可能很多组织（比如国际基金会）虽然帮助草根，但是却没有把草根放到平等的位置上，所以社会普遍对草根的印象还是同情和弱势的。但是，孙恒做的事情真正发挥了草根的能量，文章中写“他们所做的就是创造自己的文化话语权，从政治、知识、文化等角度去影响社会了解并接受打工者这个群体。”，他们挑战的是对草根的刻板印象，同时借助了官方的意识形态，创造了自己的话语权。
http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.cn/?p=523
Gingko Partner Interview: Sun Heng
Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin 182 views
Introduction: This article profiles Sun Heng, an emerging NGO and community leader. Sun is founder of Migrant Worker’s Home, an organization that could be called a NGO or social enterprise because it incorporates a business model for earning income to sustain and expand its operations in pursuit of its mission to create a community for migrant workers…..
Wang Hui, CDB Staff Writer
China Development Brief, no.49 (Spring 2011)
Translated by Eric Couillard
Reviewed by David Murphy
…..Migrant Worker’s Home is one of a growing number of NGOs devoted to helping China’s vast “floating population” of migrant workers which is estimated around 150-200 million, depending on the source being cited. China’s migrant workers were runner-up to Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, for Time’s Person of the Year in 2009 and have been a major factor behind China’s economic boom.
For those who can read Chinese, this article also provides a window into the changing Chinese lexicon for migrant workers. We use the English term “migrant worker” which does not capture the various permutations used in the original Chinese. Instead of the older term “floating population” (liudong renkou), they are referred to throughout this article as “nongmin gong” (agricultural workers), “dagongzhe” (manual laborers) and “gongyou” (worker friends).
Editor’s note
In 2010 the Narada Foundation (南都公益基金会) started the pilot program of “The Gingko Partner Support Plan” (“银杏伙伴支持计划). Selected Gingko Partners receive 100,000 RMB every year for three years as well as specially tailored learning plans. China Development Brief interviewed four of these partners in hopes of sharing their personal and organizational growth history, as well as giving follow-up information about each individual’s plans for using this support.
Sun Heng: Continuing the Search with the Migrant Worker’s Home
Up until 1998, Sun Heng was a music teacher in his home province, Henan. In order to pursue his musical dreams, he moved to Beijing. This was a perplexing time in his life; how would he survive in this city, let alone find meaning in his life?
In 1999, while Sun was working as a performing artist, he came across the migrant worker children’s school, Mingyuan Elementary, and started volunteering there. While at the school, he worked with volunteers from all over the country. In 2001, he took a trip to a construction site near the Tianjin University of Science and Technology and performed for local workers. His audience received him enthusiastically, and found that they could identify with his music. He was disturbed by how the migrant workers worked hard all day, but had few opportunities to enjoy their free time. He decided to gather a group of like-minded individuals from all over the country and start a performance group. Sun continued working days at Mingyuan, and nights, weekends, and holidays rehearsing for performances.
On Labor Day 2002, his performance group officially established a migrant worker art society (打工艺术团). At the time the art society would accept anyone: many college students signed up, but there was also a large number of migrant workers. Its main goal was to enrich people’s lives outside of work while the search went on for a more suitable location. Sun had noticed how many of the workers were not getting paid, and how their children had to attend low-grade schools. He often felt hopeless, awkward, and depressed: “As soon as we’re done singing, everyone returns to their poverty. Their lives haven’t changed at all.”
At the same time, he also realized that once migrant workers come to the city, they lose their social network and have to rely completely on themselves; this is an extremely arduous process. Why not create a “family,” so that outsiders can help each other?
Hence, the migrant worker art society took it to the next level, and the Migrant Workers Home (工友之家) was born. On November 1st of that year, they established a library to train workers in computers and labor law at Mingyuan Elementary. These activities continued until 2004. Sun and the art society recorded an album sung by the migrant workers themselves, called “The Workers of the World are All One Family.” It was a great success, selling over 100,000 copies and bringing in 75,000 RMB in royalties.
