Pu Ben's story

On 12 May 2008, local time 14:28, a 7.8 earthquake struck the Wenchuan area of Sichuan Province. Xinhua News reported that the total death toll may reach 50,000. Most schools in the affected areas have collapsed or are damaged. As the earthquake happened during school hours, many of those killed and injured are children.

Jiulong is the most seriously affected township in Mianzhu County. Jiulong township primary school had two buildings, both with three stories.  In one building, there are pre-primary classes and classes of grades one to three. This building completely collapsed. Of the 260 students, only 20 survived. 

As in many other rural areas of Sichuan, most of the young people and adults have left to find work in cities. Most parents leave their children behind with grandparents or other relatives. Pu Ben has lived with her grandmother since her parents moved to a city to look for work.

Pu Ben's story as told by her grandmother

"Pu Ben has been terribly frightened since the earthquake. She just keeps crying and doesn't say a word. She's only three years old and is too small to experience such a horrible disaster.

"When the earthquake hit Pu Ben's teacher threw her out of a window on the second floor wrapped in a quilt. Many parents immediately headed to the kindergarten to look for their children. It was completely destroyed and everything was in chaos. I still don't know who helped to rescue Pu Ben.

"When the earthquake struck my first reaction was to rush into the kindergarten. If she was buried, how could I explain to her parents? They both work away in other places. There were more than 40 children in her class but most of them have been killed. Only ten survived.

"The injured children who have been dug out have been sent to hospital. They've lost touch with their families. Some children were sent to their relatives in the cities. The city is safer than here.  Pu Ben's parents haven't come back yet. I'm taking care of her myself. All the teachers are buried and no one can look after the children. I don't know what we'll do in future.

"I worry most about the spread of disease. It's not easy to keep her safe and I want her to be healthy when she meets with her parents.

"What an evil disaster!  I hope people come and take care of the children who survived."