unicef: turning tears into smiles

From Tears into Smiles

Reaching out to help children

recover from the Sichuan earthquake

UNICEF China, May 2009

Contact: [email protected]

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One year after the Sichuan earthquake children are travelling on the road to full recovery of the lives they knew before. In cooperation with the Government of China, UNICEF first responded to the call for help in the earliest days after the quake struck. To date UNICEF has raised over US$37 million from governments, corporations and individuals to help meet the needs of children. At the one year commemoration point we are beginning to have a significant impact on their recovery across the earthquake zone.

In order to report on these joint efforts with various departments of the Government of China, UNICEF has teamed up with Zhao Jia, a well known photographer who generously volunteered to support our documentation efforts. In mid-March, Zhao Jia travelled through Sichuan and Gansu to collect moving images of the children who are now being reached. The images presented in this exhibit each tell a story of the triumph of resiliency over adversity.

Introduction

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Yang Mei, 13, packs up her bag before going to school. She is one of some 10,000 students who are studying in prefabricated classrooms and using clean water and sanitary toilets in 39 schools of XiheCounty, Gansu Province, thanks to the joint efforts of UNICEF and the Ministry of Education.

Education

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Yang Mei on her way to Caoyang Primary School with her sister and brother in Xihe County, Gansu Province.

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Two boys stand in front of prefabricated classrooms in Caoyang Primary School in Xihe County, Gansu Province. Their old classrooms were damaged by the earthquake last year.

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Primary students walk to their classrooms in Tielou Tibetan Autonomous Village, Wenxian County, Gansu Province. In the emergency relief period, UNICEF worked with education authorities to provide 60,000 student kits, 2,000 teacher kits, and 50,000 clothing packages to Sichuan, Gansu and other affected provinces.

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Children study with their new desks and chairs in a prefabricated classroom in Xihe County.

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Children study in a prefabricated classroom at Tielou Tibetan Autonomous Village, Wenxian County, Gansu Province.

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Yang Mei, a sixth grader from Caoyang Primary School in Xihe County, listens carefully to her teacher in a UNICEF-assisted prefabricated classroom. Gansu is the second worst-hit province by the Sichuan earthquake.

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A girl reads from a textbook with her classmates in one of the 39 schools supported by UNICEF in Xihe County, Gansu Province.

A girl studies in a primary school in Wenxian County, Gansu Province.

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A 72-square-meter school tent shelters teachers and students in Caichang Middle School, Dayi County, Sichuan Province. In the first few weeks after the earthquake UNICEF supplied 1,000 large tents to serve as school classrooms and teachers’offices.

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Xie Qiuxiang, who teaches Chinese language for the seventh grade, is preparing her lecture in a UNICEF-supported 72-square-meter tent in Caichang Middle School, Dayi County.

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Children in Caoyang Primary School, Xihe County, assemble for morning exercises in an open field near their prefabricated classrooms.

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Children do morning exercises at their playground in Caoyang Primary School. UNICEF has worked with the ministries of education, water resources and other government counterparts to provide a package of interventions in education and water and sanitation to 39 schools in Xihe County of Gansu Province.

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Children in Caochuan Primary School of Xihe County, wait for their turn to sign out UNICEF sports equipment. UNICEF has provided 95 sports kits to schools in Xihe County. Each kit contains 11 kinds of sports equipment including football, paddle badminton, skipping rope and shuttlecock.

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Children in Caochuan Primary School wait for their turn to sign out sports equipment as other students are reading new library books.

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Girls skip rope in Caochuan Primary School. “We used to make rubber band skipping ropes and foot bags to play with at school. But now we can play paddle babminton and a lot more games and sports,”Yang Mei, 13, said.

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Two boys play paddle badminton before going back home in Xihe County.

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Students have a photo with their principal outside prefabricated classrooms in Tielou Township Primary School. Their school was damaged by the earthquake. UNICEF has worked with education authorities to provide student kits, teacher kits and sports kits at this school.

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Students on their way home for a lunch break in Tielou Tibetan Autonomous Village, Wenxian County of Gansu Province. The students study in prefabricated classrooms at the foot of the mountains after their classrooms were severely damaged by the May 12th earthquake.

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Zhang Chengmei, 26, looks at her premature baby inside an incubator provided by UNICEF in QingchuanMaternal and Child Care Centre. Working with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF has helped rehabilitate healthcare services for children and women in the earthquake zone and has delivered life -saving medical equipment and supplies to Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces.

