Creating Child-Friendly Spaces
by Save The Children
One week after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake shook southwestern China,
Save the Children plans to set up child-friendly spaces and temporary classrooms for primary schools in one of the most devastated communities
in Deyang Prefecture, part of Sichuan Province.
More than 3 million children live in the earthquake zone. For them, the disaster has meant the loss of everything that gave them a sense of security: their families, their homes, schools, and their daily routines.
Save the Children child protection adviser, Deborah Barry, arrived in China this week. Barry and other experts say child disaster victims need to quickly return to their routines. Even though they might be living in tents, families should try to get back to some normal activities like eating dinner at the same time as before the quake, and children should return to school as quickly as possible.
For children whose caregivers have survived, Save the Children, working alongside the local Red Cross, is preparing plans for five temporary child-friendly spaces to create a sense of normalcy and provide a safe place for children to play, learn and socialize. These areas also will help to support parents and caregivers.
In cases where children have no caregivers, while family tracing begins,
Save the Children will support the Women’s Federation of Sichuan Province, which is creating four temporary child-friendly centers in Mianyang, Deyang and Chengdu.
In Mianyang and Deyang Prefectures, Save the Children also is working with the local Education Bureau to help set up 12 temporary classrooms — providing desks, chairs, textbooks, and other school supplies — for primary school children, ages 6 to 12.
Read more on Save the Children’s response in China.
Tags: china, earthquake relief, Save The Children