How was this money used? Sun agreed to spend it on the organization, but wanted to make sure the money was put to good use. Recognizing that migrant workers’ children lacked access to schooling, they decided to start their own school. It was to be situated in Chaoyang district’s Jingzhan township’s Pi village at the site of an abandoned arts and crafts plant, which they rented at 60,000 RMB per year. In the summer of 2005, Sun and more than a hundred volunteers from all over the country cleared the area and transformed it into the “One Heart Experimental” school (“同心实验”学校). This migrant worker school currently serves all children from preschool until the sixth grade. Sun recalls, “Looking back on it, I had no idea how hard it would be to run a school.” [Editor’s Note: A growing number of migrant workers are bringing their families with them to the city, but find their children cannot attend public schools because their household registration (hukou) is based in the village or town where they came from. Generally only families with a hukou in the city can send their children to public schools. Over the last decade, the government has gradually opened up public schools in major cities to migrant children, but many are still not able to get in for various reasons. As a result, many migrant families send their children to private schools, such as the one set up by Sun Heng. These schools, however, fall below the standard of public schools in terms of their facilities and staff. There are also very few private schools for middle school students and almost no private schools for high school students. As a result, many older migrant children must either quit school or return back to their hometown if they want to continue their education and prepare for the college entrance examination.]
With this new base of operation, Sun wanted to create a residential area and gathering space for migrant workers. He discovered that in modern society, there are plenty of useful resources lying idle and many who could make use of them. In 2006, the Migrant Workers Home opened a second-hand store (同心互惠商店) as a way of cleaning up unused goods and reselling them, providing affordable products to people living in the area. These second-hand goods consist mainly of clothes and are typically sold for under ten RMB.
Today, the second-hand store has expanded to seven locations, two of which are in Pi Village, and even one store in Xi’an. Currently the Pi Village stores have eight employees who keep things running smoothly. Sun stated that in 2010 the store’s income reached 300,000 RMB, with over 50,000 RMB in profit. Resources from the store were used in the residential area and school to save over one million RMB, and the store also serves as the sole livelihood for its eight employees.
On Labor Day 2008, the Migrant Workers Home established a migrant workers art museum (打工艺术博物馆) in Pi Village to exhibit the lives and experiences of workers since 1978. Sun stated that the purpose of founding this museum was to “record the history of migrant workers, and advocate for their respect.” Since ancient times, workers have been the driving force behind history, but have been left out of the history books. Similarly, in the thirty years since the reform era began, the contribution of migrant workers has been enormous, while their recognition has been miniscule.
The Migrant Workers Home has been called by Sun, “a new workers’ community.” He hopes that by advocating for greater respect for migrant workers, prejudice towards them will diminish. The way Sun sees it, the most important reason for recording the stories of the countless migrant workers is to change history. What they are doing is creating their own cultural codes, and changing society’s image of this group from a political, intellectual, and cultural perspective.
Sun remarked that he wasn’t particularly affected by his selection for Ginko’s program. He understands, however, that the power of the program lies in its focus on individual support rather than on the level of program or organizational support. He has said that after being chosen as a Gingko partner, his life will not change much. Since many of his workers earn less than 2000 RMB a month, he refuses to use the Gingko funds to pay himself the considerably higher salary suggested by the foundation. Instead, he plans to use the money to subsidize other programs which have yet to find stable funding sources.
These past few years, the Migrant Workers Home has toiled along humbly. Its programs have increased in number as it has developed, so the organization must strengthen its management and figure out how to develop its social enterprise. Sun hopes that during his period as a Gingko partner, he will have many opportunities to go out and learn about other organizations, in order to broaden his field of view. These opportunities will prove invaluable for his organization.
When asked what he thinks about how Gingko partners will be treated in the next three to five years, Sun responded that these community leaders are not created by the Gingko Plan, but rather “the development of such people started long before they were selected by Gingko; on what grounds could you say that all their success is due to Gingko? That wouldn’t be fair.” However, he is enthusiastic about the benefits he has received from Gingko: thinking about the future of his organization, he plans to study community organization, construction, and workers’ social movements.
In the residential zone of Pi Village, the walls are draped with posters of Che Guevara. Sun is a big fan, hoping to bring Guevara’s spirit to Chinese soil. He hopes that through Gingko’s support, he can travel to the sites of Latin American revolution, such as Bolivia and Cuba, and even some European and American countries to learn about their labor movements, as well as its relationship with corporations and society.
In Sun’s mind, societal change is a long-term process, and his next three years are just one stage. He’s aware that after reflecting on his anticipated experiences abroad, it will be no small task to find out how to apply them in a new environment. In 2010, the Migrant Workers Home founded the One Heart Innovation Training Center (同心创业培训中心), beginning yet another new experiment. He hopes that in the future he can help similar organizations to develop.
According to Sun, “once you’ve got influence, you should use it to support others. Eventually, more and more people will start to participate, and real change starts.”
银杏伙伴访谈: 孙恒
王辉
中国发展简报2011春季刊第49卷
编者按
2010年南都公益基金会试点“银杏伙伴支持计划”，入选的银杏伙伴在未来的3年内，将获得每人每年10万元的经费和量体裁衣的学习计划支持。 该年共有5名NGO人才入选。 《中国发展简报》采访到其中4位，希望透过此组文章与各位分享他们的个人和机构成长经历，并借此及时跟进了解他们的个人支持计划。
孙恒：继续找寻工友之家的方向
1998年前，孙恒一直在河南老家当音乐老师。 后来他为了寻求音乐的梦想，1998年来到北京。 当时，他曾感到迷茫，如何在这个城市生存找到自己的意义。
1999年，孙恒在弹唱的同时接触到打工子弟明圆学校，成为这个学校的志愿者。 同时，他接触到来自全国各地的工友。 在2001年一次去给天津科技大学附近的建筑工地的工友演出，效果非常好，工友们反响很强烈，对他的演出很认同。 他感到，工友平日工作很累，但也需要精神生活。 后来他与一帮志同道合的来自全国各地的工友们组建了一个演出队。 就这样，孙恒白天在明圆工作，晚上或节假日和其他工友一道排练演出。
到了2002年的劳动节那天，他们正式组建了打工艺术团。 当时艺术团的门槛很低，什么人都可以来，也有很多大学生报名参加，但流动性也很大。 这个时期，艺术团基本上还是自娱自乐，主要是为了丰富大家的业余生活。 与此同时，艺术团也在寻找新的定位，而这跟当时的工友需求有很大关联。 孙恒回忆，当时对工友遭遇的工资拖欠、外来孩子没有学上等具体问题都没有介入，自己常常感到无奈、尴尬和郁闷，心想“我们唱完歌就走了，他们的生活仍没有改变，依旧如此。”
同时，孙恒也发现，这些外来务工人员进入城市后，失去了原有的社会支持网络，只能以个人之力来融入社会，这个过程非常艰难。 为何不成立一个“家”，让来到异乡的人们有所帮助呢？
