Photos and Stories by Lydia Wallace, blogging at Fiferis.
The kids who remain in the in the village have nothing to do. Their school has collapsed, their houses are gone. They were shy at first but as they got to know us — and especially when we started handing out toys — they were delighted and happy. Unlike their parents who were working in the fields when the earthquake hit, they were in school so their stories are often the most harrowing.
Two kids playing with the toy stethoscope given to them by relief workers.
A boy plays chess with his grandfather.
We met a five year old boy named Bao Shenyi. He survived the earthquake because, without any instruction, he jumped out of the second story of his school building when the room began to shake. As I was talking to his parents he took my hand and led me through piles of rubble then stopped and pointed. “This is my room,” he told me.
Bao Shenyi in front of his former house
One of the Sichuan Quake Relief workers took the kids aside and began to teach them English words. Some of the toys we brought were plastic animals, so we taught them the name of some of the animals. They crowded around, eager to learn, glad for some distraction. And of course, the kids were endlessly amused by having their pictures taken.
Zhang “Linda” Wenwen
Learning the English names of animals
Girls admire pictures of themselves
Girls laugh when we take their picture
