Archive for the ‘SQR Activities’ Category
Friday, October 16th, 2009
Tournament poster
A quick reminder that tomorrow sees Chengdu’s inaugural Charity Tennis Tournament taking place at the Hi-Tech Tennis Centre, which this year is supporting one of SQR’s key projects, the Guangji Kindergarten & Community Centre.
The action kicks off early at 8 o’clock in the morning and it’s sure to be a fun and exciting day as the competitors get whittled down to the final matches, with the presentation ceremony scheduled to take place between 5:50 and 6:30pm, so check out our Events page for details of how to get there and cheer the players on.
Posted in Donation, SQR Activities | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 12th, 2009
By all accounts, CSA had one of their most fun days out of all time last Sunday when they went up to a community centre in Mianzhu. Here are a few comments from CSA Coordinator Mark Soper.
I got to the Bookworm at 7.50am to find the group of volunteers from Humana already there laughing and chatting with the Chinese volunteers from the South-West University of Nationalities — a great start to a chilly morning.
On the bus to Mianzhu we heard some remarkable volunteer stories; it’s a humbling experience meeting some of the volunteers we get on CSA trips.
As ever there was no lack of energetic children looking to find new ways to expend their reserves of energy, but we were pleased to find there were almost as many grandparents as kids on this occasion. Their smiles were huge as the Humana group got things going with a couple of African melodies.
Standard warm-ups are always a laugh when we get into 3 lines of 15—20 kids and volunteers, practicing passing, throwing different-shaped balls around. Then it’s on to game time. Sunday’s variety included jumprope, rugby, 10 pin bowling, chair balancing, blind walking, frisbee-throwing (and general mayhem with the toddlers).
We were back by 4:30 in the afternoon, fitting in a 24-person lunch stop of well-earned beef noodles on the way. Most slept on the bus while the rest of us took sneaky photos of the sleeping faces — hilarious!
One day volunteering adds an extra day to my lifetime.
For more photos from this day and other CSA events, head over to the Chengdu Sports Aid trips photo page.
Tags:Chengdu Sports Aid, children, CSA, Mianzhu, volunteer
Posted in Chengdu Sports Aid, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
We’ve got a several SQR-related events happening in October for the more physically-active among you.
- Chengdu Sports Aid is resuming its weekly Sunday trips after the holiday break, heading out to Mianzhu on the 11th of October and two different venues in Luoshui on the 18th and 25th. Visit the Chengdu Sports Aid page for registration information if you’d like to join the fun.
- Two big charity events are taking place this month in aid of SQR: October 17th sees the first Chengdu Charity Tennis Tournament taking place at the Hi-Tech Tennis Centre, and a week later on the 25th is the third annual ABE Charity Cup at the home of the Chengdu Blades Football Club.
For more details on all of these great days out, head over to our Events page.
Tags:charity, Chengdu Sports Aid, CSA, Donation, events, tennis, tournament, volunteer
Posted in Chengdu Sports Aid, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
Chengdu Sports Aid is now in the enthusiastic, capable, and beautifully manicured hands of Mark Soper.
Mark has taken part in many Chengdu Sports Aid trips in the past and it’s great that someone with his ability, enthusiasm and commitment has taken this on, carrying on the fine precedent set by CSA founder, Jonny Dallas.
If you are interested in volunteering for Chengdu Sports Aid, email csa@sichuan-quake-relief.org
Tags:Chengdu Sports Aid, job, organise, volunteer
Posted in Civil society, Education, sport, SQR, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
Read about the background to Guy Dru Drury’s epic trip here.
Guy Dru Drury, the CBI's Chief Representative in Beijing, has completed the gruelling 2009 JCCR challenge and deserves plenty of ice in delicate places and plenty of donations. Guy - we salute you.
Messages from Guy Dru Drury on the day of his mammoth pulsating pedal-pushing tour to raise funds for SQR:
- 14:34 “125km completed! Hot & tiring but still doing OK. Now in the mountains!”
- 15:12: “160km update: Have been cycling for 5:40 hrs according to my bike speedo. Chengde another 40-50km away…
- Still very hot and just had a series of killer hills but the downhill through a gully was awesome! Feeling fairly shattered but now not far to go!”
