Memorial for the China-SiChuan Earthquake I-School tries to move on

2009/5/15-China-Beijing
BIGBOXSHOPS-Each time Tan Guoqiang raises his eyes on the picture hanging on the wall of his office,the principal sees the beaming faces of his 437pupils and teachers.-Fewer than half of those people are alive now.
The May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province last year destroyed Yingxiu primary school,located in the quake epicenter of Wenchuan county,killing more than 200pupils and teachers.
Across the road from the original site of the school stands a stretch of prefabricated houses,along with a heap of ruin,which serve as temporary classrooms for the 165pupils who survived the disaster.
The surviviors gather for morning assembly every Monday,their backs to the debris of their former school..
After Yingxiu primary school reopened on its temporary site on Aug 27th last year,classes have steadily continued,The familiar sounds of a classroom-pupils reading aloud from their textbooks,desks and chairs shuffling,teachers writing on blackboards-can be heard throughout the grounds.
Pupils and teachers constantely try to put painful memories of the quake behind them and open a new but different charpter in their lives.
On April 28,Wu Jingyi,8,received sets of her new school uniform from the headmaster,Jingyi herself was trapped in the collasped building of the school for two days,Rescuers had to amputate her left leg at the calf to save her from the rubble,and she soon was sent to the provincial capital to recover and pratice using her artifical limb.The girl plans to return to her school next year.Jingyi herself still jolts from the nightmare of being buried in the debris of her old school.
“We have made progress in the rebuilding of the hardware,but the future of our pupils is pressing more concern for us”Tan said.”The authorities in charge of the school’s reconstruction have already promised a new building for it and construction would begin once the details are finalized.”
Over the past few months,the school has received donations worth 1million yuan,which have allowed the students access to IT rooms and scholarships.
Still,Tan said his school,with all its temporary classrooms,lacks adequate facilities for those disabled students,His teachers have also received only minimal training in psychological counselling.
Preparing to help his teachers cope with the difficult period of reconstruction is another challenge for Tan,Seventy-five percent of the school’s teachers lost their loved ones in the disaster,Saddled with mortgages and bills,most of them now have little to call their own.
Every day,when Yingxiu’s teacher walk out of their temporary school,a public cemetery for quake victims 300m away from the classrooms also reminds them of the disater.
But so far,none of the teachers have asked to quit.The disaster has made them stronger!
We will show you more reports about one-year-change in Sichuan,their life,their words,their faith and their confidence.
Publisher: BIGBOXSHOPS