Addressing mental well-being of disaster-affected people in Xizang

LHASA -- At a resettlement site on Sunday, Tan Xiren handed out paintbrushes, drawing papers and candies to disaster-affected children from the earthquake-struck Qulho township of Dingri county, Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region.

Nyingma Dzong, a 6-year-old girl, was one of the over 80 children at the site. She drew a small tent, a red heart, a sun and herself. Then, she tentatively wrote "Come on Xizang" and "Come on Dingri" in Chinese on the paper.

Tan, one of the member of emergency mental health relief team from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, came to the county at night of Jan. 9 and has been providing mental services for rescue workers and children.

"We found out that disaster-affected people are in urgent need of help," she said.

On Jan 7, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Dingri, home to the northern base camp of the world's highest peak, Mount Qomolangma, claiming the lives of 126 people. As of 9 am on Jan 9, 337 injured had been treated, with 246 of them being discharged from the hospital.

"Many children draw the sun, flowers, and other positive and beautiful things. Through observing their drawings, we can learn their psychological condition and provide them with targeted counseling," said Tan.

Qangga village of Chamco township in Dingri was one of the villages severely affected by the 6.8-magnitude earthquake, where 6 people died and most of the houses were severely damaged or collapsed.

Kalsang Dondrup, age 13, and his family moved to a resettlement site the day after the quake. They have since acquired plenty of food, warm bedding and clothing.

"However, people would stay in the tents, and would not like to speak and play together," he said.

Noticing that villagers, particularly children, were avoiding interaction, Song Yao, head of the psychological relief team from the Sichuan Branch of the Red Cross Society of China, and his team organized activities such as singing, painting and games to alleviate the psychological impact of the disaster on children.

One of the activities involved asking people to write down their dreams. Kalsang Dondrup did not hesitate and wrote that he would like to become a football player. Song decided to organize a football match after learning many children's dreams were related to the sport.

At the match at the resettlement site with an altitude of 4,200 meters, Kalsang Dondrup received a football passed by his peer and kicked it through the makeshift "goal," which was space between two stones.

"This has been the happiest day since the earthquake," said the boy.

Later, more children came out of the tents to join the game and adults lingered in the area to watch the match.

"Collective sports and activities are important methods to help children relieve stress after the earthquake," said Song. He added that scientific psychological intervention can help relieve children's negative emotions, and they will apply the experience to other resettlement sites over the next two weeks.