- 18:32: “I finished the challenge! 205km in 6hrs 58 mins. Now heading back to Beijing. Thanks for your support! Guy”
Tags:CBI, Chengdu, Confederation of British Industry, cycle, Guy Dru Drury, JCCR
Posted in Civil society, SQR Activities, SQR Donation Request | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
360 volunteers from China and abroad taught more than 4000 kids in 13 camps organised by SQR in various locations around the affected areas.
The SAME (Sports, Arts, Music, English) camps have been hugely oversubscribed, both in terms of those attending and in terms of volunteers, and have been a lot of fun, a lot of hard work and well worth the effort put in by all involved.
SQR sends huge thanks to all our volunteers who worked under difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions.
This summer in the quake zone, there have been large aftershocks, horrendous rock and mud slides, and many bridges and roads in the area were blocked. The extraordinary torrential rains caused 11,000 homes to collapse in the past week alone, and scores of local residents died. It is a timely reminder that, whilst incredible progress has been made in the reconstruction effort, there is still an enormous amount of work to be done in building up an effective infrastructure in this beautiful area, in terms of roads, bridges, schools, clinics, hospitals and other facilities.
All volunteers were camping, with no hot water available. To compensate, however, there was often a plentiful supply of warm buzzing mosquitoes (thanks to them for committing to the project), and heavy rains on tap pretty much permanently in recent weeks. The volunteers and kids showed great good humour and determination to enjoy themselves.
For the volunteers, life really was not easy at times, but they managed to keep the kids occupied and entertained for a week at a time, which is an achievement in any conditions at all. It is wonderful to see such a tremendous effort from so many people, from students on holidays, from people giving up time from work and their families to help out, from people travelling large distances from all over the country and all over the world to make a contribution. The SAME (Sports, Arts, Music, English) camps have made a difference.
Thanks to the hundreds of people who contacted SQR to volunteer, and thanks to those we said ‘no’ to as well – there were simply too many volunteers. To stay in the loop for future volunteering opportunities, email mark@sichuan-quake-relief.org to be included on the SQR newsletter mailing list.
If you took part in the camps and have stories and photos, please email mark@sichuan-quake-relief and we’ll get them up on our Flickr account (www.flickr.com/sichuanquakerelief) and on the SQR website (www.sichuan-quake-relief.org)
Thanks again
SQR
Tags:dead, landslide, mud, newsletter, rockslide, SAME camps, thanks, volunteer
Posted in Arts, Civil society, Education, Living conditions, Psychological health, SQR, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
The Confederation of British Industry’s Chief Representative in Beijing is raising money for a key SQR project, the Guangji Kindergarten & Community Centre.
Many Beijing residents will have travelled along some part of the Jingcheng (Beijing to Chengde) highway enroute perhaps to the Great Wall at either Mutianyu or Jinshanling.
Guy Dru Drury, the CBI's Chief Representative in Beijing, prepares to take on the gruelling 500km 2009 JCCR
However, have you ever considered continuing along its entirety, past Beijing’s principal reservoir at Miyun and on into the mountains that lead, after 200 KM, to the imperial resort of Chengde? Well, if you do then you’ll be visiting the summer hideaway of successive Chinese Emperors who created their very own “summer palace” nestled in the mountains that overlook the Mongolian steppes. It is home to China’s largest palace garden and, incidentally, the world’s shortest river, the Rehe. At a mere 9 miles in length it feeds the bucolic Rehe springs and is largely contained within the vast expanse of the royal palace grounds. In August, and tentatively scheduled to coincide with the one year anniversary of the Olympic opening ceremony, the CBI’s Chief Representative, Guy Dru Drury, will be embarking on his own journey from Beijing to Chengde following the route of the Jingcheng highway. Travelling by a mixture of road and mountain bike he aims to cover the mountainous 500km roundtrip route in 20 hours over the weekend of the 8 August.
It is all in the name of a good cause, namely raising money for the reconstruction of the Guangji Kindergarten destroyed in last year’s devastating earthquake.
