The Review 2009

18 The Review 2009 • Teaching Earthquake Team Helps Rebuild Sichuan The earthquake in Sichuan in May 2008 left a vast swathe of land devastated and thousands of people coping with loss and displacement. The University responded by setting up the 512 Earthquake Roundtable to use our academic activities to help the region. Our scholars in medicine, engineering, social sciences, education and other fields have contributed their knowledge and expertise, but there has also been an educational component. Programmes are being adapted so students can apply their learning to the benefit of the Sichuan people while fulfilling field study requirements. A Tremor Changes the Plans Tan Siying, a Malaysian student pursuing a Master in Social Work, went to Sichuan in the summer of 2009 as part of her required field placement, intent on setting up projects to empower women there. But just a few days into her 10-week assignment at the Jian Nan Social Work Station, a small earthquake shook the area and her plans crumbled. The tremor was fairly weak but it knocked out a bridge to the village where she was basing her projects. The local non-governmental organisation she was working with decided there were other priorities. “I had to start from scratch so I went exploring, doing home visits and talking to many people. I found a group of about 20 elderly people who had been living in town with a woman who looked after them. Their building was no longer safe because of cracks from the earthquake. They looked to be in need of help so I decided to work with them,” she said. Siying organised volunteers from among the local people to help clean the group’s new premises and to cook for them and take them on outings. “I had to start from scratch so I went exploring, doing home visits and talking to many people” Entertaining the elderly in Sichuan 19 The Review 2009 • Teaching singing group so the students could expand their social support network and participate in a positive activity, and so he could learn more about their needs. “Some of them had lost family and friends in the earthquake, and when they moved to the resettlement area they felt isolated. One day I asked them how they felt about living in the resettlement area. Their reaction was not good, most of them were not willing to discuss it. I thought about that and felt I asked them the wrong question: they weren’t ready to talk about their emotions and feelings. But at least it let me know their psychological needs,” he said. “Another day, during a break, I asked some of them how they felt about the singing group. One girl was silent for a while. Then she asked me not to ask such questions again and started crying. I took her to another room and we talked. During the earthquake, her sister had gone back into a building to save her classmates and she died, and the girl didn’t eat or sleep for three days after, knowing her sister was dead. “I found that children grieve differently from adults. They won’t show their emotions and they’ll smile and do things as before, so it can be difficult evaluating their feelings” “Our training teaches us to empower people to help more people. The important thing is not the services but the value and education that you are transferring to the local people. Professionally, this was a good test to show what community development social work is like. I learned how to work with survivors, how to mobilise people. I also learned that you need to start with little things, like building a rapport and a relationship with the people you are helping,” she said. Siying is writing her dissertation on her experiences in Sichuan and plans a follow-up visit to further her research and to continue making a contribution to the region. Learning How to Help Steven Tam Lok-hing, a third-year Bachelor of Social Work student, was the only social work full-time undergraduate chosen for a field placement in Sichuan. He quickly got an insight into the complexities and rewards of helping others. Steven was working with a group of 12- to 14-year-olds living in a resettlement area. The challenge started when he decided to set up a Student, Steven Tam Lok-hing brings some joy to children struck by the Sichuan earthquake.