Brick 7 - Wenchuan Earthquake Appeal
Wenchuan Earthquake Appeal
in partnership with Jinde Charities
The news coming in from Sichuan is ever more depressing as the scale of the earthquake that struck on Monday becomes more evident. The loss of life, standing at 20,000 (unofficially) as I write, is staggering and when one realises how many school children are among the dead the tragedy of the situation is all the more poignant. I was particularly struck by one mother who said, through her tears that she now had nothing to live for. It had not struck me that a teenager’s death means not just the loss of a loved son or daughter. In “one child” China, it means a lonely old age to couples who are just past their children bearing age. As the communication system recover, more and more of these heart breaking stories are coming into out living rooms. It is hard not to turn away.
Even as the scale of the disaster is becoming clear, groups across the country are mobilising to meet the huge challange. Jinde Charities www.jinde.org, China’s largest Catholic Charity has already begun to put together its “first response” team. With skills in disaster response management honed over ten years, (it is unique among Chinese Catholic charities in that it has been responding annually to natural disasters in different parts of China), and the access to the grass roots networks of Catholic communities scattered over the affected area, it is well placed to bring timely and effective relief to the quake victims.
Mary Feng, the co-ordinator of Jinde’s disaster relief programme has been in contact with the local diocese in Sichuan and has prepared the team which will go to the area as soon as it becomes possible.
Yesterday she wrote
“Jinde Charities has been closely monitoring the situation and keeping in touch with our local Church partners in Chengdu Diocese, in which Wenchuan and Beichuan Counties, the most seriously hit regions, are located. At the present, the most urgent works are to rescue and save people’s lives. With the support of the Association of Catholic Sister’s Congregations in Hebei Province, Jinde Charities wants to send a nursing team composed of twenty some Sisters from North China to the disaster areas to meet the medical needs of the victims as soon as possible, but, according to our local partners, the disaster areas are still inaccessible because of the destroyed and blocked roads. However, once the conditions are ready, we will proceed with our plan.
According to the information we have collected so far, more than 11,200 people are found dead, while 60,000 are still uncounted for. At the same time, according to Fr. Zhigang Li, the Diocesan Administrator of Chendu Diocese, who went to Guizhou Province with the Jinde Relief Team from March 13-17 for the Snowstorm disaster relief works, many church buildings in his diocese are now either completely collapsed or seriously damaged, and some Catholics are also killed. Also, according to Fr. Fuxuan Wang in Dujiangyan City, a badly hit city as well, 80% of the houses in his City are now uninhabitable.
Although the situation on the ground is still not clear to us, we are preparing ourselves to meet the needs of the quake victims in Sichuan. Through Faith Newspaper, Faith Website, and Jinde Charities’ website, we have launched an appeal to the Catholic Clergy and Faithful in China to help us help the victims. At the same time, the Taize Community in France has pledged 10,000 Euro for this cause. Nevertheless, given the widespread disaster area and the tremendous losses of lives and properties, the gap between the needs and the resources is still huge. For now, I’d like to share with you some pictures sent to us by our local Church partners in Sichuan and short reports on the developing situation. We will keep you updated as it goes.”
Today she wrote
“Immediately after the first quake in Sichuan, we have tried hard to get in touch with our local Church partners, but failed. They called us when they received our mobile massage at 8:30pm.”
Of the team that she is preparing, she added….
“Our sisters will come to Shijiazhuang for a short training for the earthquake rescue, and also two priests from Tianjin. We have found a doctor with rich experience who had participated in the rescue team for Tangshan earthquake which happened in 1976. She is pleased to lead our team to go to the disaster area.
Communication remains an issue
“We are now having problem with the transportation. Both the railway and express way were stopped. We are trying hard to find ways to go there.”
With so many blocked roads in the affected area, it will be some time before the team can leave to make a first response and then an evaluation of how best to be present with the suffering people for the longer term.
We will be posting regular updates on this site, and ask you to be generous to this Appeal.
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