Aid for Sichuan

I wrote this story to be used by Crossroads Communication. One of our team members went into Sichuan this week, delivering aid and spending time with the quake victims. I look at American news websites, and the earthquake news is generallly buried under other things. That just seems so odd when we are faced daily in Hong Kong with images from the quake zone, and thousands of accounts of shattered lives and homes. It's easy to forget, I guess, when you're not in Asia, but for me, and the rest of Asia, the earthquake is the biggest news, every day. Please read on for more information about the devastation, and what Crossroads has done to provide assistance.
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The depth of pain sears deep in the lives of the five million survivors of the Sichuan earthquake. They are terrified that aftershocks and floods will bring more damage and more lives lost, causing survivors to seek shelter in open areas. Now homeless, these people must endure exposure to the hostile elements, the threat of disease, and daily battles with the relentless rain.

“In the immediate aftermath of the quake,” said our Crossroads worker in the field, “people settled in the open spaces. The problem has now become that there is little option for shelter in these areas. Groups of 20 people have been huddling in shelters made for seven.”

Tent cities have sprouted up in the area, with families crowding together in their makeshift homes. Despite their hardships, they appreciate the shelter of the tents and tarps as well as the relief of food and medicine they receive from aid workers in the area. Yet talks of the future, and plans to start over, cause more sorrow as a number of towns cannot be rebuilt, the cattle have died, and fields are gone.

“The people are relieved for a moment when you bring them the goods,” said our Crossroads worker distributing aid. “But as I ask them about the future, many of their eyes well in despair. Whole towns have gone. Fields for crops and livelihoods wiped out. We must be committed to helping these people in the long term.”

Within days of the massive earthquake on 12 May, Crossroads sent two 40 foot containers of pre-packed blankets and clothing into the disaster area, a shipment charitably funded by a large financial corporation in Hong Kong seeking to help however they could. Crossroads has also partnered with both the Red Cross and the China Foundation for Poverty Alliance to send and distribute aid in Sichuan.

DHL, the international shipping corporation, even generously donated the use of one of their planes. Crossroads packed 15 tonnes of plastic sheeting, blankets, and medical supplies which was flown this week into the quake zone. Red Cross and Crossroads volunteers met the emergency flight in Chengdu and escorted the relief items on a 12 hour journey along partially collapsed roads. The final destination was a village in Qingchuan county, in an area that had been cordoned off due to the spread of disease.

“As we delivered the aid,” our Crossroads worker commented, “words of thanks kept coming from everyone, from the gas station attendants who were filling the tanks, to the ladies serving the food, the officials, and finally the people most deeply affected. On every side they were saying, 'Thank you for what you are doing to help our people and China.'”