One year after, pain and hope remain

• Source: The Global Times
• [09:05 April 21 2009]
• Comments

By Ryan Ulrich

On May 12 of last year, my mother called me from America in tears. “Are you ok?” She said between sobs. I said, “Of course. Why? What happened?” What happened is now a part of history. I recently had an opportunity to experience firsthand what the rebuilding efforts in Sichuan have been like.

During the first week of April this year, I traveled to the devastated town of Hanwang with several of my classmates as part of a team of volunteers who would spend four days teaching English in the temporary school of Dong Qi Primary and Middle School in Deyang, Sichuan province. At the site of the former school almost nothing had changed in a year since the quake. There were memorials and flowers, but the pair of jeans that had been hung outside to dry were still the same way they were on May 12, 2008 as they were on April 5, 2009. Part of this scene will later be turned into a museum and memorial for the victims, which partly explains why it has been untouched in nearly a year. As our classmates toured the area, the signs of lives cut short in time—lessons still on a chalkboard, shoes, notebooks and backpacks in the rubble— made us all feel numb and sad. In all, the school had lost 235 of 895 students as well as 14 faculty members, another 336 students were injured. How did anyone survive and how did the memory of the quake affect them?

On our second day we had our first chance to visit Dong Qi Secondary School which had been moved to Deyang. The school is made up of temporary structures called banfang, which provide classrooms, offices, a cafeteria and dorms to the students and faculty. The students cheered and gave us a warm “hello,” as soon as we entered the room, and from that point on, I realized that the weight of the sadness I had felt trailing me since visiting their destroyed school had disappeared. As I began to teach and play games with the students, over the next four days I realized how positive and courageous the students were.

On the one hand, the pain and scars of the earthquake were never far off. Sometimes students in class would get a far-off look, as if they were replaying a terrible movie in their head. On the other hand, as soon as I called on them or asked them to volunteer in the game we were playing, they would answer quickly and enthusiastically. There were also several students who had lost one or more limbs in the earthquake. Upon seeing a few of them from far off, it also seemed to be a reminder of the hardships that everyone had gone through.

After getting to know a few of the students, I had an opportunity to view some of the art work that they had created. They had never had an art class before the earthquake and they were now given the opportunity to unleash their talent—I was very impressed with the self portraits and drawings that many of them had done.

One day I had an opportunity to ask a group of students what they wanted to do with their lives. Of the dozen students crowding around me, more than half wanted to be doctors or reporters.

Although the students didn't say it directly, this was another result of the earthquake. On the one hand, they wanted to be doctors themselves so they could help others the way they had been helped, and it was clear that they had also been inspired by the many reporters who had come to the school and talked with them. It was good to see they clearly had high hopes and dreams for the future.

In spite of the devastating impact of the earthquake, the school and the community is still there, the name is unchanged, the students are still learning and the faculty is still teaching. All over Sichuan this is happening. There are still many scars and a lot of rebuilding to be done. It will simply take time, and at the moment, everyone is trying their best.

This positive attitude was present in every class I taught at the school. The support of the Chinese government, volunteers and domestic and international donations are helping to rebuild Sichuan.

In August the students and faculty will move into their brand new school. Once again their lives will change, but I'm sure the students and teachers will face it with the same hope and courage they used to overcome the hardships of the past year.

Ryan Ulrich is an MA candidate studying international politics at Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies.