NGO sends SOS on funding

Doubts mount whether child-care workers can continue on the job

As the clock on her kitchen wall struck 6 pm, Li Jiao was busy making pumpkin pancakes, the last of four dishes for her six "children".

"I love being with children, especially the very young, who depend on me as if I were the whole world to them," said Li, a slender woman in her 30s.