Posts Tagged ‘school’
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
The SQR team took a long, bumpy ride to the north-east of Sichuan at the beginning of this week to deliver more than sixty backpacks, crammed with textbooks and other goodies, for the schoolchildren of Yanyan Village, deep in Qingchuan County. The school is currently being run by volunteers, coping with little or no resources, in a building that is no more than bamboo boards on a dirt floor, with no electricity.
Although for much of the way there the winding mountain roads were — at best — uneven dirt and stones, and in places ankle-deep in mud, our skilful driver Mr Tang got us the four-hundred kilometres there in about seven hours. We crossed two rivers and there was only one occasion where we had to get out and push the van out of an uncooperative muddy hole.
On the way back we were rather less fortunate. Not only did we have to wait more than three hours while an on-coming truck that was stuck in the middle of the road freed itself (with a bit of teamwork from all the other drivers that were waiting to pass), but we then got stuck ourselves in virtually the same spot — and all other help had chugged away up the mountain. By the time we had pushed and skidded our way out of this and several other points along this particularly bad stretch of road, it had taken six hours to travel a distance that had earlier taken about an hour, and it took another six and a half hours to complete the rest of the journey back to Chengdu, our shoes and clothes caked in mud.
It’s the unpredictable nature of these roads that makes daily trips to a central school in the nearby town of Qima so infeasible. For this reason — together with the village school’s current lack of educational resources — many schoolchildren are not currently attending classes at all. The central school is too hard to get to (or too much to afford boarding or renting closer to town), and the village school does not have the means to provide a decent education. (For more information on why village schools in Qingchuan are so lacking, see our earlier posting.)
In an attempt to both raise awareness and address this problem, SQR decided to use a generous donation from Chiao Hsin Chinese Language School in California, USA, to purchase a selection of the required textbooks for the sixty children we had been told were not currently attending the central school. Packed neatly alongside the textbooks, inside a brand new backpack, each child also received:
- exercise books
- a pencil case containing pencils, rulers, pencil sharpeners
- a skipping rope
- a tennis ball
- a jianzi shuttlecock
- an electrically-heated hand/body warmer
- a woolly hat
- a pair of gloves
We also donated a CD player and teaching materials (chalk; books with ideas for lessons) to the school, and received a promise from the head of the village that students from nearby villages who were not present on the day would be given their backpacks as soon as possible.
And as well as the brand new books, on behalf of Sichuan Normal Junior School we also donated two large boxes of used, good condition textbooks covering a wide range of subjects including art, mathematics, English and music.
As you can see from the selection of photos below, the trip was a great success and was well worth every bone-juddering, shoe-ruining moment of the journey.
A huge thank you to both Sichuan Normal Junior School and Chiao Hsin Chinese Language School for their donations, and to Jane from Chengdoo Magazine for liasing with Chiao Hsin. These contributions enabled us to not only bring essential supplies to a remote village school, but deliver a message to the people living there that organisations such as SQR have not forgotten about them.
Donate to SQR to help fund more of these important trips.
Tags:Donation, Qingchuan, resources, school, Sichuan Quake Relief, SQR, supplies, trip, Yanyan
Posted in Education, SQR Activities | 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, April 6th, 2009
Rebuilding of school destroyed in Sichuan quake to start on 1st anniversary
www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-01 14:56:36
Special Report: Reconstruction After Earthquake
MIANYANG, Sichuan, April 1 (Xinhua) — The reconstruction of Beichuan Middle School, one of the schools that sustained the most damage in last year’s earthquake in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province, will start May 12, the first anniversary of the earthquake, officials said Wednesday.
The new school, mostly funded by donations from Chinese all over the world, will be built in Beichuan’s new county seat, said Liu Qi, an official with the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC), which was in charge of aiding the rebuilding.
Officials will choose a design from submissions by leading universities including Tsinghua and Tongji as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Hong Kong University, he said.
More than 1,300 of the school’s 2,900 students and teachers were killed or left missing in the rubble of the collapsed buildings in the Wenchuan 8.0-magnitude earthquake. Surviving students have attended classes in temporary pre-fab structures since shortly after the disaster.
Overseas Chinese have donated nearly 200 million yuan (29 million U.S. dollars) since August when the donation campaign began, Liu said.
The new school will cover about 13 hectares and is expected to enroll more than 5,000 students.
An ACFROC official arrived in Sichuan Tuesday and will work with the local government on construction, he said.
The reconstruction of Beichuan County, one of the worst-hit areas in the quake, began in February. The new seat is between Yong’an Township and Anchang Township, about 23 km from the former county seat.
Tags:All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC), Anchang, Beichuan Middle School, Hong Kong University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mianyang, pre-fab, rubble, school, Tsinghua University and Tongji University, Wenchuan, Yong'an
Posted in Civil society, Construction and infrastructure, Donation, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Investment, Official news source | No Comments »
Monday, March 9th, 2009
March 9, 2009
Chinese Official Defends Construction of Schools Felled in Quake
By KEITH BRADSHER
HONG KONG — A vice governor of the Chinese province hardest hit by the earthquake last May said Sunday that many schools collapsed then because of the strength of the 7.9 magnitude quake, and not because of shoddy construction.
Wei Hong, one of the eight vice governors of Sichuan Province, also declined to release the number of schoolchildren who were killed, saying that the exact tally still had not been calculated almost 10 months later, news agencies reported from Beijing. Mr. Wei spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress there.
State news media have reported that the quake left more than 80,000 dead and thousands more missing. The most controversial aspect of the quake has been the damage to 14,000 classrooms, half of which collapsed entirely.
Heavy damage to schools, some of which fell down in neighborhoods where other structures remained standing, has prompted accusations from local residents that the schools suffered from what many Chinese have termed “tofu” construction.
Epicentre location as shown in NY Times
Local and provincial officials have responded angrily to criticisms of school construction practices, and particularly to suggestions from some parents that there might have been corruption involved in the construction process for schools. The local authorities have silenced many parents who lost children in the earthquake, through a combination of compensation payments and intimidation.
A mother whose 11-year-old daughter died in the earthquake said by telephone on Sunday that “of course it was tofu construction that led to the collapse of the school.”
