The Musician

"We come here every day during recess and after school to make music together," said Zhaga, a fourth-grade student at Yushu County No. 3 Primary School and a budding musician, who sings and plays the droni, a Tibetan stringed instrument.

Ever since the UNICEF-supported Zhaxike Community Child Friendly Space was set up near their school in the weeks after the earthquake, Zhaga and his band mates, a group of boys who met when they were all in the first grade, have become a fixture at the Child Friendly Space.

In November, the Child Friendly Space, which had been housed in a tent, moved into two sturdy prefabricated units. Throughout, Zhaga and his friends have sung about the things that are important to them: their families, their friends, their teachers, their community. The Child Friendly Spaces set up in the Yushu earthquake zone provide young musicians like Zhaga and his friends with a liberating space in which they can express their feelings and deal with the stress of the earthquake.