于是打工艺术团重新做了定位，工友之家应运而生。 在当年的11月1日，工友之家在肖家河的明圆打工子弟学校成立了图书馆、为打工者培训电脑和法律知识。 活动就这样持续到2004年。 孙恒和打工青年艺术团录制并发行了一张打工者自己唱的歌曲——《天下打工是一家》。 这张专辑最终发行了10万张，获得极大的成功，同时也为他们带来了7.5万元的版税。
而这笔钱如何使用？ 孙恒同意内部花掉，但一定要用到刀刃上。 看到当时很多来京的务工人员的孩子没有学上的现状，他们在朝阳区金盏乡皮村租了一块地，年租金6万元，举办一所学校。 这个地方原来是一个废弃的工艺美术厂。 2005年暑假，孙恒和来自全国各地的100多个志愿者，对这块地进行了清理，改造为后来的“同心实验”学校。 这所打工子弟学校目前从学前班到小学六年级一应俱全。 孙恒后来想想“也挺后怕的，自己并不知道办一个学校是很难的。”
有了这个新的根据地，孙恒还想把这里打造成一个外来务工人员聚集居住的社区。 他发现社会上有很多闲置的资源，另一方面也有很多非常需要这类资源的人群，2006年，工友之家开办一个二手商店（同心互惠商店）来处理这些闲置资源，帮助生活在社区里的工友降低生活成本。 这些二手资源主要是衣物，以低于10元的价格对外售卖。
如今二手商店已做大了规模，开始往社会企业方向发展，数量上已经扩展至7家，光在皮村就有两家，此外在西安也有一家。 目前皮村负责二手店的8个人分工明确，经营有序。 孙恒说，2010年收入达到了30万，盈余有5万多，为社区工友降低生活成本100万元，二手店在惠及社区内打工者的同时，也成为8名员工的生计来源。
2008年5月劳动节当天，工友之家在皮村建立了打工艺术博物馆，反映1978年以来打工群体的生活和工作状态。 孙恒说，建立博物馆背后的初衷是，“记录打工文化历史，倡导劳动价值尊重”。 自古以来劳动人民创造者历史，但他们却进入不了历史。 同样，改革30年来，打工者群体为社会做出了巨大的贡献，但并没有被记录进历史。
外来务工人群被孙恒称之为“新工人群体”。 工友之家希望通过此举倡导社会对劳动者的尊重，不要对“农民工”群体存有歧视。 其实在孙恒来看，记录这些历史，最终就是为了改变历史。 而他们所做的就是创造自己的文化话语权，从政治、知识、文化等角度去影响社会了解并接受打工者这个群体。
对入选银杏计划，孙恒表示“自己并不是特别在意”，不过他认为计划的意义在于：相比其他的支持性项目侧重在机构层面，银杏计划侧重在个人支持方面。 孙恒说，入选后自己的生活状况应该不会有太大的改观，原因在于如果和他一起工作的同事们依然拿着不到2000元的工资，自己却拿着基金会建议的薪资水平，这让自己也看不过去。 另外，这也会使以后的工作难于开展。 他会将这部分费用补贴到其他未能找到资源支持的项目上去。
这些年来，工友之家一直都是低头做事，随着发展，项目多了起来，所以还要加强内部管理，学习如何做社会企业。 孙恒希望在银杏伙伴资助期间，可以有机会出去学习考察，开阔自己的视野。 这些机会和工友之家的工作是分不开的。
问及孙恒如何看银杏伙伴对受助者在未来3～5年的期待，孙恒回应，公益人才并不是银杏计划催生出来的，因为“这些公益人才的成长已经经过了好些年的培育，凭什么都说是你起的作用，这不公平。”不过，孙恒很认同银杏计划对自己的益处：推动自己对未来3年进行了系统规划，他安排了自己的读书计划，要学习社区组织建设和工人社会运动的知识，并考虑机构未来的发展方向。
在皮村的住处，墙面上张贴着切 ・ 格瓦拉的肖像海报。 孙恒很喜欢切·格瓦拉，愿意追随他的精神在中国本土做事情。 他希望利用银杏伙伴的个人支持计划，可以去拉美的革命圣地如玻利维亚、古巴等国，以及欧美一些国家，了解这些国家的工人运动历史以及欧洲社会企业的相关发展情况，而这些从书本上是不大容易学习和感受到的。
对孙恒来说，社区改变是一件非常长远的事情。 3年，只是他自己的阶段性目标。 他也意识到，要去反思和总结工作中获取的经验，思考如何运用到新的环境中。 2010年，工友之家还设立了同心创业培训中心，开始了新的尝试。 他希望工友之家在未来能够推动各地同类机构的培训工作，以及支持其他组织发展。
“当你有力量的时候，应该去支持更多的人，总有一天，会有越来越多的人参与进来，推动改变。”孙恒说