The mother, who requested anonymity because of continued government efforts to discourage public discussion of the collapse of the schools, said that she believed that the government must have a tally of schoolchildren who died in the earthquake, since communities in her area were well aware of death tolls at their local schools.
Mr. Wei was promoted to vice governor on June 1, less than three weeks after the quake on May 12, part of a series of shifts in provincial leaders that followed the quake but that may have been scheduled to some extent before the natural disaster.
The Beijing authorities sent their own committee of experts to Sichuan Province after the earthquake to assess construction practices there.
The chairman of the committee, Ma Zongjin, said at a news conference in Beijing last September that because of a rush to build schools during China’s economic boom in recent years, more than 1,000 damaged schools had suffered from at least one of two shortcomings: they were built extremely close to the fault line and were destroyed with other structures near them, or they were poorly built.
But detailed results of that investigation have not been released.
Tags:children, collapse, Compensation, construction standards, corruption, death toll, Ma Zongjin, National People's Congress, school, structure, Vice governor of Sichuan, Wei Hong
Posted in Compensation, Construction and infrastructure, Disaster / risk management, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Government, Home rebuilding, Local government, National government, Seismic activity | No Comments »
Friday, February 27th, 2009
香港增拨40亿港元支援四川地震灾区重建
2009-02-20 来源: 新华网
On 20th, The Finance Commission of Hong Kong Legislative Council approved the proposal of an additional 4 billion Hong Kong dollars that will be added to the Trust Fund of Assistance on Reconstruction in Sichuan Quake-hit Region, which made the total capital of the fund rise to 6 billion.
According to Lin Ruilin, the commander of Hong Kong Department of Mainland Affairs, in July 2008, the Council had granted 2 billion Hong Kong dollars as assistance in the first phrase of the reconstruction. This batch of money will be used in 103 projects, including 80 in realms like schools, medical rehabilitation, and social welfare facilities; and 23 in Wolong Natural reserve.
The fund had started to accept applications from Hong Kong NGOs that were working on post-quake relief work in Sichuan in Oct 2008. By Dec, 12 application had been approved, the total amount of financial aid was over 87 million.
香港特区立法会财务委员会20日通过特区政府增拨40亿港元的申请。这笔资金将注入“支援四川地震灾区重建工作信托基金”，使基金原有的20亿港元提高到60亿港元，用于第二阶段支援四川地震灾区的重建工作。
香港特区政府政制及内地事务局局长林瑞麟. 08年7月，特区立法会批准开立20亿港元的承担额用以注资基金，支持第一阶段的援建工作。此次申请增拨40亿港元，将用以开展第二阶段共103个援建项目。具体包括学校、医疗康复、社会福利设施等80个项目及23个卧龙自然保护区项目。
基金在2008年10月开始接受香港非政府机构申请资助，协助进行四川灾区重建工作。2008年12月，基金已批出12项申请，涉及的资助总额超过8700万港元。
Tags:Finance Commission of Hong Kong Legislative Council, financial aid, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Department of Mainland Affairs, Lin Ruilin, NGO, school, Trust Fund of Assistance on Reconstruction in Sichuan Quake-hit Region, Wolong
Posted in Civil society, Construction and infrastructure, Donation, Facilities reconstruction, Government, Infrastructure, Investment, NGO news, Official news source | No Comments »
Friday, February 27th, 2009
浙江在青川设教师奖励基金 奖金每年４万2009-02-18 来源: 新华网
http://hongdou2.gxnews.com.cn/forumview.asp?td=0&topic_id=3351343&pagenum=356
Yesterday afternoon (2-17), officials of Zhejiang Department of Education came to Qingchuan County and set up an incentive fund with 10 million RMB that were donated by individuals and institutions of Zhejiang educational system. This fund is established in the name of the People Education Fund, the interest of which (about 40 thousand) will be used as a financial source of a yearly reward to 10 outstanding teachers who have been teaching in villages of Qingchuan for 10 (or more) years.
It is also known that besides the incentive fund, Zhejiang Province is making a 2-year plan on inviting 150 teachers of Qingchuan to Zhejiang to study and send 150 exceptional teachers to Qingchuan to teach. 5 professional counselors will be dispatched to Qingchuan County to set up 3 counseling offices for Qingchuan Middle School, Qingchuan Secondary School and Qingchuan Primary School respectively.
从今年起，每年有10位在青川县农村教学，且教龄在10年以上的老师，可获得4000元奖金。
昨天下午，浙江省教育厅主要负责人来到青川县，将全省教育系统捐献的100万元，以人民教育基金会的名义，设立教师奖励基金，每年的利息(约4万元)作为奖金，发给10位优秀教师。两年计划
记者从省教育厅了解到，除设立教师奖励基金外，我省还准备在两年半内邀请150名青川教师去浙江学习，派150名浙江优秀教师到青川任教。从下个月开始，我省还将派出5名具有5年以上专业心理辅导经验的教师，给青川县的高中、初中、小学各建立一个心理辅导站。
Tags:counsellor, Department of Education, incentive fund, Qingchuan, school, teacher, Zhejiang
Posted in Education, Investment, Local government, Official news source | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
北川新县城重建将北川中学放在首位
http://news.sohu.com/20090119/n261839355.shtml
2009年01月19日 来源：新华网
As known from relevant department of Beichuan government, the reconstruction of Beichuan Middle School will be “put as top priority” in the general reconstructive scheme of Beichuan. It is estimated to be finished on September 1st, 2010, and used as one of the stationary shelters of the new town along with another 7 schools.
According to the person in charge of relevant department, new Beichuan Middle School, which has received a great deal of attention in the past 7 months, was figured into the list of first batch of projects that focused on public service facilities, such as the County People’s Government, and the County People’s Hospital. These are expected to be accomplished by 2010.
2600 million were invested in the rebuilt of new Beichuan Middle School. The new school, with a capacity of 5000 students, was co-designed by professors from Harvard, MIT, Hong Kong University, Tsinghua University and Tongji University.
