"Without happy children, we can't have a happy society." This is the motto of the Chinese Children's Fund, yet if you enter one of CCF's Family Helper centers, you won't see any children at all, only a few workers in sparsely furnished offices. That's because CCF helps children at their homes. Hsu Nai-i, the director of Taipei's Family Helper Center, says, "A family is like pulling a cart along the road, sometimes you encounter slopes or obstacles, and don't have enough strength to go on. The Family Helper Center gives a needed hand, and helps push the cart forward, until it can go forward on its own."

The help CCF offers to families is based on the sponsor system. Sponsors give NT$720.00 a month (about US$18.00) to CCF, and thereby sponsor a child. The sponsors can be any individuals or groups who wish to contribute on a regular basis. They do not personally care for the children, but rather provide financial support. They may make arrangements through CCF to visit the children they sponsor, or to send them letters.

In most cases, the sponsored children belong to families that have encountered unexpected difficulties. When one or both parents can't work, and the children are too young to work to support the family, a steady source of financial relief can help the children maintain a more normal family life, and get a better education, until the day they are old enough to find jobs. CCF, which was earlier known as the Christian Children's Fund, has established twenty-one Family Helper Centers throughout Taiwan. It assumes the role of forming a bridge between sponsors and sponsored children, and of bringing families into contact with professional social workers who can assist the families in meeting difficulties.

CCF began as China's Children Fund, Inc. in Kwangtung in 1938. In 1948 it started projects in other countries, and in 1951 it was renamed the Christian Children's Fund. In the days of the War of Resistance (the Chinese term for the Sino-Japanese War) there were many orphaned children, who were given refuge by American missionaries. The missionaries found their responsibilities daily increasing, and started raising funds in the United States to care for the children. An office for the Fund was set up in Richmond, Virginia, and many people began sponsoring children at three dollars a month. After the end of World War Ⅱ, the Fund began working in other war-torn countries, hence the 1951 change of name. The Fund began its work in Taiwan in 1950.

The Fund's initial work in Taiwan consisted of operating orphanages and assisting other child-aid agencies. In 1964 the first Family Helper Center was established, and CCF promoted the sponsor system as a way to aid children outside of institutions.

At the time, the only recourse for a family that encountered financial difficulties and couldn't support its children was to send the children to an orphanage. But sending the children away for mere financial reasons hurt the children. There was no way for the orphanage environment, despite its ability to handle material needs, to handle the children's need for social development as well as a family.

The goal of the Family Helper centers was to let children continue growing up in their own homes, with the centers helping by providing money and by sending social workers to each home. The centers developed rapidly after the first was founded; in the first year there were fewer than 300 sponsored children, but by 1973 there were 20,000. Now with the improving economy, the number of needy children drops year by year; last year there were only 16,000 sponsored children.

Six years ago, the majority of sponsors were from overseas, and sent their monthly contributions to Taiwan by mail. In recent years, CCF has become independent, and has done more and more fund raising domestically. The international organization has a policy of encouraging each country's branch office to become independent as the country's per capita income level exceeds 5 percent of the United States level, and to be fully independent once that level has reached 20 percent of the U.S. level.

In 1977, the Taiwan branch of CCF used mass-media advertisements to solicit domestic funds for sponsoring children. In the first year, 300 children were sponsored by Taiwan donors. The second year showed a ten-fold increase, and last year there were 11,000 children supported by domestic sponsors. There are still children sponsored by foreign donors, but the goal is complete independence by 1985.

An example of the work of the Family Centers is the case of a certain Mr. Wu, who contracted tuberculosis, and had to remain away from his job as a shoe repairman for a long period. His wife made a meager income doing laundry, and wasn't able to provide for her four children in school, and pay for her husband's medicine. In order to lighten the economic burden on the family, the Family Helper Center found sponsors for the two youngest daughters, and to help improve the living environment in the home, it sent volunteers to paint the walls and repair the windows. In the matter of medicine, the center's social workers helped the Wu family to be certified as a poor household eligible for free drugs from a public hospital. They also made sure Mr. Wu took his medicine regularly.

After four years of assistance, Mr. Wu's health improved and he returned to his work. His wife began working as a house maid, gaining a steady income, and the oldest son volunteered to join the army, and sent money back home. The family had become financially independent, and the Family Helper Center ceased its assistance.

Chairman of the Policy Committee, Chinese Children's Fund, Wu Jing-jyi, notes the contribution of CCF and says, "If we show people our 'product,' we can attract a lot of investment from society, and can guide the development of children's potential; the result of that will be a very good return on investment."

Chairman Wu is a psychologist, and has been interested recently in work with gifted and talented children. He says the development of the abilities of children with various special gifts is both easy and approved by society. "Helping children limited by economic circumstances to develop their talents is like mining to get minerals out of the ground, an investment we ought to make."

Wu's investment-oriented thinking also turns his attention to the counseling of single people contemplating marriage. Topics taught at the Family Helper centers include "Know you, me, and him" and "Seven doors to organizing a family". This is a matter of serving future families.

But the real way CCF helps make happy children is with its cheerful staff. One former sponsored child remembers, "The teacher came to my house often, (the social workers are called teachers by the children) but he was always happy, lively, and able to lift my spirits."

[Picture Caption]

1. Through the helping hand of his sponsor, this young child can happily attend class. 2. A Family Helper Center social worker rides his motorbike to his assigned area to visit with center-supported families.

1. Children chat with a center social worker, whom they respectfully call "teacher." 2. On weekends, sponsored children often go to the center to play. Pictured is a child confiding her deepest secret to a center social worker. 3. During holiday weekends the center often arranges small activities for the center-supported children.

1. Upon receiving a letter from his sponsor (affectionately referred to as uncle), this boy quickly sends a reply. 2. Birthday gifts from his "aunt" sponsor carry a great deal of meaning for his young boy. 3. More then one half of the current sponsors are from abroad. If sponsors get the chance to pass through Taiwan they never forget to make a special trip to visit with their sponsored children.

2. A Family Helper Center social worker rides his motorbike to his assigned area to visit with center-supported families.

1. Children chat with a center social worker, whom they respectfully call "teacher.

2. On weekends, sponsored children often go to the center to play. Pictured is a child confiding her deepest secret to a center social worker.

3. During holiday weekends the center often arranges small activities for the center-supported children.

1. Upon receiving a letter from his sponsor （affectionately referred to as uncle）, this boy quickly sends a reply.

2. Birthday gifts from his "aunt" sponsor carry a great deal of meaning for his young boy.

3. More then one half of the current sponsors are from abroad. If sponsors get the chance to pass through Taiwan they never forget to make a special trip to visit with their sponsored children.