[For those of you are visual people and would like to see a map, look at this link to a Google map - you should be able to see Dujiangyan and Chengdu. As you can see, this is a city literally at the foothills of the mountains. We were only a few kilometers from the mountains, but thanks to the dreary gray of the Sichuan basin, we could only see a few little hills. The horizon was obscured. One of these days, I'll see 'em....]
Over the course of the past 8 months since the earthquake hit, representatives from our school have been going to various schools throughout the province, to deliver supplies and encouragements to children who were affected by it (losing classmates, losing relatives, losing homes, losing a school, losing hope, etc.) The biggest role we have taken is to deliver coats for kids purchased with funds donated by some of other affiliated schools. Being mountainous, it has surely been a cold winter for these people to live in poorly-heated temporary housing.
The purpose of our specific trip was to encourage the students and teachers at a school we had previously delivered coats to. (I use the royal "we" to refer to our school - I personally have not been here before) The original school was destroyed in the earthquake. When it hit, the students evacuated the building safely onto a field nearby - where the watched the whole thing collapse a few minutes later. Until a new school is built, they will meet in temporary housing. It consists of a handful of those buildings, with a common area in the middle:
Which is what just about everything in this city is now made out of. Other than a few housing developments that have already been built, most everything in the city was completely leveled. Only a few damaged buildings remain now, because the rest of the rubble has been cleared away. The city looks empty - there are many empty fields where buildings once stood, now awaiting to be re-developed. So the temporary housing put up by the government serves many functions - as homes, offices, hospitals, schools, and stores. It is sturdy but crude - better than a tent but not as nice as most pre-fab units in the US. Here's a look at one classroom:
When we first arrived, the Chinese teachers of the school were taken away to do some activities apart from the kids. These teachers have likely worked long and difficult hours the past months, and could probably use a break! I stayed with the kids, who were split into small groups for some opening games. I played the games, smiled a lot, tried to talk to the kids a little, and listened a lot. It is easier to follow along to the conversation of a 5th grader in Chinese, as compared to an adult!! Thankfully, I was able to rely on Charlie, a Chinese friend who led the games. Here is a picture of him with the kids:
Then we played some big group games. One fun one involved jumping into or out of "the pond" based on the directions being given (in Chinese). I did okay, but my friend Zack represented the foreigners the best, as you can see in this video -We also played a Chinese version of red rover (at least that is the closest thing I can think of in America...)
But the big finish, and what the kids were asking about all morning, was tug-o-war. ALL the kids and teachers, and most of the foreigners participated - maybe 80 or 90 altogether. They had fun.
In the end, we passed out some gifts - school supplies and fruit, mostly. It was a short but memorable trip. Personally, it was very easy thanks to the work of my school's Chinese staff, who organized all the logistics and planned the games. Though I wish that we had more opportunities to help (the need is certainly great) I learned through this experience that amazing things are being done as the Chinese reach out to help each other. I appreciate all the hard work I see my Chinese coworkers doing. God is good!-alan
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1 comment:
Thanks for posting this...and the one from the 17th. I just now had a chance to read them. The children are so precious!
It's fun to see THEM get a chance to have fun.
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