记者19日从北川羌族自治县有关部门获悉，新县城异地重建中，将把北川中学放在首位，预计2010年9月1日前率先建成使用，新建的北川中学等7所学校将同时成为新县城固定避难场所。
据北川县有关部门负责人介绍，备受外界关注的北川中学在北川新县城规划方案中占地15公顷，将建成北川新县城的一个标志性建筑。它和县人民政府、县人民医院等公共服务设施一起，被列入首批开建项目，2010年即可完工。
新的北川中学总投资约2.6亿元，由来自哈佛大学、麻省理工学院、香港大学、清华大学和同济大学5所名校建筑系的教授共同设计，可容纳学生5000多名。
Tags:1st Sept 2010, Beichuan, County People’s Hospital, Harvard, Hong Kong University, MIT, professor, school, Tsinghua University and Tongji University, Xinhua news agency
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Local government, Official news source | No Comments »
Monday, January 19th, 2009
2008年12月25日20:21 新华网
http://news.sohu.com/20081225/n261426445.shtml
BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) — The deadly 8.0-magnitude earthquake that jolted southwestern China’s Sichuan province in May damaged close to 14,000 schools in 159 counties in the province, a senior official said on Thursday.
Lu Yongxiang, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, revealed the numbers during a briefing to the law-making body on the enforcement of the Law on Compulsory Education.
The 8.0-magnitude quake centered in Sichuan’s Wenchuan County left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless.
He did not disclose the casualties of students in the earthquake.
Many of the school buildings in the quake-affected areas needed to be rebuilt, Lu said, adding that many schools in the central and the western part of the country were still in poor condition.
He noted that after the earthquake, many school buildings in neighboring Gansu province were severely damaged, but their rebuilding were not covered in the government’s post-quake rebuilding budget.
According to Lu, 2.5 percent of China’s primary and middle school buildings were in poor conditions in 2007. More than 90 percent of those “risky” school buildings were located in the country’s rural areas.
Twenty percent of the primary school buildings and 11 percent of the middle school buildings were “risky” in southwestern Yunnan province as in 2007, he said, citing figures from the Ministry of Education.
Fire risks, traffic safety and hygiene also posed threats to many primary and middle schools in the country due to lack of safety education, Lu added.
Lu urged authorities to add reinforcement measures to all school buildings in the quake-hit areas and to conduct a comprehensive safety check on all primary and middle schools in the rural areas across the country.
Local governments should renovate all school buildings to meet anti-quake criteria “at a proper time”, Lu suggested.
He also urged for central and local governments to grant more funds to help middle and primary schools– especially those in the central and western rural areas — renovate their school buildings and raise safety education among students and teachers.
China had already stipulated in July this year that school facilities must observe higher quake-proof standards than common buildings in the same area.
新华网北京12月25日电 （记者周婷玉、陈菲）全国人大常委会副委员长路甬祥25日向全国人大常委会作义务教育法执法检查报告时说，这次汶川特大地震对灾区学校造成严重破坏，相当部分校舍需要重建。据四川省统计，共有159个县近1．4万所学校受灾，其中义务教育学校和完全中学占91％。
他还指出，目前中西部地区农村学校的危房比例仍然较高。据教育部反映，2007年，全国普通中小学危房面积占普通中小学校舍面积总数的2．48％，其中90％分布在中西部地区农村。云南省小学、初中危房比例最高，分别达到20％和11％。甘肃省甘南受灾地区学校校舍受损也很严重，其中不少校舍没有列入国家资助的灾区中小学校舍维修加固资金项目，而地方财政困难，难以进行修缮。另外，一些学校的安全教育还没有落实，在消防、交通、卫生等方面也存在着安全隐患。
路甬祥介绍，新义务教育法实施后，各级政府部门在严格学校选址规划、完善校舍设计和编制建设标准、提高校舍维修改造资金测算标准、严格学校安全监管、维护学校周边秩序等方面加强了工作。2008年7月实施的《建筑工程抗震设防分类标准》，提高了学校建筑的抗震设防标准，要求比当地一般建筑抗震设防烈度提高一度，这将对保障校舍安全具有促进作用。
为进一步加强学校安全建设，执法检查报告建议，加快全面排查农村中小学校舍安全情况的进度，当前特别要做好受汶川特大地震影响的地区校舍的维修加固工作。同时，各地政府对未达到抗震要求的所有校舍，应适时制定规划予以改造，使之逐步达到防震标准。
报告中还建议，应适当提高农村中小学校舍维修改造经费补助标准，中央财政应重点对中西部地区农村中小学校舍抗震加固工作加大支持力度；应当进一步健全学校安全管理制度，完善处置突发事件应急机制，定期开展安全教育和应急演练活动，不断提高广大师生的自我保护意识与防范危害的能力。
Tags:budget, building, county, fire, Law on Compulsory Education, NPC, primary school, quake-proof, reinforce, renovate, safety, school, Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Wenchuan
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Governance and social policy, Local government, Media, National government | No Comments »
Friday, January 16th, 2009
Sichuan Quake Relief volunteers delivered winter supplies to children at a school in the village of Guangji, two hours northwest of Chengdu on January 9th, 2009. The 132 children, aged two to six years, currently attend a day school in a temporary structure with no heat or running water. In spite of their conditions, the children greeted volunteers with smiles and a song.
Schoolboy at Guangji Kindergarten.
Their school, Guangji Di Kang Le Kindergarten, was closed due to structural damage after the earthquake. The school has been moved to a temporary structure in a neighbouring field until part of the school can be reinforced, and an older section demolished. Principal Kang Yuling hopes that they will be able to return to the school in September 2009 if donations are made available. The school has been given a 5,000rmb subsidy by the government to help with the rebuilding, but it will cost at least 50,000rmb to simply strengthen the structure, plus any decoration costs.
The temporary building is cold.
As the temporary classrooms are extremely cold, SQR volunteers provided students with 15,806rmb’s worth of winter supplies, including; gloves, scarves, coats, long underwear and electric kettles (receipts available). The funding for this project was provided by the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai (www.sha.britcham.org). The British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai donated a total of 37,000rmb to be used for this school.
