China’s Orphans: Hope for the Future?

Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales

4.00pm – 5.30pm, Wednesday 9 August 2017
Room 221/223, Level 2, John Goodsell Building, UNSW Kensington Campus, Sydney

Jane Hutcheon’s book China Baby Love tells the story of Australian grandmother Linda Shum’s two decades working in a Chinese orphanage. But Linda’s story isn’t the story of every orphanage in China.

Jane begins by conducting a conversation with Linda Shum and then she introduces Xiaoyuan Shang to speak about her experience with China’s orphan welfare system and what the future holds for them.

Jane Hutcheon
Jane’s new book, China Baby Love, was published by ABC Books in May. She hosts the ABC-TV interview program One Plus One. Jane began her career in radio and television in Hong Kong. She has served as ABC correspondent in China, the Middle-East and Europe. Her first book From Rice to Riches, published in 2003, documented her family’s connections and her reporting experiences in China.

Linda Shum
A former teacher from regional Queensland, Linda has devoted most of her time and energy over the past decade to helping young Chinese people with disabilities, and has won international acclaim for her work in rescuing more than 300 abandoned children from Chinese orphanages. Linda’s ground-breaking work in nurturing, housing and educating these children is now the subject of a major biography, China Baby Love, written by Jane Hutcheon.

Xiaoyuan Shang
Xiaoyuan is Associate Professor at the Social Policy Research Centre and Professor, School of Social Development and Public Policy at Beijing Normal University. She is widely acknowledged to be a leading international expert in the study of social welfare provision to vulnerable children in China. Her book Caring for Orphaned Children in China (co-authored by Professor Karen Fisher) summarises more than a decade’s research on China’s welfare system.

More details: http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=e51d8fc5c0392d9bcf26eee18&id=8d07915c98