A Kindergarten at Longxing: Put the World back in Place(Abridged)

Little hands started the motion — and the snow-white object inside a transparent ball turned out to be a small replica of the Swiss Pavilion of the World Expo revolving beautifully to the delight of the children of the new kindergarten of Longxing.

September 3， 2010， was a festival in this district of Chongzhou， a town one-hour’s drive from the Sichuan capital of Chengdu. Local authorities were taking over buildings funded and built by the Swiss community. The multicolored buildings were ready to accommodate 250 children starting immediately September.

The Chongzhou authorities were delighted to welcome many guests representing various Swiss partners of the “Swiss Community Project”. The presence of Ambassador Blaise Godet， making his third visit to Longxing， was greatly appreciated. The guests were greeted by children waving Swiss and Chinese flags. Then followed a short performance， speeches celebrating conclusion of this project， a detailed site visit， the official unveiling and press conference.

Two years ago， the picture was very different; on May 12， 2008， the region of Wenchuan was hit by a terrible earthquake， reaching 8 on the Richter scale， that left nearly 70，000 dead and 18，000 missing.

Chongzhou， with about 700，000 inhabitants， had half its population affected by the earthquake， with more than 540，000 homes destroyed and an economic loss of about 10 billion RMB. In the education sector alone， there were 64 people injured (10 teachers and 54 students)， 12 killed (two teachers and 10 students). Most school buildings were damaged to varying degrees， while teaching materials become unusable. Opened in 1998， the kindergarten of Long- xing， pre-disaster， had 132 children， with school buildings covering over 340 square meters.

Shortly after the disaster， the Swiss community in China — SwissCham， the Swiss Embassy and Consulate in Shanghai， the Swiss Society Beijing， the Swiss Club Shanghai， many enterprises and individuals — quickly sprang into action. A collection of funds was launched on site and also in Switzerland， which was relayed by bilateral organizations: Switzerland-China Society， French- speaking Section of the Switzerland-China Society， Chamber of Commerce Switzerland-China and by the Protestant Mutual Switzerland (EPER) which became the main contributor， and individuals who had launched their own collecting activities. The total pledges reached 7.8 million RMB. This achievement is noteworthy because it is rare that all parties concerned have collaborated in such exemplary works! Those who initiated and supported this project are gratefully acknowledged!

Switzerland’s contribution is perhaps modest in regard to the damage caused by the disaster. Yet it is a significant gesture， which means more in the year when we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and China， by offering these children a new school and the vision of a world put back to its place.

*The author is President of the French-speaking Section of the Switzerland-China Society; Secretary of the Committee of Switzerland-China Chamber of Commerce， French-speaking Section and Member of the Director Committee of Switzerland-China Society.