School principal (l) Kang Yuling
The Guangji Di Kang Le Kindergarten is the only pre-school institution and Kindergarten serving five villages. Almost all the parents of the children that attend this school are migrant workers who are forced to work in the coastal cities as there is very little employment in the quake area. This school is a non-profit community project that has been around for more than 20 years. Principal Kang taught many of the parents of her current students when the school opened up first. In 2006, to help them move to better premises she donated part of her family’s farmland, and a section of her family home to start the school. In addition, the other teachers raised enough money to build a new section, purchase playground equipment, and supplies.
The building remained standing, but damage is severe.
The school they built then with their own money, though badly damaged by the quake, was one of the few buildings in the area that stayed standing. All of the children and staff got out of the building safely when the earthquake struck.
Tuition for the kids, including meals, is 120rmb per month. If families cannot afford the fees the school reduces or waives them. The local government has confirmed there will be no more financial support for this community kindergarten. SQR is currently assessing the situation in detail with a view to helping to rebuild the school, and perhaps extend the community facilities, and develop a long-term partnership with the Guangji community. This project will be implemented in conjunction with the Chengdu American Chamber of Commerce, the British Chamber of Commerce SouthWest China, and the European Chamber of Commerce in Chengdu, and the Chengdu International Women’s Club.
Photos by Kirsten Allen
Tags:assessment, British Chamber of Commerce, community project, demolish, glove, Guangji, Kang Yuling, kettle, kindergarten, long-term partnership, migrant, non-profit, reinforce, scarf, school, Shanghai, subsidy, temporary housing, tuition, winter supplies
Posted in Childcare, Civil society, Construction and infrastructure, Donation, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Home rebuilding, Infrastructure, Labour and migration, Living conditions, Local government, SQR, SQR Activities, SQR Donation Request, Winter | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Ruhr University Bochum has made a significant donation part of which has been put towards the purchases of blankets, and the rest of the donation will be used to support kindergarten projects.
The Association is particularly interested in supporting the Guangji kindergarten project, the library project (http://library-project.org) and are keen to support other projects, too.
Xie xie / Vielen Dank / Many thanks for their interest and support.
http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/china/
Tags:blanket, Bochum, Germany, Guangji, kindergarten, library, Ruhr, school, student
Posted in Donation, Education, SQR Activities, Winter | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
SQR, in cooperation with The Library Project, has put five more libraries into temporary junior schools over the past few weeks. These schools — in Luo Shui (2), Long Men Shan, Xiao Yu Dong and Tumen — had course books but little or no extra non-syllabus reading material. Each school received a wide range of high quality children’s books that included history, science, short stories, fairy tales, reference books and comics. They also received book shelves, posters, a globe, toys, balls and racquets, and desks and chairs.
In addition to books and furniture, each school Librarian receives training on how to manage their new library. Since most rural elementary schools have never had a single book in their library for children to read, The Library Project’s Librarian Training Program gets them up to speed on day one. Volunteers also play a huge part in the process of providing libraries. “Our volunteers play an important role in introducing the students to their new library. Games are played, songs are sung, and of course books are read. It is a very positive experience for everyone involved; the school administration, teachers, students, and the volunteers,” says Jenny Wang, The Library Project’s Country Director.
These five projects were partly funded by the Gaelic Athletic Association’s Asian County Board. Many thanks for their kind support!
They are many more remote schools in the quake region that are in need of libraries. For US$500 – US$1000 you can provide hundreds of children’s books, and furniture for a library. Please contact us if you would like to help sponsor a library.
Tags:book, donate, elementary school, Librarian Training Program, library, Longmen Shan, Luoshui, school, Tumenzhen, volunteer, Xiao Yu Dong
Posted in Donation, Education, NGO news, SQR, SQR Activities | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 5th, 2009
SQR visit report on a school: a good example of how stretched resources are, and how resiliently people are coping.
Basic Situation
The school was moved to Emei Shan City from Shuimo town in Wenchuan in August when it was completely destroyed by the May earthquake.
Comprising 786 students (ranging from age 12 to 15 and 46% of them are Tibetan, Qiang and Hui minorities) and 55 teachers (including dormitory management personnel), more than 800 people were allocated classroom and dorms that had been converted from workshops and warehouses in Shuren Vocational Middle School in Emei Shan City. This means the original dining room that was designed to cope with 300 people now has to cater for nearly 1000. Some students have to eat standing up. The same problem is found in the dormitories: according to Yang, the principle of Shuimo Middle, the most crowded room has 30 students. Thanks to the money given by Emei Shan government, a fairly good boiler room was installed, so children can have hot showers from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm every day.
Students have classes five and half days a week, from 8am to 8pm. Their little free time is spent reading a few dozen books, donated by government or individuals and stored in a 10-square-metre large “library”, or limited sports exercises in the simple playground.
With a small range of medicines, the one school doctor arranged by Emei Shan government can only deal with basic illnesses in the small school clinic. Therefore students have to be taken to hospital in town in the occurrence of major injury or other emergencies.
Other support
Hua Dan and Leshan Teacher Training College: occasional teaching support at weekends.
Help Request
Medicine (for cold, fever, diarrhea, athlete’s foot)
Books (for secondary school students and teaching material for teacher)
Doctors (if possible) and teachers (for weekend fun teaching)
Location
Shuren Vocational Middle School in Emei Shan City (2 and a half hrs from Chengdu, half an hour from the city centre of Emei.)
Tags:aid, help, school, Shuimo
Posted in Education, Living conditions, Local government, SQR Activities | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
Zetex has a factory in Chengdu and is a great example of direct involvement with a school that needs equipment and encouragement. This is an excerpt from their company newsletter.
Earthquake appeal for Chengdu
Many people in Zetex donated to the Chengdu appeal and this money was then matched by the company as a contribution to the Chengdu Earthquake Appeal. The money donated was split through 2 channels; some went to the HSBC appeal fund and some to Zetex Chengdu to explore direct aid options.
Zetex Chengdu looked very closely at what would be required during this difficult time and Dong Jian Mei (ZCEL HR/ Finance Manager) contacted the earthquake appeal centre to see what could be donated. Following discussions with the appeals offices, it was felt that putting money into a general fund may not necessarily be the best option. Since Zetex is a technology-based company, it was decided that helping a school would be beneficial. After some consideration, Alan and Dong Jian Mei believed that donating computers (ultimately 10) and other educational aids to a school would be more “in line” with what Zetex is about.
