There are many tens of thousands of girls and boys living in Chinese welfare institutions. They are newborns and toddlers, they are preschoolers, they are children with profound special needs, and they are older children. All will grow up with the legacy of having lost the love of their birth families.
Ninety-five percent of the healthy children living in Chinese welfare institutions are little girls. The influx of healthy infant girls into social welfare institutions began in the 1980s when China introduced strict birth control policies in order to control its burgeoning population.
When the traditional, especially rural, Chinese family’s preference for boys collided with well-intentioned population controls, healthy girls were abandoned in heartbreakingly large numbers.
In recent years, the ‘floating population’ of migrant workers has meant an increase in the number of healthy boys, as well as girls, given up by their birth parents. Rising health costs have contributed to a recent influx of children who have medical needs that impoverished families cannot meet.
Year of the Tiger Health Spa donates 10% of all our profits to the Half the Sky foundation in China. Half the Sky provides qualified caregivers to support children living in Chinese orphanages. They provide individual nurture and stimulation for babies, innovative preschools that encourage an early love of learning, personalized learning opportunities for older children, and loving — and most important, permanent — foster homes for children whose special needs will keep them from being adopted.
For more information about Half the Sky please visit www.halfthesky.org. If you would like to make a donation we at Year of the Tiger would be happy to assist you, and we also have a permanent collection box in our reception area for cash donations.
Please keep an eye on our events page for upcoming charity nights where 100% of our profits will be sent to support orphanages in China.