, and was faced with a wary “Who are you?”followed, more often than not, by a brusquely closed door.

Ruiying explains the situation is a somewhat ‘chicken and egg', forging trust is essential and without it, it's impossible to identify and deliver the services children need. Yet until people actually see results, they remain cautious of telling her intimate details about their lives. Slowly Ruiying developed relationships and began to achieve results. As results became visible the community gained trust and more and more work can be done. Ruiying has been in her post for 5 years and works with just over 1,000 children, she has helped 42 children, many of them orphans, apply for subsidies.

Five years after the Barefoot Social Worker programme was piloted, the results are clear, more children are accessing social welfare, assistance and protection services. Five thousand extra women & children received HIV testsand undocumented children unable to access benefits fell from 5% to 2%. More children are in school and getting emotional support through regular visits by barefoot social workers like Ruiying.

It's not just practical help on offer, families also receive emotional support. One grandmother caring for her orphaned grandson, said, as tears spilled from her eyes faster than she could wipe them away “don't worry, these are tears of sadness and of joy”. She says that after Ruiying's intervention, she no longer feels so alone and the family are doing better both financially and emotionally. After a year of isolating himself, the family's small grandson, who has lost both parents, beams when he sees Ruying, who has encouraged him to start socialising and playing with other children again. Ruiying provides a human link for the most vulnerable children and families, connecting them to services and acting as a mentor and counsellor.

As community increasingly builds trust, Ruying's work becomes easier and easier. The woman that once swept Ruiying out of the house, now accesses local government provided financial aid and a monthly nutrition package for her children. What's more she and her children get regular health checkups and they are both healthy and doing well. 

WHAT IS A BAREFOOT SOCIAL WORKER?

Under a programme supported by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and UNICEF, a Barefoot Social Worker is a non-professional social worker selected by a community to provide child protection and welfare services. Each person is trained in essential social work skills, including how to conduct child vulnerability and well-being assessments, monitor family situations. They also spend a great deal of time informing communities on all dimensions of child well-being.