Recently, Alan and Dong Jian Mei visited a school about 25 miles from the epicentre in a small remote area in the Sichuan mountains called Ping Wu; specifically the Xiang Yan Primary school where they have 350 children aged between 4 and 13 years old. The visit was to determine the conditions the 350 children were working and living under. Following this visit, it was confirmed that the decision to donate computers was the correct one. On the 16th December the school was visited again by Alan, Dong Jian Mei , No 11 – Xu Zong Fang (ZCEL Logistics Controller), Bailey (ZCEL IT Engineer) and Zhang Jian (ZCEL Logistics Group Leader) to present the equipment to Headmaster Yang Zhang Huai, and Head Teacher Li Zhi Fu.
In addition Alan and his team bought a Christmas tree for the school (the children had never seen one close up), decorations and each of the 350 children a small Christmas gift.
Tags:Christmas, computer, Donation, HSBC, Pingwu, school, Xiang Yan, Zetex
Posted in Civil society, Education, Relief | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
From the China Daily via the China National Committe on Ageing:
Canada and British Columbia (BC) province are working with the Chinese government and partners in the Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction Project constructing quake-proof wood frame buildings.
Tags:British Columbia, building, Canada, Dujiangyan, Forestry Innovation Investment, Government, home, Japan, Leigu, load bearing, school, seismic forces, Shanghai Tongji University, technology, wood-frame, Xiang'e
Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Enterprise, Environment, Home rebuilding, Investment, Local government, National government | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
2008-11-27, source: Sichuan News
According to relative sources from Chengdu Department of Sanitation, the work of flu vaccination in the Chengdu disaster area has been accomplished. 452,654 people from Dujiangyan, Pengzhou, and Chouzhong received a free flu vaccinations.
2008-12-02, source: Xinhua
The Central Ministry of Finance revealed the budget of 520 million RMB for post-disaster development of the Department of Meteorology in order to improve the level of its monitoring, alarming and other services, within 3 years.
2008-12-02, source: Beijing Youth Daily
According to an official in Beichuan Information Department, the initial reconstruction planning of Beichuan is has been completed. The general plan will come out in mid-December, to be deliberated and discussed by the provincial government and finally approved before January next year.
The new Beichuan, which occupies 9-10 sq km, is to be situated in An Xian, 2km away from east An Chang and 20km away from its original site. Infrastructure, including emergency sanctuary, water and electricity supply, will be established follow quake-resistant standards.
As revealed in the scheme, new Beichuan will be divided into 2 parts by An Chang River. The east part (6 sq km) is the immediate construction area, the 4 sq km centre of which will be used for first phrase construction. The other side of the river is planned for long-term use. The estimated population in east and west area will be 57-61 thousand and 38-40 thousand respectively.
To build a Qiang Minority Custom Museum and a tourist service centre is also included in the scheme.
Another focus is the rebuilding of schools and other educational institutions. It is planed that 3.91% of the construction-use filed will be employed for Beichuan Middle school, Beichuan Vocational High School, Southwestern University for Nationalities, plus other 8 primary schools and 9 kindergartens.
To sum up, 19.32 billion RMB will be invested in major projects that includes residential, educational, medical and welfare facilities as immediate objectives.
2008-12-03, source: People’s Daily
9 highways and 11 provincial motor ways, 260 thousand km in total, were severely damaged during the 5.12 Quake; a substantial loss of 56.28 billion Yuan.
On 3rd December, 29 traffic reconstruction projects in Sichuan went into operation. This includes 24 critical highways and 5 bus stations, costing 5.03 billion and 24 million RMB respectively. In addition to the 24 projects started previously, there are 53 projects undergoing, with total investment of 28.7 billion RMB, accounting for 42% of the objective of general planning. It is expected that this percentage will increase to 89% by the end of the year. And before March next year, the rest will be under construction.
2008-12-03, source: China Economic News
“The subsidy for rebuilding is 28 thousand yuan per family, but only 3000 to 5000 for repair,” said Yin Taichao, chairman of Luoshui Town Party Committee.
The policy announced in August prescribed reconstruction must apply certain structures that were designed by experts. Used material and non-professional workers could not be employed. Therefore, it will cost at least 60 thousand RMB to rebuild a house, which is apparently unaffordable to villagers, especially the elders who cannot easily get loans from bank. Consequently, most of the residents opted to apply for subsidies for repair as opposed to rebuild.
But during the last few months, aftershocks have been gradually tearing their houses apart. Simple repair is no longer an option. Further, the policy has changed: used material and hiring non-professional workers is now acceptable; the government only supervises quality-related issues. Naturally, many people have changed their minds and decided to rebuild their homes.
However, this didn’t go as smoothly as people had expected. When the new policy came out, some village heads decided to hand in the former list of villagers’ application as in good attention to “save some money for the country” and didn’t anticipate such substantial effects of aftershocks. So now the problem is, “the applicants were inputted to the government database and it’s said we can’t change it now,” said Yin. “But you’ve seen the houses, how can we just repair them? The aftershocks will last at least 2 years. They won’t last that long.”
In addition to this, it is difficult to define “per family”, since the census is inconsistent with the registration. A registered family, consisting of 10 people, could be actually 3 families. Should it be village heads’ right to decide how subsidies goes or should it be discussed by villagers? This will cause much dispute without doubt.
The story is not over. According to Yin, there are 2 institutions that distribute loans to residents, because Luoshui town is combined with 2 different towns —- therefore 2 directors of the rustic banks, one of which is so rigid that complicated and time-consuming procedures are required for loans. “(So) the reconstruction is to some extents slowed down,” said Yin.
“The objective commanded by the city council is to start 60% rebuilding projects before Spring Festival and finish 30%. But materials these days are so expensive.” Yin viewed this as the biggest problem. And this is actually the universal problem in all disaster area. “Perhaps only 50% reconstruction can be started. It’s difficult to achieve 30% completion, though there are already 3000 families working on it.”
