国内英语新闻:In aftermath of mudslides, volunteers rush to help traumatized survivors

PULADI TOWNSHIP, Yunan Province, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Yu Xiaoming sits on a wooden bench, flanked by his two best friends. His white-and-blue striped shirt is incongruous with the shack his family lives in.

Yu had worn this shirt for his only sister, who bought it for him while she was still alive. On Aug. 18, torrential mudslides swallowed an iron mine factory where his sister worked as a cook, burying her.

It will take some time for the 16-year-old to heal. His father passed away soon after he was born. And now, the loss of another loved one in a family of four is too much for the introverted 16-year-old to deal with.

Yang Zhenmei, a volunteer psychology counselor from the provincial capital Kunming, traveled 930 km to the disaster area to offer help for young people like Yu.

She held a brief psychological intervention session with the boy, had patient conservations with him and told him to refrain from aggressive behavior. She also told him to call her if he feels overwhelmed by difficulties.

But not many people are as lucky as Yu, who receives the kind of psychological services rarely seen in Litoudi Village, a remote mountainous village in China's southwest Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar. In a village with a population of a little more than 150, medical resources are scarce.

Litoudi Village has only one doctor. Usually, local residents have to travel seven km to be treated in a hospital at the township seat of Puladi.

Soon after the mudslides, about 130 doctors and nurses from Gongshan and Fugong Counties rushed to the scene, though none of them had previously received psychological training, except for a handful of doctors who had taken psychology courses back in college.

Moreover, the focus of the medical services in the immediate aftermath was on treating the injured, helping rescuers with minor injuries and preventing outbreaks of diseases.

Authorities have said 92 people were killed or remain missing following the massive mudslides that swept the village.

Torrents of mud and gigantic stones smashed and buried the Yujin Iron Mine and about 10 civilian residences at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Most of the victims were local residents and migrant workers at the Yujin Iron Mine.

The government has not released the number of people needing psychological assistance in the village. The village population is about l50, though some 380 relatives of the victim have temporarily settled into 20 tents or villagers' homes. "The number of people suffering psychological wounds and prone to having extreme actions is small. It's a mudslide and the chances of survival are slim. If people did not have extreme reactions in the first two days, they will somehow accept reality." volunteer counselor Yang said.

However, she still suggests creating a mid- and-long term plan to help local residents, by which she meant to train some villagers or young people as volunteers and help local residents suffering from stress brought on by the loss of loved ones.

Unlike the situation following the magnitude-8.0 Sichuan earthquake in 2008, when thousands of volunteer counselors and psychological experts went to the quake-devastated zone to offer help, only about 300 volunteers came to Litoudi Village.