Wufu, China: After their daughter was born, Bi Kaiwei and his wife Meilin decided to adhere to China's one-child policy and its slogan, "Have fewer kids, live better lives."

For them and other couples who lost their only child in the past week's massive earthquake, the tragedy has been doubly cruel. Robbed of their sole progeny and a hope for the future, they find it even harder to restart their shattered lives, haunted by added guilt, regret and gnawing loss.

"She died before becoming even a young adult," said Bi, an intense, wiry chemical plant worker, standing beside the grave of 13-year-old Yuexing one of dozens among fields of ripened spring wheat and newly planted rice. "She never really knew what life was like."

Yuexing, a bright sixth-grader, was in school when Monday's quake struck, bringing the Fuxin Number 2 Primary School crashing down, killing her and 200 other students. Teachers had locked all but one of the school's doors during break time, parents said, leaving only a single door to escape through.

Many among the more than 22,000 people killed across central China were students in school. Nearly 6,900 classrooms collapsed, government officials said yesterday, in an admission that highlighted a chronically underfunded education system, especially in small towns, and compounded the anger of many Chinese over the quake.

In Wufu, a farming village two hours north of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, most of the dead students were a couple's only child born under a policy launched in the late 1970s to limit many families to one offspring. The policy was meant to rein in China's exploding population and ensure better education and health care.
Source : PTI