Yunnan Earthquake: Don’t panic, my little sister!

By Lily LI, World Vision China Communications

“When the earthquake happened, I was watching TV in the room. All of sudden, I felt dizzy, then I saw my younger sister running and crying into my room,” said 10-year-old Huaitao, whose voice was quite calm as he recounted that horrible day. His younger sister, 8-year-old Huaiqian, was sitting by his side, taking out toys from the child-friendly kit World Vision just gave her.

“Brother, this Ultraman is for you,” said the little girl.

Behind them there was a coffin, which contained their grandfather’s body. A burial was planned to be held in two days time.

Huaitao has another younger sister who was with their mother to receive treatment in Zhaotong city hospital.

“Her back was injured when trying to escape. Our mother was holding her in arms when rushing out of the room. At the same time, a fallen beam hit our mother’s eye, and she was bleeding,” said Huaitao, who had not seen his mother for the past four days, even no phone calls. All he knew was that his father had talked to his mother over the phone. But he knew no details.

“I miss them so much,” said Huaitao.

Both Huaitao and Huaiqian study in Primary School. Huaitao is in the fifth grade, Huaiqian the third, though it is the summer holiday.

Their mud-made home has collapsed. The brick house, built a few years ago, has wide cracks on the walls.

“My summer holiday homework was also buried under the ruins……” said Huaiqian.

On the night of the earthquake, all the adults were standing in an open space and the children were too scared to sleep. They were afraid of aftershocks.

“My sister was too young. She fell asleep while sitting. I let her lean on me. I must support her because I am her elder brother,” said Huaitao, who was sitting throughout that rainy night.

“I was scared. Even though we learned in the school that we should squat and protect our head with arms, my mind simply went blank at that moment. My immediate response was to grab my sister and rush out. The moment we were out of the room, we saw the one our grandfather was sleeping in had collapsed,” Huaitao recalled.

His grandfather, in his seventies, had poor health. When the earthquake happened, he was lying on the sofa.

“He was too ill to run,” said Huaitao.

Since the earthquake, every night Huaitao comforts his sister until she falls asleep. The adults were busy with their grandfather’s funeral. His mother was in the hospital. So Huaitao was determined to try his best to take care of his sister.

Asked about his biggest wish, he said “I want a new house, solidly built, so that we don’t need to live in fear anymore.”

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