About a third of the buildings in Constitucion, located some 275 kilometers (170 miles) south-west of Santiago, were destroyed by the powerful 8.8 magnitude quake that struck south-central Chile early February 27.

The quake killed 486 people and caused an estimated 30 billion dollars in damage across Chile.

This fishing and resort town, with a pre-quake population of some 50,000, is located at the mouth of the Maule river, a short distance from the epicenter of the February quake.

Giant tsunami waves pounded the waterfront after the quake struck, destroying much of the downtown area.

"Our school building used to be right next to the river, and the water that washed in here was more than a meter-and-a-half high," school principal Cristina Valenzuela told AFP.

"A lot of people preferred to leave Constitucion, and those who stayed are scared. Now the kids can come to school with confidence. This is a safe place that is out in the open. If there is an earthquake, we don't have to evacuate."

The children who have moved into the buses come from a private special needs school, and are among the last of the 1.2 million children in the region affected by the quake to return to school.

Before the quake the school was operating in a rented building, but work had started on a building for their own school.

Unfortunately "the water swept away the building material, and people stole whatever was left was left," Valenzuela said.

Nervous parents inquire about the stability of the buses, worried about the strong aftershocks still rattling the region.

"Even if it's cold, I'd prefer that they be here, far from the water, at least until we get over the trauma," Karla Reyes, a mother, told AFP.

In a matter of days, workers stripped the wheels off the donated buses and painted the vehicles.

Five of the buses became classrooms, one was turned into a teacher's lounge, and the seventh became a bathroom, complete with seven stalls for boys and seven for girls.

Each classroom bus has room for 20 children. Teachers have placed a blackboard in front of the windshield, and small wooden desks are in the spots where the seats were once attached to the floor.

"It was done well and done quickly, but it was a lot of work," said one of the volunteers who helped refurbish the buses.

The children, between the ages of three and four, looked at the buses with the mistrust common to a first day at school. Some, like four year-old Tomas, cried as he let go of his mother's hand.

Another boy, three year-old Martin, sat down at a desk, picked up drawing material, and his first picture took form: it was a bus.

"Wherever there are teachers and children, there is a school," another mother said.

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