PHOTO GALLERY: I Spent the Double Ninth with my Grandparents

With millions of parents leaving China’s countryside for jobs in the city, a generation of children is being raised by grandparents, many of whom still need to work despite their advancing years.

With grandparents’ time and energy limited, it’s far from an ideal situation. But, with community support and the help of OneSky family mentors, life can be made a little easier for senior citizens and improved for children and their ongoing development.

To celebrate the Double Ninth in 24 villages across rural China, OneSky organized the ‘I Spent the Double Ninth with my Grandparents Festival’. This traditional holiday is observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar.

For OneSky, it was a special day to say thank you. The issue of China’s “left behind children” has become widely-known. The dedication, love and care of grandmothers and grandfathers deserve to be equally recognized and in this celebration, OneSky is helping to build family and community ties where they are needed most