The story hunters

Start small

Editors and teachers were invited to hunt for stories that were conducive to children's healthy psychological development in the hope of helping these young beneficiaries become more enlightened about finding ways to get along with classmates, form better habits, overcome difficulties, adjust to a new environment and deal with other problems.

Li Chunyan, who studied Chinese and folklore in university, became a "story hunter" after she joined the organization in 2016.

As a former left-behind child, the 33-year-old immediately understood the loneliness of the boarders and their inner thoughts, and was in her element when it came to selecting suitable stories from literary works.

"I prefer stories that bring the children a sense of familiarity or identity," says Li. "For instance, in some less-developed places, children don't even have an idea of what a toilet bowl is, so we try to choose stories that present familiar scenes."

The project collected 1,001 stories for primary school students and 300 for middle school students. The subject matters vary from one grade to another, which means a first-grade boarder would be able to hear a different story every night over the course of several school terms.

It only costs Growing Home 5,000 yuan ($720) on average to install the audio system in each school, which allows the project to cover more schools and students, exercising imperceptible influence on their growth and development.