Chongqing's 'shared-grannies' tend to children after school

A team of senior women in Southwest China's Chongqing serving as "shared-grannies" to help working parents pick up their children from school and accompany the kids with their homework, has received a lot of likes and comments online lately.

The team of "shared-grannies" from the Shipingcun community in Chongqing's Jiulongpo district consists of nine female retirees, mostly empty-nesters. They shoulder the responsibility as volunteers taking care of 25 pupils in the community.

Working parents of the children who are not able to pick up their kids from school at 3 pm and have no relatives or friends to assist are in desperate need of a temporary guardian. The volunteers can spare the time and energy for the family and ease their loneliness by participating in the job.

Deng Lihong, 66, is a public-spirited member of the team who signed up for the program as soon as she saw the recruitment advertisement. Every workday, she picks up the children from school, and stays with them while they finish their homework and play in the community room until their parents pick them up.

"I feel young with the kids and my retired life's meaningful," she beamed.

"The program started in April and the team is still expanding," Cao Yidan, chairman of Chongqing Amber Social Work Service Center, said.

"The deed is great and worth promoting in other places in the country," a netizen said on social media platform Sina Weibo.

"We mobilize the retired senior women in the community to participate in this public service. The interactions between the families in need and 'shared grannies' are mutually beneficial. The sense of fulfilment and happiness means a lot to them," Peng Mei, secretary of the Party committee of Shipingcun community, said.

The "shared-grannies" program began in the Jifu community in Wuhou district of Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province in 2019, and has created a new mode of public welfare — taking care of the young and lifting the spirits of older residents.

"To be engaged", or "the positive way of retirement", for a retiree is thought to have practical, psychological and sociological significances.