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Xiaolan’s family lives in one of the “handshaking buildings” sitting behind the winding roads in the mist of the Kangle urban village.

The little house is only ten plus square meters, filled with their whole belongings: table, bed, wooden bench and couples of chairs. When guests come to visit, the room would be crowded with no extra space. This narrowed area is where Xiaolan grows up in.

It has been fifteen years since Xiaolan’s mother first migrated to work in Kangle. As a witness of the fast moving population and quick changes, she shows unusual firmness. She has been working hard in a garment factory for all these years and raised up her girls.

Xiaolan is in 5th Grade now. She and her little sister Xiaolin, are both members of World Vision’s Xiaoyanzi (Little Swallow) Project.

Xiaoyanzi is a project supported by World Vision and two local partners in Haizhu District, Guangzhou, for the wellbeing of migrant children by providing child protection, community services, services which improve education condition and assist newcomers to adapt to the new environment.

For the reason of Hukou policy, migrant children can hardly get the opportunity to get enrolled in public schools.Instead, they have to pay a lot to study in private schools. Even though there are headcounts for migrant children in public school, the very limited chances are only open for children who are really outstanding.

In spite of the difficulties, Xiaolan is thoughtful, saving her mom lots of worries. “I will participate in an activity in Hong Kong this summer, and I can travel by plane.” Xiaolan said excitedly. She has passed an interview of an air company in Hong Kong, which allows her to join in the summer camp and talk in person with the pilots. “It will be my first time to be on a plane”, her expectation and happiness can be read on her face. Social worker Miss Zhou said that Xiaolan was very actively participated in activities in Xiaoyanzi, and she was polite and hardworking. She knew Xiaolan would be chosen when taking her to the interview.

When being asked “do you want to go to college”, Xiaolan shyly said don’t know yet. “It’s up to her. I will support whatever she likes”, Xiaolan’s mom has not thought much about her expectation on the future of her daughter. She just wants to be her daughter's most loyal company on the way of pursuing dreams.

As to the little sister, the mom said, “She likes to play. At the beginning, English was difficult for her. But now, she can get 90+ out of 100 in the test. ” Turing to the quiet girl sitting aside, the mom murmured to her , “You need to study hard, would that be ok?” The little girl nodded her head lightly.

During summer breaks, Xiaolan and her little sister would stay at home to help making some accessories, which can earn themselves some money. They want to share the burden of their mother in this way. They are both thoughtful.

(Written by Chancy Chan)