Volunteers work under the direction of technical staff to assemble the prefab buildings in Zundao Town of Mianzhu County, May 18, 2008.
On Sunday May 18, just six days after the 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan, the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) completed construction of a new primary school in one of the worst hit areas, Zundao Town in Mianzhu County.
100 volunteers from all parts of China, working under the direction of technical staff, took only one day to assemble the prefabricated buildings and tents that will house the school until permanent buildings are constructed. Work on the 1,100-square-meter site began on Sunday Morning and was completed by 8 PM the same evening.
The school is the first of a number of "Kangzhen Hope" (Kangzhen means “quake relief” in Chinese) schools planned to replace the huge number of school buildings that were destroyed in the earthquake.
The Beijing News announced yesterday that a school funds appeal it launched jointly with CYDF had already collected cash and goods to the value of 106.69 million yuan. CYDF Secretary Tu Meng said part of the donation was used to fund construction of the Mianzhu County primary school.
Work on the 1,100-square-meter site began on Sunday Morning and was completed by 8 PM the same evening.
Construction materials for the school were donated by Beijing Chengdong Prefabricated House Co., Ltd.
It is hoped that the new school will help the students recover from the mental effects of their terrible experience. “The sooner the students return to school, the sooner they will recover from their mental trauma. Rejoining their classmates will help students rebuild their confidence and sense of security, and school is also a setting in which we can carry out group therapy,” said Dong Huijuan, a psychologist at Tangshan Normal College.
(China.org.cn by He Shan and John Sexton, May 19, 2008)