International Save the Children Alliance
Voices from the China Earthquake
Save the Children has recently sent Anne-Sophie Dybdahl, a Danish psychologist, to China to help the children who lived through the devastating earthquake. Follow her reports here.
Tuesday 27 May
Sunday 25 May
Saturday 24 May
Friday 23 May
Thursday 22 May
Tuesday 27 May
The busy period continues. The team is in full swing locating new places suitable for our activities. I find it striking that there are so many stories about volunteers flocking in from all regions of China to help out. This is tremendously uplifting for the survivors. I have experienced so many times before how important it is for people affected by a disaster to be met with compassion, sympathy and goodwill from others. It is not that we outsiders may necessarily solve all their problems, but human empathy helps - both adults and children.
For today, we are planning a major field survey. The team is taking part alongside volunteers. It is going to be very exciting. Looking forward to seeing the results.
Sunday 25 May
Today we started our child protection activities. The team members are tired, but now the initial, very intense period is over.
To start with, we managed to pitch two big tents and fill them with toys. The children flocked in. Some of the children clung to the teddy bears really tightly, and cheered as they saw the skipping ropes.
The parents were overjoyed to get support for their children. There were some aftershocks, just as the centre opened, but the children took it calmly, as they were so absorbed by all the new activities around them. Only later did we realise how serious the aftershock had been.
That evening when we left for home, a little girl asked "Will you be here tomorrow as well?"
(Photos, from left to right: Staff set up a tent for the child-friendly space. Neu Tan Kei explores the toy box
in the child-friendly space. A young boy, and a young girl, play. Credit: Anne-Sophie Dybdahl / Save the Children)
Saturday 24 May
Today, we had to travel to conduct the first training of voluntary teachers who are going to lead some of the ‘child-friendly spaces'. Unfortunately on the way up the car broke down. It took 1½ hours to fix it, and on the way back, we had to sit for an hour before another car came to pick us up...
Despite the difficulties with travel the day itself went very well. The teachers were much more capable than we had dared hope for, which has left us feeling positive about the impact that our work is going to have.
The spot in the camp chosen for our tents (which have thankfully arrived) has yet to be made level, and we are opening tomorrow. We lack fences, mats and much more, so tomorrow morning, I am off with the woman in charge of purchasing - I am not quite sure where to buy fences, but we will have to find out!
The team spirit is great!
(Photo: Wang Min leads activities in the child-friendly space in Mianzhu stadium camp. Credit: Anne-Sophie Dybdahl Save the Children)
Friday 23 May
Started with a morning session to share out the work. My task for today has been to find out what is going to happen with all the orphans and separated children. I prepared some questions for the team leader to put to the ministerial representative. How many are there? Where are they? What is the plan? Do you need help? According to the reply, thousands of children have definitively lost both parents, and several thousands are still looking for them.
The authorities are used to handling many sorts of problems, and they seem to be well-organised. Since 1960, there has been a formal system of foster parenting for minors who, for some reason or another, do not live with their mother or father. I talked to a colleague who spent yesterday at a reception area. She showed me a picture of a notice board with photos of dead children, mostly infants, who have not been identified. The hope is that someone will recognise them to enable a proper burial and to end the families' uncertainty about the fate of their daughters and sons.
Today, we have decided to establish two ‘child-friendly spaces' in a camp where the families are living in tents. The parents are impassive, finding it hard to carry on with daily routines, so the children are bored and scared. This arrangement will cater for 300 children.
There will be two tents: one for the 3-6-year-olds, another for the 6-12-year-olds. 16 teachers whose schools collapsed during the quake have decided to volunteer. Tomorrow, our first teacher training will begin. I have been buying supplies with a logistician and a team member.
We have bought mats, books, pencils, paper, balls, plastic bricks, etc., all of which has been packed in boxes and will be delivered by vehicle to the camp.
We managed to find a kind man from Chengdu University who wants to help us, so he is coming with us tomorrow to meet the voluntary teachers.
(Photo: Missing persons board outside the Mianyang Stadium. Credit: Jon Bugge / Save the Children.)
Thursday 22 May
First working day. I arrived in Beijing this morning, and flew straight to Chengdu. On my way from the airport, I saw makeshift tent camps where people sleep in the open, since they are terrified the houses will cave in on top of them. The aftershocks are scary - I remember them after the earthquake in Bam, Iran. One's defences are activated in a split second, when all attention turns to getting away into safety, even if this means jumping out of a window.
We have a lot to do. We arrived at the headquarters, which have been established at the hotel where most of us have been lodged. We are a mix of Chinese people and foreigners. It is comforting to be working as a team brought together for one and the same reason: we are going to do something for the children.
I arrived late in the afternoon, and was plunged right into it. The team was in the field to collect new information on the plight of the children, and how best to support them. My colleague from Save the Children USA is looking at the ‘safe havens', that is, tents where the children may come to play, get some schedule and organisation into their day-to-day life, and be taught about how to take care of themselves. Tomorrow, I am going to work with one of the local staff members all day long. We have to follow up the issue of all the lost and orphaned children, where they are, what the plans are, and how we may be of service to the authorities.
The death toll keeps rising. Thankfully, I am now in a position where I can help DO something. There is not even a crack in the wall of the building where we have been accommodated, which sets the mind at rest to concentrate and reflect. We worked until midnight, and our first meeting tomorrow begins at 8 am.
(Survivors sleep inside the Mianyang Stadium. Credit: Jon Bugge / Save the Children)
How you can help
Learn more about our response in China and how you can help.