A Day of Play with Earthquake Survivors

On Sunday I participated in The Rainbow Project, a relief program Ecologia runs in a town that was hit particularly hard by last May’s earthquake. Once a week, Rainbow Project volunteers travel to Loushui (a 2-3 hour bus ride outside of Chengdu) for a day of play with the surviving children of the town. Play activities include sports and games, arts and crafts, song and dance, and English language lessons.

The day of play not only breaks up the boredom of the kids’ new lifestyle as people displaced from their homes, but serves therapeutic and healing purposes for children and adults who are grieving for loved ones lost in the disaster.

Over 200 kids in Loushui died when the elementary school and high school buildings collapsed during the quake. (The majority were from the elementary school.) Parent have claimed that, since the earthquake, the only time during the week that the children of Loushui laugh or smile is when the volunteers from Rainbow Projects visit on Sundays.