近几个月里，受连续强降雨影响，长江水位上涨迅猛，位于安徽省望江县境内的长江华阳闸水位突破历史极值。为保证安全，当地先后在江调圩、巩固圩行洪分洪。行洪前，圩内群众全部撤离。
自7月初以来，当地的三所小学被改建为临时安置点。随着洪水的消退，安置点成为了这些群众的临时住所。
当地的明德小学就是这样一处临时安置点。
Outside Mingde primary school of Wangjiang County in eastern Chinas Anhui Province, a red banner hung at the gate. "Love your life. Avoid drowning."
The slogan served as a reminder for flood victims who resided at the school now turned into a temporary shelter for flood victims. When they initially arrived at the shelter, almost all residents wanted to go back and visit their flooded homes, said Li Lanlan, a local government official responsible for running the temporary shelter.
They were concerned about their flooded rice, rapeseed, and cotton fields. Some had their houses submerged by floodwaters.
Severe flooding engulfed eastern China this summer. Several villages in Wangjiang County, a few dozen kilometers from a local river that feeds into the Yangtze, got the mandatory evacuation order to move their entire residents to less flood-prone areas.
To house those flood victims, three primary schools in the county were remodeled into temporary shelters since early July, and with the floodwaters unabated, the shelters became their temporary home.
Residents listen to a lecture given by mental health expert at the shelter. Qi Jianqiang/CGTN
明德小学是当地最大的安置点，被安置在这里的群众中，百分之八十年龄在60岁以上，因为村镇里的年轻人都在向城市汇集。
明德小学的教室被改装成了宿舍，每间能容纳12个人，夏日的高温成了安置点要对抗的一大难题。但是，大多数人还是觉得能在洪灾地区有一隅安身之地就已经是幸运的事。
Mingde shelter was one of the largest in Wangjiang County. Inside the shelter, one saw the disproportionate presence of old people – more than 80 percent were over the age of 60 – a reflection of the fact that rural China was now populated by an aging population since most young people joined the relentless current of urban migration.
At the shelter, classrooms were transformed into dorm rooms. Each room houses around 12 flood victims, with rows of cots placed side-by-side next to each other. In the suffocating heat, ceiling fans can barely cool the room. Elders spent hours tossing and turning because they found it too hot to fall asleep.
But still, most found it good to have a place and someone to turn to in the flood-hit area. "At least here, I dont need to worry about food, lodging, and daily necessities," said Wu Zhuxiang, a 66-year-old resident at Mingde shelter. In our conversation, she mentioned several times that food at the shelter was good, "even better than what we had at our own homes."
A volunteer helps children at the shelter with their school work. Qi Jianqiang/CGTN
明德小学安置点的负责人李兰兰表示，安置点每日的饮食、住宿和定期体检都由政府免费提供。医务人员每天都留在现场，以备不时之需，安置点甚至为难以面对受灾现实的群众提供了心理咨询。
初到安置点的时候，出于对自家财物、作物和牲畜的担心，许多群众要求离开。但因为洪水带来的重重隐患，当地政府驳回了绝大多数离开安置点的要求。这样的两难境地会催生焦虑，这也就是心理医生需要登场的时候。
Meals and lodging at the shelters were provided free by the government, according to Li, and so did regular physical checkups. Medical personnel stayed on site every day in case any resident fell ill. Even psychological counseling was provided for residents who found it hard to deal with the fact that their homes were flooded.
What prompted the shelter to offer psychological counseling is that at the initial stage of resettlement, sporadic conflicts arose. Residents feared that their livestock would drown or be left starved to death and were eager to leave.
On the other hand, local authorities were adamant in preventing them from doing so due to the looming risks of rising floodwaters. Anyone who wanted to leave the shelters needed to file a report and ask for permission from the local authorities.
When thinking about their flooded houses and crops, villagers are likely to experience anxiety, said Fang Fa, a mental health expert at Mingde shelter who provided counseling. Instead of trying to persuade villagers out of going back homes, local authorities should acknowledge their anxiety and come up with concrete ways to reassure them that losses would be minimized, he added.
Residents follow the mental health experts lead in doing physical exercise. Qi Jianqiang/CGTN
安置点会经常组织集体活动，比如广场舞、羽毛球比赛等。这些活动的目的是将群众的注意力从有关洪水的痛苦记忆中转移出来，志愿者们的日常工作还包括与安置点的老人们聊天做游戏，帮助他们摆脱孤独感。
对一些年轻的居住者来说，安置点的生活未免有些无聊，还伴随着隐私的缺失。但对于常年缺少父母陪伴的留守儿童来说，安置点的生活却有不同的意义。在这里，有大量志愿者担任着老师和陪伴者的角色。
Group activities were organized frequently at the shelter, like square dancing, badminton matches, said Liu Sha, volunteer at Mingde shelter, who also saw her home affected by the flooding. Sports are intended to divert their attention away from the painful memories of flooding, she said, noting that her daily job responsibilities include chatting and playing with elders to rid their sense of loneliness.
But for the very few young people at the centers, the loss of privacy was real. "Even if you first arrived, you will notice that living here is completely different from living at home," said a 22-year-old resident at the center who preferred not to reveal her name. She called life in the center "living in the pre-historic time" because everything in the center was communal, taking a shower, eating meals, and going to sleep.
But the shelter has special meaning for young flood victims, most of whom are left-behind children in rural China. They stayed at the shelter with their grandparents while their parents migrated to more economically advanced regions for work. Xia Xinyi, a 9-year-old resident at the shelter, said she could only see her parents three times a year. "I have volunteer teachers here to help me with the school work," she said with the maturity of a kid above her age.
Lu offers a free hair cut for residents at the shelter. Qi Jianqiang/CGTN
事实上，整个明德小学安置点基本都依靠着志愿者们在运作，他们中的大部分也是洪灾的受害者，却承担着安置设施、登记群众、准备餐食等大小事务。
而留守在安置点的老人和孩子也参与了某种形式的志愿工作，比如分发物资，和提供免费的理发服务。
The shelter was largely run by volunteers, many are flood victims themselves. Running relief operations requires lots of detailed work, setting up sheltering facilities, registering flood victims, serving meals, general housekeeping, and helping young flood victims with school work, and volunteering was needed more than ever.
Even children at the shelter were involved in some form of volunteering work, e.g., helping with the distribution of donated items. However, the point was to let the children feel they were part of the community, said Liu.
The oldest volunteer at the shelter, was 70-year-old Lu Dajin, a barber for fifty years. Inside the shelter, he offered free hair cut for his fellow flood victims. And due to his excellent skills, requests were constant. He had charged no one because everyone at the shelter was hit hard by the floods.
"Money isnt the most important; life is," said Lu. "The shelter is all about people helping people."
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