Aftershocks, kindergartens reborn

For some, the ultimate penance is death, but for Gou Hua it's living without her beloved only child.

Gou lost her 12-year-old son in the massive Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, and was mired in depression.

However, the kindergarten teacher, 43, has managed to work her way out of despair, and put her motherly instincts back to good use -- as the principal of the only kindergarten in Badi Town, of Sichuan's Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County.

Beichuan has taken rebuilding the bricks and mortar of its education system as an opportunity to introduce more effective teaching styles. And both Gou and her county have been helped in their respective rebirths by an innovative UNICEF program.

Beichuan's youngsters were terribly affected in 2008. With the county crammed into a valley, the quake razed over 80 percent of its schools and kindergartens, killing 1,584 students.

Reconstruction has taken place so fast in recent years that local maps need to be redrawn monthly. Schools' rebuilding has been prioritized.

The tragedy's impact has raised locals' consciousness on the importance of education. They have worked to modernize teaching practices and facilities. However, Beichuan, still one of China's poorest counties, was always going to struggle for funding, resources and personnel to fulfill this process.

That's where UNICEF comes in. The organization's "Reconstructing a Better Future" program was launched in September 2009. It has two main features -- providing quality age-appropriate toys and books to all reconstructed and newly built kindergartens and pre-schools, and on-site teacher training.