Earthquake Rocks China

Third Update from China

News from our field partner with the latest on the situation in China:

This morning’s grim numbers are: 35,000 dead, more than 5,000 still buried in the rubble, and more than 250,000 injured. Yesterday one of our volunteers came across an elderly woman who is the only survivor of her village. The entire place was swept away by a landslide. The older woman only survived because she was away from the village at the time.

But amidst endless sorrow good things are also happening. Last night some of our volunteers went to a refugee camp where they started to play songs and dance with the children there. It turned into a huge party with lots of fun. It seems so incongruent, but it may help some of these children deal with the severe trauma they are experiencing.

Other volunteers are going up trails with army personnel to villages that are still isolated. They found one village where the people had three bottles of water between all of them. They had not had news that they could hike down to a trunk road where water is handed out. Volunteers that take the time to find even the smallest places bring new hope to people who feel forgotten and overlooked.

Now that we have two warehouses, dorm facilities and an office up and running in Mianyang, we are beginning to focus on Wenchuan and Maoxian counties. The roads to both counties are still not open, but we are working on permissions to bring in medical supplies and other goods via roundabout routes. The government is asking for, among other things, tents, as the rainy season is approaching and many still do not have adequate shelter.

2008.05.20 by Harmony Trevino

Another Update from Partners

Today our field partners in China sent us the following report:

Yesterday the Ministry of Health gave us permission to import and disburse as many supplies as we can get our hands on to all of the stricken areas. We are scrambling to supply needed aid to those volunteers and other relief workers to keep up the rescue efforts. Even at this late stage we still have people going through rubble, though this first phase is sadly slowly winding down. Today some of our staff and volunteers are out in Mianyang working in the warehouse there, while most people are simply walking up the mountain tracks, trekking through landslides to bring relief to isolated communities.

More of our efforts are now focused on helping shocked and devastated survivors with food, water and shelter. Also, prevention of disease is becoming very important. Some ten million dead livestock – sheep, cattle, horses, chickens – are lying around rotting away. They pollute water and spread disease. Sanitation and clean drinking water are now top priorities. Already there are increasing numbers of cases of stomach trouble and dehydration through diarrhea.

Another issue is the continuing danger from aftershocks. Since Monday we have had 145 major aftershocks and the latest one last night measured 6.1. The government warns of more heavy shocks to come. An emerging problem is the damage these shocks do to dams at hydro-electric plants. If a dam breaks it may cause major flooding, causing more devastation. Yesterday a large number of refugees from Beichuan had to be brought further away to Mianyang in a hurry because a dam in the vicinity was in danger of breaking.

We are becoming tired and sometimes despair at the scale of the devastation surrounding us. The official statistics as of last night are: 29,000 dead, 199,000 injured, about 4.5 million people displaced.

When you partner with Giving Children Hope in the relief efforts to China your support will be going to aid this community.

2008.05.18 by Harmony Trevino

Update from the Field

Here at Giving Children Hope we work to give you the latest information from our partners on the ground wherever we are conducting and sending humanitarian work.

Here is the latest report from our partner in China where we have shipped humanitarian aid for our earthquake relief efforts:

The aftershocks have settled somewhat but the aftermath is just beginning to be fully assessed. 69,142 people died and a further 17,551 remain missing. 5 million are homeless. Additionally a further 250,000 individuals have been evacuated from the valley below a lake that has been created by a landslide that occurred following the earthquake. 1.3 million people in total live downstream, many of whom have evacuated the mountains because their houses were destroyed. During the last two weeks Alpha Communities has continued to connect with the townships it has worked in to assess the short and long term needs and how it can best serve those communities with requested aid and long term support. It is becoming clear that our vocational training and micro-loan initiatives will be well utilized in coming months and years. Ongoing educational support and materials will also be required.

Thank you once again for your donations!! Through your generous giving Alpha Communities has provided school materials, desks, tables and three computers to one of the key townships affected by the earthquake. Miraculously the children were all safe but the school will be held in tents for the next two years because their building is destroyed. The aid that has been donated will be distributed over the coming weeks in collaboration with the government to the most affected and least reached areas; this includes medical aid, water purifiers and temporary housing. We have also set up a logistics operation which will be used over the summer months to continue supplying relief and aid to affected areas. Over coming weeks we will also be assisting and facilitating several international organizations’ responses in Sichuan to ensure that efforts are collaborative and do not replicate work or waste resources.

2008.06.10 by

Container of Aid Ships

Giving Children Hope shipped a 40-ft container of disaster relief to China today.

The aid will port in Wuhan, China and will be delivered to the epicenter of the earthquake.

Giving Children Hope provided medicines, surgical gloves and trays, oxygen supplies, I.V. feeding bags, bandages and other various surgical and medical supplies.

According to official statistics the number of dead is 51,151 people. An additional 288,431 people are injured and there are 28,328 people are still missing near the epicenter of last Monday’s massive, 7.9-magnitude quake. Causality numbers are expected to rise.

2008.05.23 by