Original Chinese versions
成都地震灾区流感疫苗接种完成
2008-11-27
来源: 四川新闻网
汶川地震灾区气象防灾减灾能力将超过震前水平
2008年12月02日
来源：新华网
为帮助汶川地震灾区气象部门高标准、高起点、高要求完成重建任务，财政部明确气象部门灾后恢复重建中央预算资金为5．2亿元，目标是用3年左右的时间，使灾区的气象监测、预警和服务能力超过震前水平。
北川规划确定县城新址
2008-12-02 北京青年报
北川新县城选址初步确定为安县安昌镇以东约2公里处，距离老县城约20公里，供水等设施可抗8级地震，北川中学将占地15公顷。昨天，北川县委宣传部一位姓廖的工作人员介绍，目前新县城重建方案已经基本出来了，正在征求意见。记者从中国城市规划设计研究院了解到，该院已于前两日向北川县汇报了新规划的内容，现在是一个初步规划，将于12月中旬完成总体规划成果编制，争取在明年元旦前完成省政府审批程序。
据规划初案显示，新北川县城将以安昌河为界分为东西两部分，安昌河以西为远景可建设用地。据当地媒体报道，安昌河以东为近期建设区，总面积6平方公里，其中适宜建设面积5平方公里，中间为一期建设核心区，为4平方公里的先期启动区，两侧为一期建设拓展区，各1平方公里。
在初案中，居住用地规划为246公顷，其中河东150公顷，河西96公顷，新县城核心区和拓展区人口规模预计为5.7万到6.1万人，河西远景区可建用地人口规模为3.8万到4万人。
在北川新县城的规划初案中，还包括旅游服务中心0.5公顷和4.2公顷的羌族民俗博物馆。
在这份初案中，教育科研设施用地40.48公顷，占建设用地比例为3.91%，而国际标准为2.4%到3.0%, 人均用地为4.1平方米/人，而国际标准为2.5平方米/人到3.2平方米/人，均高于国际标准。教育建设用地包括北川中学、北川职业中学、西南民族大学分校区和8所小学、9所幼儿园，其中地震时受到关注的北川中学占地为15公顷。
在近期重点项目投资上，列出了安置住房、文化教育设施、医疗卫生设施、社会福利设施、政权设施、基础设施，共投资193.2亿元的项目。
四川29个交通灾后重建项目启动 三年投入千亿元
来源：人民网 12月3日
据悉，四川省此次集中开工的灾后重建交通项目29个，总投资50.54亿元，其中，国省干线及重要经济干线公路项目24个，投资50.3亿元，市县级客运站点项目5个，投资0.24亿元。加上此前开工的24个项目，全省累计开工项目53个，投资287亿元，占规划目标的42%。到年底，还将开工项目54个，累计达到107个，总投资614亿元，占规划目标的89%。明年3月底前，所有项目将全部开工建设。
地震重灾区什邡洛水镇数百农户重建难题多
中国经济新闻网-中国经济时报 2008-12-03
11月21日，“汶川地震”重灾区什邡市洛水镇党委书记尹太超告诉中国经济时报记者，平坝地区重建的国家补助是每户28000元，维修是3000元至5000元不等。“当初说是要重建就统一建，说什么旧瓦、旧砖、旧木料都不许用，我们还只能照上面划定的户型选。从17万到8万多，最起码也要6万多，我们根本建不起。当时的裂口哪有这么大啊，就是一些印子。我们又不懂，以为不会有事的。哪晓得到现在余震还不断，口子越开越大，还是斜着下来，越来越长。这个样子就维修不好了，只能改成重建。可上面却不同意了，说是当初我们上报的是维修，就只能按照维修来给补助，这我们得多冤哪！”
材料报了好几次，最早大家都报的是重建。后来说房子全部推倒后材料也要报废清走，施工要请有资质的建筑队，这下子材料费、工钱都会很高，而且我们五六十岁的人还不给贷款，我当时看房子缝隙还不太大，就又在新的材料里报了个维修加固。结果报上去之后，余震不断，墙缝越来越大，要修就得推倒重新码墙。新的政策也下来了，旧材料可以用，也可以自己请人工来建，政府只是监督质量，算个账，加上国家补助，我们完全可以重建得起了。我们去找上面，找到市里，说是上报的材料已经在微机里锁定，无法修改。
另据记者了解，由于重建补助依户发放，灾后许多乡村产生了“事实分户”的问题。农村家庭过去不重视户口，分家分房不分户的情况很多。因此，政策便将究竟是否确定“事实分户”的权力下放到各村的小组会，由村民们自己根据实际情况开会决定。即便如此，还是会有扯不清的情况。洛水镇永兴村有十多户村民找到记者诉说此事。据了解，曾到镇里反映的也有上百家。对此，尹太超表示，政策有一个刚性，已经确定分户的，恐怕不能再改。
此外，洛水镇是由原来的洛水和灵杰两个乡镇合并来的。因此，重建中给农民发放贷款的机构便与其他乡镇不同——有两个信用社，虽说政策规定得很好，但实际发放贷款还是取决于信用社主任的态度。据尹太超介绍，一个主任很支持，发放起来很顺当，但另一个主任要求的手续却很繁琐，影响到了农房重建的进度。
洛水镇遭遇的众多难题中，还有一个是灾区普遍性的——建材疯狂涨价。尹太超将这看做是农房重建中最大的障碍。他说，市里给的指标是，重建的农房春节前要实现60%开工，30%完成。现在建材这么高的价，恐怕到春节也只能有50%开工，虽说已经在建的农户有3000户，但要达到春节前30%完成的指标，还是有困难。
Tags:aid, Beichuan, budget, council, flu, Luoshui, meteorology, sanitation, school
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Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
In the village of Guangji, there are 132 children in the Di Kang Le Kindergarten. As there are now very few employment prospects in the quake zone, almost all of the parents of these children have been forced to move to the coastal cities to look for work. The kindergarten has nine teachers who are looking after the children, but they have very few resources and are in serious need of some basic help including warm clothing and basic school supplies.
Following discussions with the staff and the students, SQR has drawn up the following list of basic needs for the school.
