Sichuan Earthquake Update

Earthquake:dont know and do know

the-earthquake-dont-know-and-do-know

Our hearts have been sadden and touched by the recent earthquake in China .
. . especiallly sad to have lost so many school children.

Attached is a power-point presenation that was sent to us a few days
following the quake by one of our professor friends at Nanjing University.
It shows the feeling there.

Just want to share it with you.  And thanks becky, my dear US teacher when I was in nanjing University, for the sharing.

Glasgow candle vigil in memory of quake victims

A candle vigil was held in Glasgow city centre on 25 May in memory of the victims of Sichuan earthquake.

Article: Chinese eager to adopt quake orphans

(The information for MBL from FanWu in USA.)

Chinese eager to adopt quake orphans By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN and CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writers

The children’s faces stare in somber black-and-white photos from newspapers and scribbled posters at relief camps, seeking their parents. Many will never find them.

As the first estimate of orphans - more than 4,000 - emerged Thursday from last week’s deadly earthquake, thousands of Chinese are rushing to offer their homes. “My husband and I would really like to adopt an earthquake orphan (0-3 years old),” Wang Liqin wrote on popular Web site Tianya.com in a forum that was already three pages long.

The high interest is another sign of China’s tremendous post-quake outpouring of sympathy, buoyed by rising prosperity. And it’s a surprising turnabout in a country in which government red-tape, poverty and traditional attitudes long combined to discourage adoption.

The new enthusiasm also means that Americans and other foreigners wanting to adopt may not have a chance. Officials estimate that the number of Chinese wanting to adopt the earthquake’s orphans may outnumber the orphans themselves.

Update from Deyang

I have been on phone with several volunteers in Deyang (德阳). I was told Deyang is the second most damaged area during the earthquake. Several villages and towns have been completely destroyed by the quake and following landslides. By the way, Deyang, which has the population of about 4 millions, is a “prefecture-level city”, under which are three “county-level cities”, one “county-level district”, and two counties. Mianzhu (绵竹), which has appeared in British media reporting quite a few times, is one of the “county-level city” of Deyang that has suffered severe damage.

I was told that the authority’s focus is still on rescue and safety. The rebuilding process hasn’t really started yet, although there are plans of building temporary homes quickly which will only last several years.

More help is now needed in hospital and medical and health care. Sichuan is famous for its high humidity and the summer is coming. Things like tent, mosquito cream, and personal hygiene products are in shortage.

At the moment, the areas need most help are Mianzhu and Shifang (什邡). Students and teachers are the most affected group of people. About 200 students of all ages who have lost their parents or whose parents are unable to take care of them, are still living in the tent inside Mianzhu City Stadium. Many children and adults will need counseling. Local Educational Bureau has set up a team for this purpose, but the task ahead is overwhelming.

Wendy Wu

CEO, Mother Bridge of Love

22 May 2008

A little hero who is only 9 years old

(source: sina, translated by Candice)

The speed for the connection of the video might be slow. The mandarin voiceover can be briefly translated as follows.

It is about a little hero named Lin Hao who is only 9 years old. When the earthquake happened, he was in the school with other 30 students. Only about 10 students escaped from the building. The little boy, who had escaped, went back to pulled out two other pupils and carried them to safety.

Now he is in Dujiangyan with his sister and we see no panic in his eyes. But till now he hasn’t found his parents yet. Wish good luck with him and wish he would find his mom and dad in the end.

Chinese water-based woodblock prints by Chen Qi

RICEFIELD
Arts and Cultural Centre

invites you to a private viewing of woodblock prints
on Friday 23 May 2008, 5 to 8 pm

Ricefield is collaborating with Glasgow Print Studio to bring to Glasgow an exhibition of the remarkable woodblock prints of Chen Qi.

Chen Qi is one of China’s leading contemporary printmakers; he has exhibited extensively throughout the world. As a relatively young artist, he is also the professor of Fine Art at Beijing University. His total command of tone using this medium, make him a master of Chinese traditional water-based printmaking. Chen Qi uses distinctive Chinese icons extensively in his woodblock prints. Each of his works reflects the simple, elegant and tranquil elements of traditional Chinese painting.

RSVP to Suzanne Chong: events@ricefield.org.uk

Exhibition dates:
23 May – 28 June 2008
Tuesday to Saturday
10:30am – 5:00pm
(out of office hours viewing can be arranged by appointment)

Ricefield, 41 West Graham St, Glasgow G4 9LJ
0141 331 1019
www.ricefield.org.uk

All proceed of this exhibition will go towards the MBL Suchauan Earthquark Appeal
For more information please visit: http://sichuanearthquake.org.uk

Please feel free to forward this email to any colleagues you think may be interested.

Update from Guangdong

Those injuried in the earthquake have been flied out from Chengdu (成都) to all over China in order to reduce the burden on local hospitals and have better treatment. Local report says Guangdong (广东 Canton), which is about 1500 miles away from the epicentre, has taken 250 patients, many with serious injuries. They have been spreaded around several cities of the province. One city, Foshan (佛山), has taken 21 patients, allocated into two hospitals. One of them, Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, has a bone fracture specialist unit. It’s possible there will be more patients from the earthquake area being transferred there.

