Child-friendly kits bring happiness to flood-affected children in southern China

Written by Christabel Chan, Translated by Joy LI

The nightmare that they feared has happened; houses collapsed and their farmlands inundated.

The heavy rains in mid-July triggered the landslides in the mountainous community of Zhexi Town in Anhua County, Hunan Province, China. Because most villagers built their houses along mountain slopes, they suffered the devastation of the landslide.

Li Shiqiu is among the villagers in this community who has nothing left but a half-wrecked home, too dangerous to live in. His family of five now lives in a temporary shelter near their damaged home.

When we visited them, his 3-year-old son, Hui, wasn't happy to see strangers. Holding him in his arms, Li Shiqiu wished his son would not be upset. One of our staff handed Hui a child-friendly kit but he cried even harder. But when the kit was opened and he saw toys inside, his tears were immediately replaced with a smile as he removed the contents, one by one.

Though too young for school, he became very excited when he noticed the pencils, “do homework with it,” he babbled.

It was an opportunity for World Vision staff to tell the family about keeping themselves safe by using the disaster risk reduction leaflet in the kit. Hui pointed to a cartoon image of a green tent in the leaflet, then moved his finger to the real tent, murmuring, “Tent. Houses, destroyed.”

His elder brother Jia was just as happy with the pen in the kit, “I can finish my homework with it.” Jia was luckily away during the landslide. “I was in my grandma’s house, that’s why my school bag is still with me, how lucky I am! But my mother and younger brother’s belongings were all washed away,” he recalled.

The recent floods that struck Southern China claimed lives and caused huge economic losses, particularly in Hunan and Guizhou provinces. Deep in Hunan province, Anhua County is among the hardest-hit. Most of the affected villagers have no way of recovering their lost property or means to earn a living now. There are many more children like Hui and Jia who are waiting for help.