OneSky for all children

OneSky for all children (OneSky) is an international, non-governmental organization that trains caregivers and communities to provide care and early education to help at-risk children.

OneSky for all children
PredecessorHalf the Sky
Formation1998
FounderJenny Bowen
TypeNGO
HeadquartersBerkeley, United States of America
Websitehttps://www.onesky.org

OneSky began its work in 1998 (under the name Half the Sky[1]). Originally founded by filmmaker Jenny Bowen[2] to provide nurturing care and early education to young children in China’s state-run welfare institutions,[3] OneSky has gone on to serve left-behind children in China’s impoverished rural villages, the children of migrant workers in Vietnam’s industrial zones,[4] and children at risk living in ger districts surrounding Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar.[5] In May 2020 it opened the P. C. Lee OneSky Global Centre for Early Childhood Development in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong.[6]

Through early childhood development, OneSky helps vulnerable young children reach their potential.[7] OneSky’s approach draws from Reggio Emilia which is adapted to local education standards and cultural norms.

By 2019, OneSky had trained 38,800 caregivers, serving 187,500 children.[8]

History

In 1997, Jenny Bowen and husband Richard Bowen adopted a child from a Chinese social welfare institution. The child suffered from the adverse effects common to institutionalized children. After a year of love and stimulation, she caught up and began to thrive.[9] Bowen set up Half the Sky with the aim of offering the same care to children in China’s orphanages.[10] In collaboration with early childhood educators and pediatricians, the organization trained employees in China’s orphanages to provide care and early education to infants and toddlers.[11]

In 2005, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs held its first national conference on orphan care and Half the Sky was the only foreign organization invited to present.[12]

By 2007, OneSky's approach had become China’s national standard for care of orphaned children, including those in rural villages orphaned by AIDS. Half the Sky was invited to provide guidance for Hu Jintao’s “Blue Sky” Plan, a massive infrastructure investment in child welfare.[13]

In 2008, the organization was recognized for its contributions by official registration at a national level—one of only a small handful of foreign NGOs. In that same year Jenny Bowen won the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship,[14] presented by Jimmy Carter, in recognition of OneSky’s efforts to bring change to China’s child welfare system.

In 2011, with OneSky programs operating in 56 state-run welfare institutions across China, OneSky entered into a groundbreaking public/NGO/private partnership celebrated at the Great Hall of the People to, together with government, train every child welfare worker in the nation.[15]

In 2014, Jenny Bowen's book, Wish You Happy Forever: What China’s orphans taught me about moving mountains was published by HarperCollins.[16]

In 2015, Half the Sky began the process of bringing its programs and training to rural China to assist left-behind children.[17]

In 2016, to reflect its broadened mission, Half the Sky changed its name to OneSky for all children.[18]

In 2017 OneSky developed a demonstration early learning center in Da Nang, Vietnam[19] specifically for the children of migrants who had moved to work in factories. These children would otherwise have had no safe, affordable care.

In 2018 Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training invited OneSky to scale its training for early education practitioners and caregivers across 19 provinces. In Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar, OneSky trained caregivers in a state-run nursery serving vulnerable toddlers.[20]

In 2020, OneSky opened the P. C. Lee OneSky Global Centre for Early Childhood Development in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong.[21] The center is a training hub for early childhood care and education (ECCE) for childcare professionals and paraprofessionals locally and across Asia.[22] It also provides community space for children up to the age of six and their caregivers. [23]

References
  1. "Former filmmaker Jenny Bowen enriches the lives of thousands of Chinese orphans". AARP.
  2. Bowen, Jenny (2014). Wish You Happy Forever: What China's Orphans Taught Me About Moving Mountains. HarperOne. pp. 17, 18. ISBN 0062192000.
  3. "OneSky Our Story".
  4. "We Made It! OneSky in Vietnam".
  5. "OneSky in Mongolia".
  6. "A new future for early childhood care and education in Asia". OneSky for all children.
  7. "A baby's brain needs love to develop. What happens in the first year is profound".
  8. "OneSky Home".
  9. "Straits Times". Straits Times. 6 November 2015.
  10. "How One Social Entrepreneur Saved 100,000 Lives". Forbes. 17 November 2014.
  11. "One family's quest to unite orphaned Chinese girls with a happy home". PBS News Hour. 2 September 2014.
  12. Bowen, Jenny (2014). Wish You Happy Forever: What China's Orphans Taught Me About Moving Mountains. HarperOne. pp. 231, 232, 233, 234, 235. ISBN 0062192000.
  13. Bowen, Jenny (2014). Wish You Happy Forever: What China's Orphans Taught Me About Moving Mountains. HarperOne. p. 257. ISBN 0062192000.
  14. "Skoll - Jenny Bowen". Skoll.
  15. Bowen, Jenny (2014). Wish You Happy Forever: What China's Orphans Taught Me About Moving Mountains. HarperOne. p. 313. ISBN 0062192000.
  16. "Wish you happy forever". Harper Collins.
  17. "What we do in China". OneSky.
  18. "OneSky". OneSky.
  19. "We Made It! OneSky in Vietnam". OneSky. 8 September 2017.
  20. "Their parents were nomads". 13 September 2018.
  21. "A new future for early childhood care and education in Asia". OneSky for all children.
  22. "Training Hub". OneSky Hong Kong.
  23. "Family Centre". OneSky Hong Kong.
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