A State of Mourning and Alert

A State of Mourning
The faculty and staff received this email shortly after lunch today, along with some earthquake survival tips:

各位同仁：

根据中国政府的公告，从5月19日起到5月21日，是中国的哀悼日，以悼念四川汶川地区大地震死难的人民。为此学校决定哀悼日中全校降半旗致哀，5月19日下午2：28将和全国人民一起默哀三分钟，今天下午2：25时，全校将通过广播告知各位，请大家组织好学生在原地肃立、低首、默哀。我们公司凡是工作上许可的，一律参加全国的3分钟默哀，
请大家做好准备。在此期间将全校停止一切娱乐活动，特此告示。

校长 郑延定

2008．5．19

Dear all:

The government announced an official three day mourning period starting Monday (May 19-May 21) in memory of people killed in the powerful earthquake in WenChuan Arean SiChuan Province. The national flags at our school will fly at half-staff and join the three minutes of silence at 2:28pm with the whole country today. We will announce the event at 2:25pm through school PA System. Please organize all your students to Stand up, Bow and Keep Silence for three minutes while horns of vehicles, trains, ships and air raid sirens wail in grief. All public recreational activities in School will be canceled.

Principal Yanding Zheng

May 19, 2008







Today is exactly one week after the earthquake struck the nation of China. Please keep our country in your thoughts*.


A State of Alert
Children under 8 years old are facing a scary time and heightened alert as an epidemic called Hand, Foot and Mouth disease is showing up in Kindergartens across this city and in others.



From the International Herald Tribune --
"BEIJING: The death toll rose to 43 from the hand, foot and mouth disease virus that has sickened tens of thousands of children across China, a report said Friday.

A 22-month-old girl from eastern Jiangxi province died Thursday in a local hospital, health officials told the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

As of Wednesday, the hand, foot and mouth disease virus had sickened more than 24,934 children in seven Chinese provinces plus Beijing, Xinhua reported.

The number was expected to continue rising after the state Health Ministry last week ordered health care providers to report cases within 24 hours.

The virus has been yet another major concern for Chinese authorities as they prepare for the Beijing Olympics in August. Cases have been reported from Guangdong province in the south to Jilin province in the northeast, and in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai.

Three people in Jiangxi province remain in critical condition from the virus, Xinhua reported Friday.

Most cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in China this year have been blamed on enterovirus 71.

The virus spreads through contact with saliva, feces, nose and throat mucus or fluid secreted from blisters. There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children with mild forms of the illness recover quickly after suffering little more than a fever and rash.

The disease is expected to peak in the hot months of June and July."


As a result of this, sinks have been placed outside of our Kindergarten. All students must wash their hands (using a detailed procedure that even the faculty and staff had to be trained on) and visit the nurse for a quick morning check-up before attending class. Teachers must also wash their hands at these sinks before entering as well. The Shanghai Government Authorites have requested that all major functions that involve the gatherings of parents and children in a small compact space be cancelled. Our classroom observations by the parents were scheduled for last Thursday, but have been postponed indefinitely. We have an annual International Day scheduled for Saturday, May 31. No news yet has been given as to whether or not it will still be taking place. We are assuming as of now that this event will continue. Logic tells us we should cancel it, but the way the Chinese teachers are still busy with decorations and planning, we are assuming it is still scheduled as normal... We are yarping* that the children can still participate in Kindergarten graduation on June 12th.

Children over the age of 8 years apparently have a stronger and more developed immune system to fight off the virus. This disease is very uncommon in adults, though one may contract it.

For more information on this disease, please visit the Center for Disease Control and Protection website at: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm.

So much is happening in China right now...

*As I was ending this entry, the three minutes of silence began. It was such a chilling feeling to hear the car horns outside as they were the only ones wailing in mourning for those who lost their lives last week. It's a hard thing to describe, the fact that I am being able to experience some of this first hand... wow.

One more quick piece of lighter news -
The Olympic torch will be ran a few blocks away in ZhangJiang tomorrow afternoon (this is the suburb of Shanghai where I teach)! However, the teachers and I won't be able to see it since it will be ran during the school day... bummer.