Downloadable information
If you would like to support Guy’s efforts then please give generously to SQR directly. By the way, if you do want to visit Chengde you can of course travel there in air‐conditioned comfort either by car or rail if a 20 hour cycle ride is not your preferred means of transport!
Guy Dru Drury (guydd@cbi.org.uk and gdrudrury@gmail.com)
Beijing 01.07.09
Tags:Beijing, CBI, Chengde, Confederation of British Industry, cycle, Guangji, Guy Dru Drury, kindergarten, rebuild, sponsor
Posted in Childcare, Civil society, Corporate Social Responsibility, Donation, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Media, Social welfare, sport, SQR Activities, SQR Donation Request | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
June 28 – July 3 SQR SAME Summer Camp Session 1 at GuangJi Township near Mianzhu
Last week 7 enthusiastic SQR volunteers trekked up to GuangJi to set up the first SAME Summer Camp at GuangJi Township near Mianzhu (2hrs from Chengdu). The GuangJi Kindergarten and Preschool was chosen as our first location because SQR already had an existing relationship with the school principal, Kang Laoshi (‘laoshi’ = ‘teacher’). SQR is actively coordinating the demolition and rebuilding of one of the buildings damaged in last year’s quake.
The 7 volunteers consisted of international students (an American and Brazilian) as well as local Sichuan university students and recent grads. We met on Sunday afternoon at the Bookworm for a short meeting to discuss the upcoming week’s plans then set off by van to GuangJi, arriving by early evening to meet with Kang Laoshi and discuss the week’s schedule and lesson plans.
Our accommodation were more than adequate in that Kang laoshi allowed us to sleep in the temporary classrooms next door to the permanent buildings. It was quite comfortable since we were provided beds and linen and had access to lighting and electricity. The worst inconvenience was the occassional mosquito bite.
The first morning and day began well with the local teachers starting the kids off with morning exercises and dances to loosen up kids for an active day of learning. It was wonderful to see, and I took loads of pictures.
Throughout the day the SQR volunteers conducted their teaching modules in Sports, Art, Music and English; working alongside the local teachers and adjusting our lesson plans to tailor to the school children’s various levels. In that sense, the volunteers are challenged to adapt quickly and be flexible to the needs of the children.
During the second night at camp a 5.6 quake struck nearby Mianzhu shaking us out of bed, but luckily no major damage was inflicted. Indeed it was a stark reminder of why we were there in the first place. Less than 12 hours later an aftershock of 5.0 occurred during napping time for the kids. The local teachers and SQR volunteers quickly scrambled to evacuate the children from the permanent building and arrange for classes to be conducted in the temporary classrooms the rest of the week. Seeing some of the children distraught and crying from the quake gave us another reminder of why we were there.
The remaining week went on smoothly. The classes and activities were fun and interesting for the kids and the experience gained by the volunteers was challenging yet every bit rewarding and life enriching.
I am lucky to have been apart of such a wonderful experience and will remember and cherish it forever. During our last dinner with Kang laoshi, I thanked her for everything she had done for us and told her that “Sichuan will forever be in our hearts.”
Leeman Now
SQR SAME Summer Camp Project Mgr
The Chinese University of HK, MBA 2011
The first SAME camp of 2009 was a success, or "A range of high marks for the ballroom dancers."
Tags:aftershock, demolition, evacuate, Guangji, Guangji kindergarten, Hong Kong, Kang laoshi, kindergarten, Leeman Now, Mianzhu, SAME, Sports Arts Music English, summer camp, temporary accommodation, volunteers
Posted in Arts, Childcare, Civil society, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Living conditions, Psychological health, Seismic activity, Social welfare, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
SQR SAME camps 2009
DOWNLOAD PDF INFO in English and Chinese.
We need volunteers! With schools out for the summer the kids living in temporary villages in the earthquake area have two months free and not a lot to do, so Sichuan Quake Relief is currently setting up several fun-based activity camps for them.
The SQR SAME Camps will focus on the four areas of Sports, Art, Music and English-language learning.
Camps will be run in 5-day modules from Monday to Friday, commencing Monday June 29, and running till the end of August.