Meanwhile local paper in Foshan has started a campaign to recruit a total of 200 volunteers and volunteering family to help.

More photos by Jingye.

SichuanEarthquake.org.uk

22 May 2008

One report from ruined beichuan

The thread of life amid debris of destruction
By Fu Jing
Updated: 2008-05-21 07:14
(source:China Daily)

Children from Beichuan county, one of the worst-hit areas in Sichuan province, play a game in Jiuzhou Stadium in Mianyang city yesterday. A lot of people who lost their homes in the quake have taken shelter in the stadium. [China Daily]

BEICHUAN, Sichuan: Yang Debiao refuses to eat. “How can I when I have lost 60 family members and relatives in the quake?” says the 38-year-old. “How can I live without my wife? What will I tell my daughter when she asks where her mother is?”

Yang has just returned from Shanxi province where he worked in a mine.

His wife died when the cyber caf she used to work in collapsed. His nine-year-old daughter escaped miraculously, though hundreds of her schoolmates died when their school building collapsed.

Yang and Deng Xingyou, a retiree, are sitting on the rubble of building with their surviving relatives. Two bundles of clothes and quilts and a bottle of edible oil lie near them. Both of them returned to Beichuan county from a shelter in Mianyang city on Monday in the hope of finding their loved ones.

Though many people have been found alive under the debris of buildings after five, six or even seven days, the chance of finding one now is too remote.

Teacher’s love

Translations from Chinese by Candice Zhou

In the Wenchuan earthquake, Huanhuan kindergarten in Zundao town was collapsed at the moment more than 80 children were having their noon snap. Three teachers and more than 50 children are killed in the disaster. Now two teachers are injuried and under operation. One child is still missing.

After the earthquake, parents were gathered around the ruins, calling their children’s names from time to time. At the beginning, children could give faint response. But as time passed by, the response became weaker and weaker. Parents felt helpless, sitting near the ruins, anxiously waiting for the rescuers.

The head of the kindergarten bursted into tears when she recalled the time when one of her teachers, Miss Qu Wangrong was found by the rescue team. “At that time, Miss Qu flutter to the ground, with her back firmly blocked the collapse of the concrete sheet, arms still firmly holding a child. The child is rescued, but Miss Qu has left us forever.”

In the ruins, you can see small pillows, quilts and shoes everywhere. People don’t want to imagine the helplessness and panic at that time. However, it’s because an ordinary people just like Miss Qu, we have more children rescued.

original links: http://club.news.sohu.com/r-zz0081-107431-0-0-0.html

Poem by Zhang Suning: If you’re alive, then mum is too

Second poem by Zhang Suning, inspired by the events during earthquake rescue operation. Zhang Suning recited the poem during the Edinburgh charity auction for the earthquake children.

My darling baby, if you’re alive, then mum is too

by Zhang Suning (Chinese version here)

Translated from Chinese to English, by Yuhua Hu

When the rescuers found her, she had died, killed by the house that collapsed. She died in a very unusual posture. She was kneeling on the floor, the whole upper body stretched forward with her arms supporting her whole body. The posture looked like the kneeling Koutou etiquette in ancient China, but her body was completely distorted by the pressure. When people cleared away the rubble around her, they found a baby was lying underneath her body, wrapped up in a small red blanket with golden patterns. The baby was about 3, 4 months old. Because of the protection from his mother’s body, he was still peacefully asleep when found. The rescuing doctor found a mobile phone inside the blanket, and on the screen of the phone, there was a message ‘My darling baby, if you survive, please remember I love you’.

My darling baby, if you’re alive, then Mum is too

My darling baby, you are still alive
It was Mum who had given you life

It was the second time Mum had given you life
The other time Mum was in great pain
This time Mum is in heaven above
–but now Mum can kiss you no more

My darling baby, you are still alive
It was Mum who had given you life

It was the second time Mum had given you life
Mum gave up her future for your future
Mum sacrificed her life for your life
–and now Mum will only appear in your dreams

Mum must have fed you for the last time
Mum must have changed your nappy for the last time
Mum must have kissed you again and again, till her last breath
Mum must have kept talking to you, till the last moment

My darling baby, you are alive, this was Mum’s hope
My darling baby, as long as you’re alive, Mum’s hope goes on
–a hope that was sheltered by a delicate body
–a hope that was raised up by an immortal life

My darling baby, if you are alive, then Mum is too
Mum’s blood is running in your vessels
Mum’s genes are thriving in every one of your cells
My darling baby, if you are alive, then Mum is too
You are Mum’s dreams in heaven
You are the resurrection of Mum’s life
My darling baby, if you are alive, then Mum is too
You are the extension of Mum’s life
You are the eternity of a mother’s love
My darling baby, if you are alive, then Mum is too
Forever alive, in your life