A guiding light

For seven years, 29-year-old Zhou Guihong has been working on the front line of youth rights protection, crime prevention and social work for adolescents.

As the director of Kunming Red-headed Gull Service Center for Youth Affairs in Yunnan province, she has led the team in helping more than 100,000 teenagers.

Zhou says an early interest in public welfare and volunteering led her to choose social work as her major at South China Normal University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

"The social work cause in Guangdong is more developed than in my home province Yunnan. At the time, we had guest lecturers from around the country, and the school gave us opportunities to volunteer at centers for children with disabilities and autism," Zhou says.

Her work with teenagers began in her junior year of university, when she interned at Youth Zone, an organization in Guangzhou that provides services for, and protects the rights of, young people.

"When I was doing the internship, I got to know teenagers, and found them to be very lively, alert and easy to communicate with. Another reason for working with teenagers is that adolescence is an important phase in a person's growth, it is when guidance is needed in shaping their characters," she adds.

After graduating from university in 2015, she returned to Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, and entered the Kunming Red-headed Gull Service Center, which was founded just a year before.

The center is the successor of the social work office for youth affairs under the Kunming committee of the Communist Youth League of China, and is the first nonprofit social services organization to have been founded by the CYL in Southwest China.

The center collaborates with governmental entities, NGOs, communities and companies to provide legal protection, counseling and support for teenagers, with the aim of creating a healthy and safe environment favorable for their growth.

A major part of their work involves offering social work sessions for juvenile delinquents at detention centers, with workshops in emotion management and interpersonal relations as well as one-on-one counseling.

"When it comes to teenagers who have gone astray, many people would turn their noses up and avoid them. But to me, just because they made mistakes doesn't mean they are bad by nature. Many of them just made the wrong decision at the wrong time," Zhou says.

"Many of these kids have family problems. They are not supported, some are even disowned, by their family. Their family members might not write to them. They need someone they can trust to share their feelings confidentially."

Zhou speaks of a 16-year-old she encountered at the Kunming detention center. The girl has impaired hearing and speech, and was abandoned by her parents. She was then adopted by an elderly woman, but after the woman passed away, she once again became homeless. Without any money, she was caught shoplifting and taken into custody.

Because of the communication difficulties, the girl tended to keep to herself and often got into fights at the detention center. When attending Zhou's group activities, she was not enthusiastic to take part or work with others.

"I then focused on creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and love in the group, and conveyed to them the concepts of tolerance, understanding and support. My colleague and I also kept her company, giving her support, encouragement and one-on-one counseling using written notes," Zhou recalls.

After eight group sessions and support that spanned three months, the girl gradually opened up, behaved better and developed a friendly relationship with others. In the end-of-the-year gala, she played a major part in a sketch comedy piece and led the group in performing a song with sign language.

"I thought this place had no humanity, but I now begin to feel the warmth. I am very grateful for the social workers, who helped me see that I am noticed, and that some people do care about me," the girl wrote in a weekly report.

Zhou is now leading a team of 12 professional social workers, with more than 1,000 external volunteers, comprising counselors, lawyers, career advisers and many others from all walks of life. The team goes to communities, schools and detention centers helping not only delinquent teenagers, but also those with disabilities or from rural areas.

Li Jinchun, Zhou's colleague at the center, says: "Zhou is very meticulous and quick-thinking. She's also very down-to-earth and has a strong sense of responsibility. She has a team spirit, but is also very competent when working independently."

When it comes to supporting teenagers, it's important to respect and accept each and every one of them from the heart, according to Zhou.

"Being a youth social worker is a meaningful cause. I will continue to support and help teenagers with enthusiasm and a sense of responsibility. For those who have lost their way, this might just be the light they need to lead them back onto the right path," Zhou says.