Jinhua Town (金花镇) — comprising a central residential area and seven surrounding villages — is not far from the location of SQR’s Guangji Kindergarten & Community Centre project, lying in the foothills of the Longmen mountains. The area was severely affected by the earthquake, with 98% of the buildings destroyed, and of just over 6,300 residents, 367 were killed, at least 30 of whom were children buried when the town primary school collapsed.
Due to the devastation of the town, residents had been living in temporary accommodation in Guangji town several miles away until the area had been cleared and reconstruction started at the beginning of 2009. The entire new layout of central Jinhua was planned and designed by the government. Each household is responsible for paying for the completion of its own home — either building it themselves or hiring labourers, many of whom have travelled from Wujin in Jiangsu Province, the city twinned with Jinhua to assist them with the recovery and rebuilding effort. In order to either do or oversee the building work, people are living in tents or temporary homes made of wooden planks.
Standing in stark contrast to the half-finished homes surrounding them are the large new clinic and primary school, both completed before September this year. The school features large classrooms and science labs, a sports area with running track and basketball court, and landscaped courtyard. Both buildings were paid for by Wujin as part of the twinning programme, and can more than accommodate the current 102 students and 20 members of staff. The impressive status of the school facilities belies that hardships that face the community.
Employment and sustainable living are of concern to the townspeople. While local shops have begun to open for business again, many of their customers are the migrant workers from Wujin, who will be leaving once the work dries up. Some former restaurant owners in Jinhua have moved their businesses to Mianzhu, taking their contribution to Jinhua’s economy and employment rate with them.
As is the case in many other places, bank or personal loans are required to make up the significant difference between the government grants and the final cost. Locals estimated that, even with loans and/or savings, two-thirds of the townspeople would not be able to afford to pay for their homes to be completed for several years to come.
