This summer China is holding the biggest, coolest coming out party for a developing country by hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Part of China’s rapid growth is because it is experiencing the largest peaceful migrant in human history - over 200 million Chinese (the equivalent of 2/3 of the US population) are moving from rural areas to cities in search of work and a brighter future.
Caught up in this migration are 24 million youth, making the move with their families. Full of hope, they often find life in cities harder than expected. They frequently live in isolated neighborhoods, experience discrimination by locals and have difficulty getting access to health care and schooling and opportunities.
What difference can sport make?
In China, the role of sports in young people’s lives is very different. While recognized as having health benefits, it is as often disregarded as being frivolous. Nike is demonstrating that sports have other far reaching benefits especially for excluded youth such as migrant kids.
In late 2007, Nike partnered with China Children and Teenagers Fund and Save the Children China Programmeto create a program that uses sport to help migrant youth overcome social isolation and discrimination and inspire them to reach their full potential. This collaborative venture involved developing specialize sports curriculum, training for teachers and increasing access to sport at schools serving migrant kids with facilities grants and equipment. Nike also donated apparel and footwear to enable these youth to participate in basketball, football and track competitions.
And the results? Cool…
As of February 2008, the program has reached 135,000 migrant youth in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing. Student and teachers have reported these kids have more self-confidence, better social skills, and understand teamwork. All important for these kids to overcome the isolation and discrimination that are barriers to a better education and future opportunities.
Based on these results, the partners plan to expand the program to additional cities next year to reach another 100,000 youth.
If you’re interested in bringing sport to migrant children in China, click here to get more information from China Children and Teenagers Fund.
