The Reality

Shanghai is made up of 23 million people, a third of which are migrant workers. These individuals  moved their families from the farming lands of surrounding provinces, in order to create this amazing community. Today, it's a massive city that was farmland itself just 20 years ago. Because of the dedication and heart put into building the fascinating skyscrapers, it's easy to find ourselves mesmerized each night by their byproduct.

Being a migrant worker comes with many pitfalls. While they have the opportunity to travel to the city, in attempt to build a better life for their families, they also must live by a very different social system. They are not entitled to healthcare within the city. The children must attend migrant schools, which often are led by non-certified teachers, as opposed to the local schools. And once they complete primary school, the students often must return to their home province to complete boarding school -- not an ideal situation to leave your 14 year old child. To top it off, the living conditions are treacherous, often coming without heat or hot water.
Today, my friend Maria and I (with a few other gals) had the opportunity to tour through the homes and businesses of two different migrant families. Sitting around their dinner table, we got to hear their stories, the tribulations, their successes and fears; learning what makes them happy and scared. It was fascinating.

I learned so much about the Hukou system used to monitor residency of families here in China, and the discrimination that the rural children face at school when traveling with migrant parents. Parents of two children shared about the battle they'd be facing in two years when their son would be graduating from primary school, and preparing for high school -- yet he didn't have any where to go because he was a migrant-child. Meanwhile, they were doing all they could now to make enough money to pay the social-child-raising-fee for their one-year old daughter, who the government still didn't know they had due to one-child laws. This fee would come due once she started kindergarten, and could cost 100,000 yuan -- over $16,000 USD, and nearly two times their annual salary. 

It's no wonder they live as they do. They are saving all their money for the success of their children. And as they explained, there are three things of importance to them -- education, healthcare and retirement ... of their children. Each and every migrant family is hoping to make a better life for their child.

While I wasn't able to photograph as much as I would have liked, I did capture a few that will give you a glimpse into the lives of these sweet people.

 Maria and I even had our first round of street food! Eeks!