10-01-2019, 08:05 PM
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The Tofino Times
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[color=#800040]Tuesday, October 1st, 2019
[/hr]VOL. XXXII .. Num. 5780 | In the News: One Month After the Earthquake
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One Month After the Coastal Valley Earthquake
11-year-old Sophia Majid's Story of Recovery
A faint but determined heartbeat has returned to the city of Kelowna, one month after a powerful 8.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the Coastal Valley area.
Around 12.5 million people have been affected, including hundreds and thousands of children. One of them is 11-year-old Sophia Majid.
Sophia now lives in a tent with nine others – members of her family and neighbors – who fled their homes when the earthquake struck. Their temporary shelter is on a hill park about 2 km from where they used to live on the shore of Kelowna Bay.
Sophia’s family is not alone.
When the earthquake struck, Sophia and her family had to run desperately to escape the waves that they were worried would engulf large swathes of the shoreline. The waves came, but they were thankfully small in comparison to the devastation caused by the shaking ground. As they fled, Sophia quickly grabbed two mobile phones. These phones became the family’s lifeline in the following chaotic days as they tried to find food, drink and information on the rest of the family.
After several days, Sophia went back to look through the wreckage of her family’s home to try and find some of her belongings. She was hoping to find her school uniform, shoes or sandals, but had no luck. She misses her laptop that had her favorite movies on.
Sophia looked on while her mother Maria Majid cooked rice. The family used an area at the back of the tent as a kitchen.
Every night she went to sleep on a mattress underneath a net. In the morning she brushed her teeth with water from a container at the end of the field where the temporary shelters were located.
With her only exercise book and pen, Sophia heads to school with her friend David. David, who studies in a neighboring school, had already received a federal relief bag filled with school equipment, and Sophia was looking forward to receiving one today.
At least 1,200 schools were damaged by the earthquake, affecting about 184,000 students, according to recent estimates.
Sophia’s school was one of those hit and most of the teaching equipment and children’s school books have been destroyed or damaged.
Of the 202 students registered at Sophia’s school only 70 show up this day. All 18 teachers survived, although nearly half of them are unable to resume teaching. Some have sought refuge in other towns, while others are still looking for lost relatives.
Aftershocks are still a regular occurrence and many parents fear that their lives may still be changed for the worse.
Sophia’s school was one of the first to receive supplies from the Federal Government's response, including school tents and early childhood education kits.
As part of the Government’s efforts to support children’s return to school, broken furniture, mangled pieces of metal and shards of glass are being cleaned up from the school grounds.
Another challenge for the next six months will be to set up latrines and hand-washing facilities for the schools.
It will be a long road to recovery, but being in school and playing with her friends have brought some hope and happiness back to Sophia’s life. With the right support, there is every chance of her continuing school and regaining her childhood, despite the magnitude of the disaster that struck one month ago.
See full article here: https://zkcastor.wixsite.com/thetofinotimes