Save the Children to Set Up Child-Friendly Spaces, Temporary Classrooms in Earthquake-Affected Communities in China

WESTPORT, CT, May 20 (MARKET WIRE) --
One week after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake shook southwestern China, Save the
Children, a global humanitarian and relief organization, is preparing to
establish child-friendly spaces and temporary classrooms for primary schools
in earthquake-affected communities, following an assessment conducted last week
by Save the
Children emergency response teams in Sichuan Province.

For children whose caregivers have survived, Save the Children, working
alongside
the local Red Cross, plans to establish five temporary child-friendly spaces in
Deyang Prefecture in Sichuan Province. These child-friendly spaces will create
a sense of normalcy and provide a safe place for children to play, learn and
socialize. These areas also will help to support parents and caregivers
while they seek assistance, recover from the grief of losing family and friends,
and start to rebuild their lives.

"These children need to have a safe area they know they can go to for some
sense of normality, and help to overcome the enormity of what they've just
experienced," said Zhong Hang, director of Support Services for Save the
Children in China.

For children who have no caregivers, Save the Children will support the
Women's Federation of Sichuan Province to create four temporary child-friendly
centers in Mianyang, Deyang and Chengdu, while family tracing begins. With
decades of experience working in natural disaster and conflict settings, Save
the Children knows that special care and protection is needed for children who
have
been separated from relatives, whose family members may have been killed, or
whose relatives may be looking for them having returned from migrant labor
work elsewhere in the country.

"This is a chaotic situation," said Wyndham James, China country director
for Save
the Children. "It is vital that children are kept safe while their parents are
searching for them. The government has announced that it will care for the
children until things calm down, which we hope will give time for that to
happen."

James added, "It is important now to set up centers that can provide a
safeplace where the tracing work can begin so children and parents can be
reunited. This is important for children, but it's also hugely comforting for
parents to know."

The agency is also working with the Education Bureau in Mianyang and
DeyangPrefectures to help set up temporary classrooms for primary school
children,
ages 6 to 12, by providing desks, chairs, text books and other school supplies.
Save the Children also plans to develop a special curriculum that will include
psycho-social support and hygiene education.

Save the Children staff continue to work closely with the International
RedCross, the Women's Federation of Sichuan Province and the Ministry of
CivilAffairs -- the agency charged with coordinating the country's rescue and
relief efforts -- to assess children's needs in communities affected by
theearthquake, and to offer expertise, where needed.

The relief effort by the Chinese government has been extensive and rapid.
According to news reports, there are currently more than 130,000 Chinese troops
participating in rescue and relief efforts. The full extent of the quake
damage is still being assessed, including the impact on children who were
particularly vulnerable while at school during the quake. Officials estimate
that
more than 40,000 people have died, with that number expected to increase, and
more
than 245,000 people are reportedly injured. Rescue operations continue to be
hampered by strong aftershocks, landslides and fears of flooding from lakes
formed by the earthquake.

The government declared a three-day period of national mourning, starting
Monday,
May 19. As part of the observance, the country marked a three-minute period
of silence yesterday -- at the same time at which the earthquake struck one
week ago.

Save the Children has worked in China since 1984 and currently has 150
national staff -- almost all local nationals -- in 23 provinces. All staff are
reported to be safe and accounted for. The agency implements programs focused on
education, protection and health.

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