SQR SAME Camps 2009 - 中文
We are asking volunteers to commit to at least one full week of teaching over the summer, leaving Chengdu on the Sunday, staying in the village teaching from Monday to Friday, and returning to Chengdu on the Friday evening. We are looking to build mixed teams to run each camp, so people of all ages, Chinese and non-Chinese, most welcome. And while teaching experience and some Chinese language skills would be great, they are not necessary. We just need flexible, enthusiastic people who have a sense of humour and are able to live and work under difficult conditions.
Transport costs to and from the camp, (very basic) accommodation, and food will be provided by SQR. We are currently building teams for the first seven SAME Camps:
- June 28 – July 3
- July 5 – July 10
- July 12 – July 17
- July 19 – July 24
- July 26 – July 31
- August 2 – August 7
- August 9 – August 14
If you would like to volunteer for one or more of these camps, or if you would like additional information, email volunteer@sichuan-quake-relief.org or call (86) 136 7121 2235.
Tags:art, Chengdu, English, music, sports, SQR SAME, summer camp, village, volunteer
Posted in Arts, Childcare, Civil society, Education, SQR, SQR Activities | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
A note from Philip Greening-Jackson, who is working in Dujiangyan.
We have a scheme here whereby we are going to provide occupational training to people disabled as a result of the quake. I am going to teach free, as are most of my colleagues.
We have got some equipment promised and a bit of funding but have come up RMB80,000 short. This is because we shall have to construct wheelchair accessible accommodation for these people. We will be given land and local friends will even organise the construction but we still need that last bit of cash.
We really have come to the end of our own resources now and have to look elsewhere! Please contact us if you can help.
Philip Greening-Jackson
If you can help, please contact info@sichuan-quake-relief.org as soon as possible.
Tags:accommodation, cash, construction, disabled, donate, Dujiangyan, money, occupational training, teacher, training, wheelchair
Posted in Civil society, Donation, Education, Employment, SQR Donation Request | No Comments »
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
On 14th May 2009, SQR volunteers visited villages in the Wenchuan area.
Villagers setting up tents for the migrant workers they hired
The students in town were relocated to Luzhou and Chengdu, their new school will be put to use in September.
Caopo Central Primary School under construction
Matou Village and Longtan Village can be said to be better off than Lianghe. Using old Chinese wooden house structures, most houses in the village remained standing through the earthquake. There is a big mushroom-shaped plastic-covered greenhouse in Matou, and two white marble quarries in Longtan. As told by a villager of Longtan, if the road remains accessible, they won’t have to worry about buying rice or other things regarding to their basic needs. But again, they were also told not to grow too much.
On the way to Longtan Village; the houses downhill belong to Lianghe Village
Yang Kai yin, a 60-year-old resident of Longtan Village
She has four children: two sons work in Xichang, one son and a daughter stay at home, farming. Her house sustained itself in the earthquake, as did many houses in the village. After reinforcement, the house is now habitable. Though she owns a fairly large field and grow plenty of vegetables, it still concerns her that it is possible that she gets nothing back from it. “They say the village (government) is going to repair that road, and then I can’t get these vegetables and my goats out and sell.” Of the rice that government supplied her, she said, “we don’t have much left. What we have can sustain us through May to Mid-June. Then we’ll have to use a micro-loan to buy rice in town.”
Ni Qiulan, who lives in the same village, is in a similar situation
To repair the house, Ni’s family spent 20-30 thousand RMB, which is almost all the money they got from the government and micro-credit. Ni’s 3 grandchildren now go to school in Luzhou and Chengdu. Although the government takes care of the tuition fees and basic living expenses, “they still need some allowance, you know, when they go out with friends. Things in Chengdu are really expensive,” she said. This family hasn’t bought any rice since the earthquake. The rice provided by the government, “is not enough if you use rice for every meal. We cook corn and rice together so that it lasts longer.” At the time of writing they have about 25kg rice left, and Ni thinks it can support them until mid-June.
One problem for Longtan villagers is traffic. The hill motorway connecting Matou and Longtan is often damaged by rain and landslides, especially in the rainy season. We were told that this road has been repaired twice since it first opened after the earthquake, and the residents have to walk 2 hours to get to Lianghe to buy groceries if they can’t hitchhike.