Health

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A doctor checks a one-day-old premature baby girl inside an incubator at Qingchuan Maternal and Child Care Centre.

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Liu Ju holds her baby girl as she waits for a ride home from Anxian Maternal and Child Care Centre where she delivered her baby ten days ago. Her home is about 20 km away from the hospital.

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In Anxian Maternal and Child Care Centre, a doctor measures the height and weight of four-month-old Sun Minguo, who was underweight and premature at birth. Doctors saved his life with emergency neonatal care equipment. Now, Sun is developing well.

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In Qingchuan Maternal and Child Care Centre, with the help of a fetal heart monitor, Zhang Yaping, eight months’pregnant, hears the heartbeats of her growing baby. Zhang lost a child in the earthquake.

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Shen Yongli holds her one-month-old baby girl Chen Zhiyan waiting for their turn to receive a health check at AnxianMaternal and Child Care Centre, Sichuan Province. Working with health authorities, UNICEF has helped rehabilitate healthcare services for children and women in the earthquake zone.

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A doctor advises a pregnant woman how to initiate breast-feeding after delivery at Qingchuan Maternal and Child Health Care Centre. Qingchuan is one of the worst-hit counties in Sichuan Province.

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A doctor checks the development of 45-day-old Gao Jingting at Qingchuan Maternal and Child Care Centre.Thebaby has been breastfed since birth. The mother Feng Li says her baby loves listening to music. “I hopeshe can become a musician,”says Feng Li .

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Newborn Gao Jingting receives her routine health check at Qingchuan Maternal and Child Care Centre.

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Gao Jingting sleeps in her mother’s arms after her routine health check.She is 4.5 kg in weight and 53 cm high.

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Tang Jie, a paediatrician at Anxian Maternal and Child Care Centre, measures the weight of seven-year-old Zheng Xiaoyi.

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10-year-old Luo Yiyun from Guihua Village in QingchuanCounty, Sichuan Province, opens the faucet to collect water. She used to fetch water from one of the dug wells near her aunt's home before UNICEF provided water purification units and water distribution pipelines.

WES

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Boys and girls wash their hands during recess at Caochuan Primary School, Xihe County, Gansu Province. Previously they were using water from a well before UNICEF and water resource authorities built a water supply system after the earthquake.

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A UNICEF-supported toilet with hand-washing facility in Shixia Township Primary School, Xihe County, Gansu Province. UNICEF has worked with local government partners to improve water and sanitation in the county since the earthquake.

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Shui Qingping, an engineer with Qingchuan County Water Resource Bureau opens the gate to check the quality of a water supply station rebuilt after it was damaged by the earthquake.

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Children from Zhaizi Village, QingchuanCounty, wash their hands after playing sports. The water stand is connected to a water supply station UNICEF helped rebuild after the earthquake.

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Trained staff organise children from the relocation community to play a game at a Child Friendly Space in Feishui Town, Anxian County, Sichuan Province. Working with the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, UNICEF has set up 40 Child Friendly Spaces across the earthquake zone to provide long-term psychosocial support.

CFS

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Children play a game at a Child Friendly Space in Feishui Town, Anxian County. About 90% of children will recover gradually from the traumatized experience of a disaster through social support and group activities.

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Li Chao (left), a child volunteer, helps younger children crawl through hoops during a game at a Child Friendly Space in Feishui Town, Anxian County.”Many volunteers come all the way to help us and I want tohelp other people too,”he said.

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Li Chao (left) and Li Xiaofeng (2nd left), two child volunteers, help a younger boy during a game at a Child Friendly Space in Feishui Town, Anxian County.

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Children read books at a Child Friendly Space in Feishui Town, Anxian County, Sichuan Province.

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A girl reads a picture book at a Child Friendly Space in Anxian County. She now lives with her parents in a neighbouring relocation camp.

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A teacher explains to children and parents the rules to play the game “Big Wind Blows”at a Child Friendly Space in Leigu Township, Beichuan County, Sichuan Province. The game is designed to help children focus their attention and respond quickly, as a way to let them look at the present and into the future, instead of trapping in the past memories of the earthquake.

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Parents and children compete to move balloons without using their hands during a group game at a Child Friendly Space in BeichuanCounty.

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Children on jumping balls at a Child Friendly Space in BeichuanCounty.