Total budget for Guang Ji Kindergarten Project: 36,372 RMB
| Items |
unit price |
Quantity |
Sum (RMB) |
| Coat and pants |
80 |
132 |
10560 |
| Shoes (pair) |
30 |
132 |
3960 |
| Gloves (pair) |
3 |
132 |
396 |
| Socks (pair) |
3 |
132 |
396 |
| Desk and Chairs (set of 1+6) |
200 |
20 |
4000 |
| Desk and Chair (for teachers) |
200 |
4 |
800 |
| Water colour pens |
5 |
132 |
660 |
| Notebooks |
1 |
500 |
500 |
| Plastic toys |
50 |
100 |
5000 |
| Computer/printer for admin |
4500 |
1 |
4500 |
| Computer desk |
150 |
1 |
150 |
| Cassette recorder |
150 |
3 |
450 |
| TV |
1500 |
3 |
4500 |
Tags:children, Donation, kindergarten, school, student, supplies, teacher
Posted in Education, SQR Activities, SQR Donation Request, Winter | No Comments »
Saturday, October 11th, 2008
The trip to TumenZhen Primary School was a fun day out and can be considered a serious success!
The early start time was invigorating, and the group broke with local tradition by leaving close to the original planned time. Over thirty people and more than 3 bongos (bongoes?) were transported on the maxi-bus, and the trip was blessedly free of a loud tour guide. A brief interruption to the dozing, friendly chatter and occasional laughter was provided by the lunch break in Deyangshi.
A few noodles and Sichuan classics later, the convoy of bus and few cars continued to Tumen, arriving at 1:15, shortly after the planned arrival time. There are still clear signs of the impact of the earthquake on the journey there, with evidence of mountainside landslides, as well as the sight of cracks jagging through many a building, and rubble is not in short supply. However, the main road system is in place, shops and other businesses are functioning and life goes on.
We left the bus on the main road near the greenery-covered mountains and strolled down a path to the local primary school, which consists of a concrete, pre-earthquake building for the school admin and library, a toilet block, and two long rows of temporary buildings, housing the classrooms with their desks, chairs, boards and other classroom furniture and facilities. There’s no multimedia lecture theatre with built-in hydroelectric power station and microlite landing pad, but it’s a fully functioning primary school, obviously cherished and respected by the local community. These buildings have metal frames, filled with PVC coated thick polystyrene slabs, and boasting double-glazed PVC-framed windows. The buildings have a solid feel to them, and I’m sure they are as temporary as the temporary classrooms our school had in the UK which hung around for 20+ years. There are still photos on display of the school premises before May 12th ’08. The memories of that day and significance of the rebuilding of the school were not openly touched on on this day, although in everyone’s mind. Today was about having fun and continuing the connection with local communities.
In the classrooms and outside, the multi-talented group set up the different activities on offer as part of the fun day. The finger painting and face painting were very popular with the crowds of kids getting involved. The bongo-players started up their intoxicating beats and were were a big hit (drums and cymbal sound for that gag) with the kids who joined in the percussion whilst failing to batter their temporary drum kits (desks) into the ground. As Walter, our calm organiser, pointed out, the drumming noise created a carnival atmosphere. This was augmented by the juggling masterclasses, highly competitive bouncy ball (space hopper) races, the tug o’ war (involving at various times, almost everyone involved, sometimes not all simultaneously, the basketball with the human arm hoop (arms still attached to a live, if slightly bruised human), impromptu soccer (which then turned into ‘promptu’ soccer as things quickly got organised), the swingball (surely destined for Olympic inclusion, based on its mesmerising effect on the audience (not only on those nearly brained by the flailing racquets), guitar-playing, singing, hide-and-seek, and full-contact boxing (OK, not that).
Fun was most certainly had with the activities and by making new friends, and the local kids enjoyed themselves, too, as the photos from the day show.
After handing out cookies, candy, sweets and biscuits, there was lengthy waving good bye as the SQR bus was reloaded and the volunteers slumped into the bus’s chairs for a sleepy return to Chengdu.
Chinese translation of the above
四川地震救助组织土门镇之旅 — 2008年10月11日周六土门镇小学之旅是一次非常愉快，也可以说相当成功的活动。
大家一反常态，还没到出发时间就精力充沛的上路了。 三十余人带着三四面小鼓乘大巴出发了。 这次没有了一路上大声讲解的导游， 一路上大家有的打着盹， 有的愉快的交谈着并不时迸发出欢快的笑声。 中午大家在德阳吃了午饭， 有面条还有四川一些名小吃。 之后， 我们继续上路了， 下午一点十五分终于抵达了土门镇， 稍微比预计的时间晚了一点。 一路上地震造成的破坏痕迹还清晰可见， 比如山体滑坡， 一些建筑物上面的裂缝和破损， 以及满地的碎石。 但是， 公路主干道并没有遭到很大的破坏， 商店和其他店铺都在正常营业。
我们把车子停在了草木葱郁的大山下的大路边， 接着沿小路走到了当地的小学。 学校里一座混凝土材料的震前建筑里是学校的图书馆， 行政办公地和厕所。 还有两排临时的建筑， 里面是装满课桌椅， 黑板和其他教学设备的教室。 虽然这里没有多媒体教室， 但是它是一个功能完备的小学。 很明显当地人非常喜爱和珍视它。 这些建筑都有钢制框架， 看起来都很坚固， 在英国的学校里也有这种临时的建筑， 虽然是临时的， 但却坚持了二十多年， 我很肯定眼前的这些临时建筑也一样结实耐用。 学校里还展出着5.12前学校以前的照片。 尽管每个人的心中都留有那一天的记忆， 也明白重建学校的重要性， 但直到今天仍然没有公开的讨论研究过。 今天我们一行人的任务也只是要尽情的玩耍和与当地人交流沟通。
在教室内外， 多才多艺的小组提出了不同的活动计划。 一群孩子们参与的手指绘画和面部绘画很受欢迎。 鼓手们开始敲鼓， 孩子们也把课桌当作了临时的鼓， 一起敲打了起来。 就像我们沉着冷静的组织者Walter 说的那样， 鼓声营造了一种狂欢节的气氛。 教孩子们变魔术， 竞争激烈的单足跳比赛， 还有几乎所有人都参加了的拔河比赛， 一个人站在椅子上用胳膊做篮筐的篮球赛， 即兴的足球赛， 弹球， 弹吉它， 唱歌， 捉迷藏， 所有这些游戏也让狂欢节的气氛更加浓烈了。
这些活动和能够交到新的朋友是最有趣的， 从那天的照片上可以看得出当地的小孩们玩的也很高兴。
我们给孩子们发了一些饼干和糖果之后， 就依依不舍的说再见了， 大巴又重新载满了在座位上打着瞌睡的志愿者们驶回了成都。
Tags:bongo, bus, classroom, crack, DeYang, earthquake, fun, juggling, landslide, laugh, library, lunch, mountain, painting, rebuilding, rubble, school, swingball, temporary housing, tug o' war, Tumenzhen, volunteer
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Monday, September 8th, 2008
Information relayed to SQR volunteers from Lucy.