Liu Sixiu (pink backpack) chatting with Lianghe villagers on her 2-hour walk back to Longtan
Collapsed Middle School at the memorial site of Yingxiu
The collapsed Middle School in Yingxiu, the township at the epicentre of the quake, has been turned into a 5.12 memorial. Nearly every building in Ying Xiu was destroyed and only 3,800 of the 16,000 residents survived, according to official figures.
It has taken a whole year to excavate the enormous piles of rubble that covered the valley where the town is located. The survivors, who are all now in prefabricated housing, hope that work will soon start on their new homes. Local government officials predict that Ying Xiu will become a big tourist attraction for Chinese who want to remember the May 12 disaster and visit the key sites.
The Remains of Yingxiu Middle School
Tags:Caopu, Caopu Central Primary School, Chengdu, food, hunger, Lianghe, Longtan village, Luzhou, Matou village, remains, rubble, school, students, subsidy, volunteers, Wenchuan, Yingxiu
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Living conditions, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Monday, May 11th, 2009
5/12/2009 @ 6:30 PM, Chengdu Bookworm
To commemerate this tragic event, and, importantly, to raise some more funds for the victims, please join us at The Bookworm from 6.30pm on Tuesday. We’ll have a great KC Meats BBQ on the go, and be entertained by a host of bands, most of whom played at our first fundraising event last year immediately after the quake struck. Entrance is free. All profits from the evening will go directly into projects assisting the victims of the disaster.
The evening will also mark the release of Afterquake. To raise awareness of victims still in need, folk musician Abigail Washburn and electronic artist Dave Liang spent two weeks in Sichuan to create Afterquake, an album that mixes actual sounds of the rebuilding with the voices of relocated school children.
The Afterquake CDs will be available on the evening, and a short film showing how the project came together will be screened. For more info on this project, visit www.afterquakemusic.com
Tags:Afterquake, anniversary, Bookworm, commemoration, party
Posted in Arts, Donation, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Sunday, May 10th, 2009
After the Chengdu Sports Aid visit to Xiaoyudong on Sunday 11th May 2009, Jonny Dallas, head of Chengdu Sports Aid, wrote this moving ‘Thank you’ letter.
Chengdu Sports Aid volunteers, donors and friends,
Today we completed another successful trip up to the earthquake zone and spent the afternoon with some great kids.
Today’s event had a huge significance to me personally, in three different aspects. Firstly this week is the first anniversary of the May 12th earthquake, and as we drove up those now familiar roads towards Pengzhou, it was heartening to see some progress in the form of new homes, new bridges and finished roads. I even noticed one of the blue roof temporary villages being demolished, which means some lucky few will move back to a permanent home. As we got deeper in to the Longmen mountains though, progress is not so apparent and Xiaoyudong village itself is still a pretty depressing site, with many leaning and fractured buildings still needing to be demolished, hundreds of blue roof temporary homes and not much sign of commerce to kick start their economy. The people as always were very pleased to see us, especially the village kids and the village leader himself. We had a busload of 20+ volunteers who jumped right in to games of rugby, soccer, badminton, ultimate frisbee and basketball with over 100 kids.
The second significance of today was that it was my birthday. When my wife, Kim, asked me what I’d like to do on my birthday, there was never a doubt that I’d like to spend it on a Sports Aid event. So the family plus my father in-law, Steve, packed the van and had a blast.
The third significant aspect of today was with respect to my sister. Today’s event was supported by funds from “Irish Friends in Kircubbin” and dedicated to my sister Karen. On this exact day three years ago my sister unfortunately passed away, at 37, and it was a brutal blow to our family to lose someone so young. As I ran around today, there were several times I thought about how much she would have enjoyed being there with us today. She was a very active volunteer back in Ireland, and spent many summers in the housing estates of Co. Derry, running camps and events, just like today, for underprivileged kids. Friends and family from Karen’s church back in Kircubbin, Co.Down collected money after the earthquake and we were able to put the money to use today.
