ECD volunteer Wang Xuan and her daughter / By Wu Kaixiang

The mountains of Hubei in central China are gloomy and cold in early winter. Lu Hongfei, 28, arrives at a community service centerin Wangjiaping village after walking with her 3-year-old daughter for half an hour.

In a small activity room, eight children and their parents sit together. The youngest is just a toddler. Books and toys arestacked in one corner.

Since 2012, with UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) China assistance, the All-China Women's Federation （ACWF） has been setting up community-based early childhood development (ECD) centers in poor rural areas affected by urban migration in Hubei, Hunan, Hebei, Shanxi, Guizhou and Xinjiang. Wangjiaping Village, in Wufeng County, is a pilot center. UNICEF has supplied it with books, toys, desks, chairs, kiosks withchild-care information, and outdoor facilities for children.

Children in Wangjiaping can play in the ECD centerfive days a week. Parents can engage in play with them under the guidance of volunteers.Regular visits by ECD experts also teach parents better ways to raise theirchildren.

Lu Hongfei and her daughter are at the ECD center forthe first time. For seven years, she and her husband have run a store selling electronic products in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, east China. She brought herelder daughter back to their home town last month and gave birth to her second daughter.

"A one-year early education program costs hundreds or even thousands in Hangzhou, and we can’t afford it," Lu says."I never thought the toys and picture books here would be the same asthose in the city – and free too. Rural children can have the same opportunity as children in the cities."

Children and their parents listened to the ECD volunteer. / By Wu Kaixiang

Wufeng County, in the Wuling Mountain area, is one of China's contiguous poor areas with an annual per-capita income of less than 8,000 yuan (about 1,100 U.S. dollars). About 85 percent of the county's 200,000 people are from the Tujia ethnic minority.

"Over 80 percent of the children in the villageare left-behind children. They are raised by the older generation who believes children only need to be fed and dressed," says Tan Langui, director ofthe Women's Federation in the village. "Many children are either shy and withdrawn or unruly and rude when they first come to the ECD center. However,as they come more often and are taught by the teachers, they gradually learnhow to get along with peers and adults as well as how to read and play with them."

Half of China’s 16 million newborns each year are born in rural areas, says Zhao Qi, education officer at UNICEF China."Early childhood development encompasses physical, social, emotional,cognitive thinking and language progression.

"An old Chinese saying goes ‘childhood predicts future’. From a scientific point of view, the brain develops rapidly in the first few years. Good nutrition, early stimulation, vaccination, and a secureand caring environment can facilitate the development of a child's brain and help reach their full potential." Zhao says.

Yang Rubing is one month shy of 3 years old. She brings each visitor a wooden stool and gives them oranges without being told to, and then stays quietly by her grandmother. But when ECD volunteer WangHaiyan enters her home, she rushes into her arms.

Rubing's parents are migrant workers, living away from home. In fine weather, her grandparents take Rubing to the ECD center inthe village on their motorcycle. This fills her with happiness.

Rubing's grandma Xiang Jiayan says she first heard of ECD during volunteer campaigns. "In the past, I only worried whether the pigs had been fed and the tea leaves picked. Now I also think of doing some reading with my granddaughter."

Yang Rubin and her grandparents / By Wu Kaixiang

Two years ago, Wang Haiyan quit her job in a foreign trade company in Shenzhen, where she earned 100,000 yuan (about 14,500 U.S.dollars) a year. She was trained in the UNICEF-ACWF joint project to become anECD volunteer in Wangjiaping Village. Her new salary is just 1,500 yuan (about210 U.S. dollars) a month.

She walks 40 minutes on mountain road to the ECD center, where she welcomes children, sorts toys and books, and organizesparent-child activities every week.

"It's difficult to fix the problem if a childfails to develop properly at early childhood. I hope parents in rural areas can see the benefits of early education for children," says Wang.

ECD volunteer WangHaiyan played with children in ECD center. / By Wu Kaixiang

Lingbao Village, in the suburbs of Hubei’s YichangCity, is home to another pilot ECD center. Since 2014, the center has given 73children under 3 years and their families ECD support.

Liao Xinyi was born in August 2014, the same timeLingbao's ECD center was established. Xinyi's mother, Lian Lanlan, has beentaking her to the service center every week to listen to music, read books, andplay with other children since she was just a few months old.

Xinyi is lively and cheerful. She can sing theEnglish alphabet song and loves watching Peppa Pig cartoons. "We used togo to the ECD center three times a week. Now the place is under renovation so wehaven't been there for a while,” Lian says. “Whenever Xinyi walks past thecenter, she says, ‘I miss my teachers and friends’."

Liao Xinyi and her mother Lian Lanlan / By Wu Kaixiang

Lingbao is renovating and refurnishing the center.Village head Wang Kangjun says that the village has invested 300,000 yuan(about 43,700 U.S. dollars) in expanding it. The activity room has beenexpanded from an area of 20 square meters to 400 square meters, so all thevillage children will be able to enjoy it with their parents. The buildingmaterials are environment-friendly, and the construction work is scheduled tobe completed by the end of the year.

"The ECD pilot project also drives improvementof infrastructure in the village," says Wang Kangjun. "To encouragevillagers to bring their children to the center, the government invested 15million yuan (about 2.18 million U.S. dollars) last year in a new paved roadand planting trees."

Lingbao village is renovating and refurnishing the ECD center. / By Wu Kaixiang

The project has also changed the lives of thevolunteers. Yang Rong was the first ECD volunteer in Lingbao Village. With aqualification in advertising design, she used to work in the village counciland had no knowledge of how to mix with children.

"When I attended the UNICEF training, there wasa simulation task requiring me to manage children at play. I was so nervous Icould barely speak. My hand, which was holding the book, was trembling and theentire scene went out of control," Yang recalls. "All I could do wasto read through the manual provided by UNICEF again and again. I graduallymanaged to master the techniques of getting along with children, and started toenjoy the work."

Yang's volunteer work won support from people in thevillage. Last month she was elected by an overwhelming majority as a member ofthe People's Congress in the district as a representative of Lingbao Village.

Yang Rong, the first ECD volunteer in Lingbao Village / By Wu Kaixiang

This year, 26 new pilot sites have been added to UNICEF's Early Child Development Community and Family Support Program. By 2020,it will support 146 ECD centers.

"We hope the Early Child Development Service Program can be replicated and developed in a sustainable manner," saysZhao Qi, education officer of UNICEF China. "The model and experience gained from these pilot projects provide abasis for the government to develop and implement policies. They will improvechildhood for more children and families."