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A girl wearing Qiang ethnic clothes sits on a jumping ball, gearing up for a competition with her peers at a Child Friendly Space in BeichuanCounty.

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A girl plays a game at a Child Friendly Space in BeichuanCounty.

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Children’s cups are kept in a shelf with their names tagged above the pigeon holes at a Child Friendly Space, AnxianCounty.

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Parents and children enjoy their time playing with toys at a Child Friendly Space in Beichuan County, one of the worst-hit areas in Sichuan. Child Friendly Spaces not only provide long-term psychosocial support, but also pre-school education, child protection, health education and other services.

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A boy plays with toys in a Child Friendly Space, Beichuan County.

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A young girl plays with toys at a Child Friendly Space in Beichuan County. Child Friendly Spaces help children under six to have a better start in life through educational games and social stimulation.

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A girl reads a story book with the help of her mother at a Child Friendly Space in BeichuanCounty. Parents are encouraged to share time with their children so that the children will feel safe and being loved in a time when many caregivers are busy rebuilding their lives.

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Four-year-old Zhang Tong reads a picture book with his mother at a Child Friendly Space in Anxian County. “When the earthquake hit, my son was in the kindergarten. He became timid and clung to me wherever I went. Now he comes to this child friendly space every day, and he plays with other children,”his mother Wang Mingying said.

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Zixuan, aged 12, plays ping pong with her friend at a Child Friendly Space in Beichuan County. She was buried under the rubble along with her classmates when the school building fell apart. Zixuan said she was afraid of the aftershocks which came frequently for a few months after the quake.“There are two child friendly spaces near my home and I go to both sites at weekends. The place makes me feel at home and comfortable because there are many friends I can play with,”she said.

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Zixuan, aged 12, rests on a jumping ball with a younger kid at a Child Friendly Space in Beichuan County.

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Two girls are hesitant to leave a Child Friendly Space after playing games with their peers, Anxian County.

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He Liping, chairwomen of Leigu Town Women’s Federation of BeichuanCounty, checks the registration records in a Child Friendly Space. “Through working with UNICEF in the child friendly spaces, I myself became more optimistic, and I overcame the sorrow of losing my own daughter. It is like when I see them I can see her. I wish the child friendly space project could run forever and bring more smiles to children,”she said while playing with children.

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Doudou (pseudonym), a 6 -year-old girl orphaned by the earthquake, stops her bicycle and runs into a Child Friendly Space in BeichuanCounty.

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Doudou plays a game with other children at a Child Friendly Space in Beichuan County. The 6-year-old girl and her brother were orphaned by the earthquake. “In the first few months, the children would wake up in the middle of night crying for their mother and father to come back,”said the grandfather surnamed Wang.

“Teacher Yang (manager of the Child Friendly Space) visited my home and invited me to take her to play with other children here. Gradually, she started to laugh and liked playing with other kids. Now she is full of sunshine, riding her bicycle everywhere,”her grandfather said.

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On a sunny day, students from Zhaizi Village in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, play ping pong during recess.

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In spring time, children turn somersaults in an open field at the back of their prefabricated school in Sichuan Province.

Zhao Jia has worked as a photographer and photograph editor for a number of leading European and domestic publications and organizations His main subjects of interest are daily life, geography and fashion. Zhao Jia is currently on contract with Marie Claire and National Geographic Traveller and writes a regular column in China Photography magazine. His best known recent publications are: Twelve Chapters (2005), Top Photographic Equipment (2006), Zhoukoudian (2007), Memories of Tibet (2007), EOS Dynasty (2007) and Redemption (2008). In 2008, Zhao Jia initiated a philanthropy campaign known as “Images Make a Better World for Children”mobilizing Chinese photographers to help build libraries for primary school students in remote Tibetan villages. Immediately after the earthquake on 12 May 2008, Zhao Jia assisted the post-emergency rescue efforts in Yingxiu Town of Wenchuan County. Zhao Jia volunteered to support UNICEF in documenting joint efforts of UNICEF and its Government counterparts in helping children and families affected by the Sichuan earthquake.

UNICEF and its Government partners in earthquake emergency recovery are planning to continue intensive efforts for children through 2011. There is still so much to be done and we need your suppor.If you would like to find out more about UNICEF's work in China please go to www.unicef.org/china

Closing

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unicef: turning tears into smiles

Documents

gansu province

xihe county

sichuan province

school classrooms

earthquake unicef

wenxian county

dayi county

caoyang primary school