This all built up a case for today’s trip to be very special, and it was. It was one of those days that motivated me to continue and reassured me that we are making a bit of a difference in quake relief. We set up a rugby game with six boys and after 15 minutes coming to grips with the rules, they started really having fun. For those of you who have participated in many of these events, there’s always one of the kids that is not shy at all, and instantaneously becomes your favourite. Today was no different, the most energetic boy was Xiao Pengyou (Little Friend). I could only name him XP because he was too busy playing and organizing the rugby, to tell me his real name slowly enough for me to understand. Anyway XP became his name and he was a natural Stephen Ferris (Irish rugby player). When he scored his first points it was all worthwhile for me. The look on his face when he scored the try was priceless, even though this was the first time he had seen a rugby ball, never mind play the game, he was so excited. For those 10 seconds of exhilaration he did not notice the crumbling mountains, buildings and roads around him. He did not feel sad that his village is not progressing as fast as everyone promised. He was not angry that the world had moved on to the next media-hyped disaster and forgot about the people of Xiao Yu Dong. He was just ecstatic that he scored for his team. For those 10 seconds of glory he experienced the same thrill every sportsman in the world gets, the pride he felt when all his teammates hugged him and celebrated his score, the nod to the old Auntie on the sideline who really just cheered and wept because she’s happy to see him smile. Xiao Pengyou was THE man and no one was going to knock him off his perch. That’s the universal joy of sports and why I feel Sports Aid can bring a little bit of joy into the lives of hundreds of unfortunate kids in Sichuan, as their communities keep chugging away at rebuilding over the next 3-5 years.
Thanks to all who volunteered today.
Jonny Dallas
Chengdu Sports Aid
Tags:badminton, bereavement, Chengdu Sports Aid, children, Ireland, joy, rugby, running, smile, soccer, volunteer, Xiao Yu Dong
Posted in Civil society, Education, Home rebuilding, Living conditions, sport, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Saturday, May 9th, 2009
The 2nd Chengdu Half Marathon, this time with a parallel/tandem/parallendem event of a 10K run, was completed this morning by a few dozen hardy individuals, in aid of Chengdu Sports Aid. Ben Fredman was on hand to capture photos of the day.
Tags:10K run, Chengdu, half marathon, photos, run, sport
Posted in Civil society, Donation, sport, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
Download the podcast interview
Buy an EP or Premium Charity Package
Listen to Dave and Abigail’s interview on NPR’s All Things Considered
From City Weekend
Folk singer Abigail Washburn and producer Dave Liang recorded songs and stories of students relocated after last year’s tragic earthquake. Abigail tells us about their CD to be released on the anniversary of the quake.
How did this project come about?
Last December, I was at Sichuan University teaching traditional American music … I hung out at The Bookworm (in Chengdu) with my friend Peter Goff, and he said, “It would be fun to get you out to these relocation schools … I’m involved in a group called Sichuan Quake Relief, which does all kinds of projects with the schools.” So, over two days, we went to six different schools … After I would perform, some of the kids would come up to me and share their stories and their songs.
What was your response to that experience?
After I left, I kept thinking, there must be something more I can do. I felt like I had been given these kids stories so directly and so personally … I had the idea to go back with my friend Dave Liang to make a pop album with the kids — something that would have mass appeal to bring attention and money back to the disaster zone.
So what was the process like once you were back in Sichuan?
(Sichuan Quake Relief) scouted schools to find the right mix of students … We wanted to have Tibetan and Qiang minorities represented on the CD because they had lost so many people in the earthquake.
Wow. And how did you work with the kids?
We set it up as an event. As soon as I got there, I played a show for all the kids … We asked the kids to sing songs for us. And then we asked them stuff like, “What did your parents used to sing you at night while you were going to bed?” So they came to us with these interesting songs and we recorded them there.
How long did this process take?
We spent four days at the school … Then we went up into Wenchuan, to the kids’ hometowns and visited with their parents. They hadn’t seen their kids since last August, so everyone was missing each other. We gave them portraits of their kids and let them listen to their kids singing their songs, and just connected with them. We also recorded them leaving messages to their kids, singing songs … and also the sounds of rebuilding.
