As Olympics end, earthquake survivors rebuild

As Olympics end, earthquake survivors rebuild

The summer holiday began early for 12-year-old Li Gao and his classmates, but the school year's abrupt ending brought no excitement.

His home and school in Baiyan village, at the base of a steep hill in China's Sichuan province, were severely damaged by the earthquake that rumbled through the region in May.

"The hillside split apart," Li Gao recalls.

Not long after the quake struck, the rainy season set in. Threatened by the hill's collapse, Baiyan villagers were forced to evacuate to a safer, flatter piece of land nearby.

"Since the earthquake, I haven't been able to go to school," Li Gao told World Vision staff.

"I can't live at home anymore, either. The village that I used to be so familiar with is gone.

“I have been really sad."

Finding hope

Many in China will remember the summer of 2008 for the Beijing Olympics, but those in Li Gao's community will remember trying to rebuild their lives.

In the initial days following the quake, the entire village squeezed together in just a few small tents, surviving on food and water provided by the government.

When World Vision brought more tents and tarpaulins, families were able to spread out in an open field, far away from the danger of the hill's potential collapse.

"Now that every family has their own tents and tarpaulin shelters, which is a safer and more stable place to live in, I feel like this has become my new home," Li Gao says.

"Just like the old days"

Though Li Gao misses his studies and his friends from school, he often finds time to read his textbooks and revise his coursework. World Vision's Child Friendly Spaces also provide a place for him to forget his worries and make new friends.

"Every time I play with other children, I feel like I've gone back to our school just like in the old days," he says.

Establishing a new life

Though their village is still uninhabitable, the families from Li Gao's community remain positive, and many have resumed farm work.

While his parents travel up the hill to work in the field near their old village, Li Gao takes care of his four-year-old brother, Li Lu, and cleans, washes clothes and cooks for his family.

Together with other villagers, Li Gao's father built a temporary kitchen using mud and clay. But Li Gao must search the hills for wood, and can only cook in ideal conditions.

"I hate rainy days because I cannot go outside or cook outside," he says. "We can only have a simple meal of snacks, like crackers."

World Vision is providing gas stoves, pressure cookers and liquid gas so that villagers can resume their normal cooking routines.

Rebuilding still ahead

The local government built simple facilities to supply water and electricity to the tent area, and World Vision continues to provide daily necessities. Meanwhile, Li Gao and the rest of the villagers wait patiently for an announcement about the relocation of their village.

Eventually, they will be able to rebuild their homes and schools, but the process will not be easy. Rebuilding a village takes time.

Baiyan is just one of the remote villages in China where World Vision is committed to working over the next two to three years to help more than a million quake survivors to rebuild their lives.