Children’s Day « Sichuan Quake Relief (SQR)

Posts Tagged ‘Children’s Day’

Donation appeal. Qima township: money required for reconstruction, schools, Children’s Day, and basic medicines

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Poverty is inevitably still a huge problem, given the impact of the earthquake on areas which were living at subsistence level.

Information about Qima Township in Qingchuan obtained by SQR in the past few days.

Basic Situation

6 hours drive from Chengdu, 1 hour from Qinchuan County. The road connecting villages and townships can get rather muddy when rains but accessible.

The nearest NGO (World Vision International, which set up its office there before the earthquake) working in Qingchuan is in Qiaozhuang Township, 1 hour drive away from Qima.

There are 8000 residents, many of them are suffering from rheumatism, cholelithiasis, gall-stones, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The township does have a public clinic but only with limited facilities and meds, so the doctors working there are not able to treat illnesses like these.

According to the figures collected by a local volunteer, there are 600+ patients who cannot afford even ordinary medical services. This group of people consists mostly of elderly people without children or living by themselves while children are working somewhere else.

Progress of reconstruction is uneven. Better-off families have already had their new houses built and have moved in. However, many families just finished the foundation part as to claim the subsidy (the policy is that full subsidy is issued only to families that begin reconstruction before 12th May 2009). Some people, as in Caopo, have been using the subsidy or micro-credit to cover their basic necessities, rather than to reconstruct their houses.

There is one central primary school (1-9 grade), and four village primary schools, with 704 students in total. Grades 1 to 3 include 48 preschool students and 48 students from the village primary schools.

The village primary schools provide classes for one specific group only: for Grade 1 students who live too far away from the central school and cannot afford to live in a school dormitory, and each has around 10-20 students.

Students now have classes in a row of prefabricated houses. More than 400 of them live in villages far from this school. They do not pay tuition fees but do have to buy ‘meal tickets’ that are used to buy meals in the school dining room, the cost of which ranges from 80 to 200 per month, depending on the financial situation of students’ families.

Recent Activities
1. Children’s Day

Various people (contacts of SQR) are going to Qima Primary School on the Children’s Day. The school will have its own activities in the morning, and then the students have their own in the afternoon. One suggestion is for 4-7 people to visit the children to organise activities for them. The thing these people need help with is to buy gifts for the 704 students and to fund the delivery.

2. Jun 28th free-of-charge medical consultation

SQR’s contact, Yang, said he’ll notify the locals to come to the central village that day, and will bring a couple of nurses and doctors there. The consultation takes one or two days. Help is needed getting medicine for this trip.

SQR is waiting for the list, and will make it available to those who are willing to help out.

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Tags:Caopo, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular diseases, Children's Day, cholelithiasis, food, gall-stones, meal tickets, medical care, medical consultation, micro-credit, NGO, pencil case, poverty, prefabricated, primary school, Qiaozhuang township, Qima township, Qingchuan, rheumatism, road, satchel, stationery, subsidy, village school, World Vision International
Posted in Childcare, Civil society, Compensation, Donation, Education, Health care, Home rebuilding, Living conditions, Local government, Micro-funding, SQR | No Comments »

SQR 2009 Calendar

Monday, September 1st, 2008

The SQR 2009 Calendar is now available for purchase at The Bookworm.

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Tags:calendar, children, Children's Day, Donation, fundraiser
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“Foreigners give children fun day,” China Daily

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

From the China Daily:

SHIFANG, Sichuan: Oliver Baudouy knelt on the dusty ground amid the rubble of Bayi Primary School and played the drums. The simple but strangely attractive rhythm started to draw children from the village. They became increasingly mesmerized by the music but kept their distance from the man. Baudouy’s fellow foreigners started dancing and invited their young audience to join them. The visitors’ exaggerated movements and facial expressions made the children laugh.

That was how 40 expatriates yesterday celebrated Children’s Day with hundreds of youngsters in the rural areas of Shifang, about two hours’ drive away from Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan. The foreigners were part of relief efforts for the May 12 quake that devastated the province.

The expats, aged between 18 and 60, come from 30 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Ireland and Germany. Most of them work in Chengdu. “We wanted to spend the day with children in the mountains rather than in a city to deliver the message that they are not forgotten,” Peter Goff, who organized the day’s activities, said.

The team visited three different places in Luoshui county, a region severely hit by the quake. The treks to the areas were harsh, with county roads virtually destroyed by the quake, but the visitors were not deterred.

“A nice smile on a child’s face was all the reward we needed. It warmed our hearts,” said Baudouy, a Canadian teacher of the English and French languages.

It was the first time for He Jia to see so many foreigners in person. The 11-year-old girl had previously only seen such foreigners on TV . “I think they are very funny, especially when they are dancing,” she said, as her friends and classmates played with the men. The girl could not wait to show people what was inside her pockets. They were stuffed with candy. “The foreigners gave them to me for Children’s Day,” the pupil said, beaming.

“The students have never been so playful in the aftermath of the quake,” said villager Yang Xiaohong, who later joined the dance with the children. Yang said the children stayed at home or in makeshift sheds after the primary school collapsed. Watching TV was the only leisure activity they had. More than 1,700 gifts were distributed to the children, including balls, toy cars, dolls and sports equipment.

The EtonHouse International School in Chengdu donated most of the gifts. “We tried to choose gifts that more than one person could play with, which means more people can have fun,” said the school’s principal, Sarah Moore. Frenchman Max De Villers agreed, saying that children needed activities to keep them busy, as they have a lot of energy that needs to be “let off”. Staying in a crowded tent was not good for them. “Playing is one important step for them to return to normal life,” he added.

Various activities, such as painting, drum lessons and ball games, took place on the site after more children and their parents joined the visitors. The children were also eager to take photos with the foreigners. Gradually, the ruins became a happy playground for the young quake victims yesterday. “Happiness is very important. Even though you have experienced difficult times, life must go on, and you must enjoy your life, ” said Baudouy.