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Children Struggle to Cope in Aftermath of China Quake
Amanda Christopher, Field reporting by Francis Markus, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Monday, May 19, 2008 — Ever since he was a child, playing with wooden building bricks, Xiao Wei wanted to be a construction engineer.
Now, after the widespread devastation from last week’s massive earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province, the lanky 16-year-old is even more set on the idea.
Xiao Wei looking pensive as he comes to terms with events that have forever changed his community. (Credit: Sho Huang/International Federation)
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“I hope that if all these towns and villages are rebuilt after the earthquake, they can be planned in a different way—with more open spaces and not such tall buildings,” he says sitting with his extended family in a tent shelter that stretches along the side of a broad highway.
Xiao Wei’s apartment was not completely destroyed, but it has been declared unsafe to live in. That’s more fortunate than most of the people here, many of whom lost their lives in the earthquake, which left thousands dead and affected nearly 10 million people.
Red Cross Response
Since the earthquake struck on May 12, more than 35,000 employees and volunteers from the Red Cross Society of China have joined the relief effort. This includes 87 rescue and medical teams that have been distributing tents, food, water, clothes and medicine around the clock to survivors in the earthquake-affected areas.
Members of a medical team from the Red Cross Society of China, treating a patient at a temporary medical center set up for earthquake survivors in Shifang, Sichuan. (Credit: Sho Huang/International Federation)
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On May 15, the American Red Cross made an initial contribution of $10 million to the relief efforts. These funds will support the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the China Red Cross in providing relief supplies, coordinating logistics and moving relief workers into the affected areas.
“The Red Cross Society of China is a very strong organization with extensive experience responding to disasters,” says Alex Mahoney, disaster manager for Asia, the Middle East and Europe for the American Red Cross. “Their volunteers are working under very strenuous conditions to help survivors – both physically and emotionally – after this massive disaster.”
To help people during this time of high emotional stress, the Red Cross has mobilized two teams to provide emotional support to survivors and relief workers. These teams will help train other Red Cross volunteers, so they can provide additional support to survivors coping with the traumatic effects of the disaster.
"Our Hearts Feel Very Troubled”
Xiao Wei’s uncle, Wang Tingzhao, feeds his little daughter, Wang Fangyi, rice noodles in a temporary shelter. Grandfather Yang Tingzhi looking on. (Credit: Sho Huang/International Federation)
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Xiao Wei’s school, located in the downtown area of the small city of Shifang, is a modern, solid-looking building.
Even so, all but 30 of the students – mostly those studying for China’s notoriously competitive gao kao, the university entrance exam – have left. Those that remain are studying in the eerily quiet classrooms and living in tents in one of the playgrounds. It is not easy for them to concentrate.
“Our hearts feel very troubled by all the tragedy which has been happening to people around us,” says one young male student with cropped hair while pointing to his chest.
Education authorities are still deciding whether or not to postpone the exams, scheduled for next month.
To do so would give more time to these youngsters, who have lived through so much in the space of one week. But it might also put off something else which they sorely need—a return to some sort of normalcy in their lives.
You can help the victims of countless crises around the world each year, crises like the Myanmar Cyclone and China Earthquake, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation by either contacting 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish), or mailing your donation with the designation to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or to your local American Red Cross chapter. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
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