Details
The CD Afterquake will be released on May 12, the anniversary of the Sichuan Earthquake. Find out more at www.afterquakemusic.com
Sichuan Quake Relief: sichuan-quake-relief.org
Abigail Washburn: www.abigailwashburn.com
Dave Liang and The Shanghai Restoration Project: www.shanghairestorationproject.com
(Above photo by Amanda Kowalski)
Tags:Abigail Washburn, Afterquake, Ama, benefit, CD, Dave Liang, Emei Shan, Luke Mines, Shanghai Restoration Project
Posted in Arts, Childcare, Civil society, Living conditions, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
Keith Linch, Director of architectural company Robinson JZFZ, is on visiting the Guangji site today to begin the process of designing the Guangji Kindergarten.
This is a major step on the way to getting the kindergarten rebuilt, and to have architects of this calibre involved is a major boost.
For more information on the GuangJi Kindergarten Project, download the project outline or visit the Guangji project page.
Tags:architect, Guangji, Keith Linch, kindergarten, plan, project, Robinson JZFZ
Posted in Civil society, Construction and infrastructure, Corporate Social Responsibility, Donation, Education, Facilities reconstruction, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Monday, May 4th, 2009
On 30th April 2009, two SQR volunteers and a professional surveyor went up to the Guangji Kindergarten and the topographical survey is now complete.
The next stage is to get architectural plans drawn up, whilst finding builders and project management professionals.
GuangJi Kindergarten
The Guangji Preschool & Kindergarten was founded in 2000 by school principal Kang Yuling and several other teachers. The school is now the only preschool and kindergarten serving five villages. After the closure of other schools, to ensure the continuing education of the youngest members of her community, Kang Yuling rallied her fellow teachers, and then donated her family home and farmland to the cause. The group raised enough money to build a basic two-storey structure, and a small play area alongside her family home.
The new structure became classrooms, while the older structures housed teachers’ quarters, kitchen, and offices.
The May earthquake destroyed Kang’s house, and the former family home is badly damaged, and needs to be demolished. The new structure needs reinforcement if it is to be declared safe.
See photos of the school (in temporary prefabricated buildings) from January 2009.
Sichuan Quake Relief is working with the school principal, parents and teachers, on a project to rebuild the kindergarten.
Tags:children, Guangji, Kang Yuling, kindergarten, student
Posted in Childcare, Civil society, Construction and infrastructure, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Home rebuilding, Infrastructure, Living conditions, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
Buy an EP or Premium Charity Package
Listen to Dave and Abigail’s interview on NPR’s All Things Considered
At Qipangou in the north of Chengdu there is a former petroleum industry college which is now inhabited by students displaced from Wenchuan by the May 12th 2008 earthquake. On 9th December 2008, Abigail Washburn visited schools to support and cheer up those affected by the quake.
With Abigail was her friend Amanda Kowalski, who demonstrated her dancing skills live on stage. Abigail wowed the students just by speaking amazing Mandarin and then by her singing and banjo playing, and then led a singalong with the students, and then by the SQR volunteers, as well as asking one of the students to perform a folk song with her. Abigail and Amanda made similar visits to several schools in the quake-hit areas. Later, when chatting to Dave Liang of the Shanghai Restoration Project, she mentioned her work for quake victims, and they decided to create a collection of music using the voices of those in the quake zone, and sounds from the quake zone. Amanda, a professional photographer, documented the creation of the EP, a generous proportion of proceeds from which will go to SQR.
On 12th May 2009 Afterquake will be released.
http://www.afterquakemusic.com
Tags:Abigail Washburn, Afterquake, Amanda Kowalski, Dave Liang, music, Qipangou, Shanghai Restoration Project
Posted in Arts, Education, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
Chengdu Sports Aid’s regular trips continue. Today at 8:45am, a doughty bunch of volunteers met at the Bookworm, boarded the Eton House bus to Qipangou in the north of Chengdu (arriving at what used to be a petroleum industry college) and ran some touch rugby and football activities, plus the tug o’ war and other fun stuff.
Many thanks to Kelly, Walter and Mark for leading the group.
Tags:Chengdu Sports Aid, football, limbo dancing, Qipangou, rugby, tug o' war
Posted in sport, SQR Activities | No Comments »