Libraries
Today we finally got the bookshelves for the first Library Project/SQR libraries. Tomorrow I will bring one of the libraries to Tumen Zhen and on Thursday I will bring the second one to Qingchuan. When I’m in Tumen I’ll try to arrange everything for the SQR soccer fundraiser. Also we’re scouting for another 20 schools to bring libraries to (we got a few in Qingchuan and Pingwu already). We’ll have pictures of the library delivery up on the blog soon.
Meetings meetings meetings and some more meetings
I talked to Walter, who is volunteering for the Chengdu Resource Center, last week and we found a few projects we might cooperate on. He gave me the wp of another NGO who has lots of funds for projects with orphans so hopefully I can hook them up with gu’egong (the project with half orphans from Gaochuan).
Also SQR is helping out with organizing another project in cooperation with CRC, two small dams in a village close to Jiangyou have been damaged by the quake. CRC and SQR are looking for 30 volunteers to go there and rebuild the dam. Also, they are looking for another 30 volunteers to catalogue a library in Chengdu for the affected area.
This week I’m meeting with Kim from the CIWC to discuss some volunteer opportunities for the CIWC ladies.
Saturday I met Charlie Chen from Digitas who after talking a bit seemed quite interested in our projects and will propose some donation ideas to his company.
Lynda Dyer, the author of Good Grief, was here this Friday, to share her experiences in the quake area with a very small but interested crowd. Two of the listeners might fund the next printing of Good Grief books (SQR gave away the last ones some days ago).
Lulu, a Chinese Music therapist living in Australia contacted me. She has found several music therapists who’d like to start a project in the quake area; they’d be staying in Sichuan for about a month. We talked a bit and thought it would be best to focus on training music teachers from the affected area rather then only sending the therapists out there for a month. Lulu will talk to her therapist friends and keep me up to date on their decisions.
Tags:book, Chengdu Resource Centre, dam, Gaochuan, Goegong, library, meeting, NGO, Pingwu, Qingchuan, school, Tumenzhen
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Thursday, July 31st, 2008
Update sent by Lucy to SQR volunteers at end of July 2008. The second part of the post features an email sent 14th July to SQR volunteers.
With the help of three volunteers we were able to almost finish our NGO Newsletter (right now Bingbing is translating all the English info texts about the different NGOs). We’ll hope to send out the first edition of the newsletter this weekend.
Also we got several huge maps of the quake area as a goodbye present from their NGO, those will be very useful for the next NGO meeting.
The Library Project picked two schools of the schools SQR recommended, for their libraries (one is in Qingchuan and one in Tumenzhen).
SQR was invited to take part in the reconstruction mission of the British Chamber of Commerce and attend meetings with Sichuan, Chengdu, Mianzhu, Qingchuan, Wenchuan, Dujiangyan and Mianyang government (mayors and the like). It was definitely interesting information about future government plans (also to pass onto other NGOs) and a lot of business-card swapping. Also I met two managers who might be interested in donating some money to SQR (nothing sure yet).
Today I met with a Dutch lady who has collected over 30,000 RMB and wants help to spend it in the earthquake area, so I’m working on a plan how to split up that kind of money and use it for the tent schools we work with. The only condition she had was that she could tag along when we deliver the supplies and take pictures.
I also met with Maki from Sim’s Guesthouse, who is working on a fabulous map of the affected area. She’s going to put the SQR logo (and some other NGOs logos) on the back of the map and also is getting some help from us in proofreading some info text on the affected area for the back of the map.
Last Friday Hong, Beate and Lynda (latter is the author of the “Good Grief” booklet, of which we brought around 1000 to different tent schools) came to Chengdu. SQR had arranged a trip to two tent schools in Jiulong for them. Bingbing took them to the schools in Jiulong, since I was still busy with the reconstruction mission, and Friday I arranged for them to tag along with Rainbow project to Luoshui. Also Mark interviewed Lynda for the SQR blog. As I chatted with Lynda and her friends later we had the idea of possibly doing a fundraising event in the beginning of September, if possible in the Bookworm. The main idea was to let Lynda read her book, get some other people to do a slideshow about the affected area (I could do that or maybe we could get a professional photographer), maybe one of our volunteer teachers to talk about his experience, do some kind of raffles or charity auction, sell lots of our postcards and calendars etc. We could also make it into a welcome back to Chengdu thing (since quite a lot of expats will be coming home or newly arriving)… It’s still a work in progress. Any suggestions and great ideas please mail to me.
Saturday I hope to go to Qingchuan to bring up two foreign volunteers and supplies to a new school and a kindergarten.
Ashley Murray got me in touch with a school in the states who would possibly like to fundraise money for us and since they’d like to get their students involved I suggested they could do some drawings and cards for the kids in the affected area, which the next foreign volunteer teachers could deliver. I’m still waiting to hear back from them.
Next Thursday we’ll have another NGO meeting with the topics healthcare/psychological help/ hygiene. We need one or two volunteers to take minutes and also translators (the translators I can find easily but somebody to take useful minutes might be harder to find) – anybody interested?
Email to SQR volunteers 14th July 2008
We gave Leo 10,000 RMB to buy basic supplies for villages around Yingxiu. He was supposed to go there tomorrow but had to delay his trip due to heavy rainfall, as soon as he goes he’ll give us the receipts for the supplies he bought with our money and will also give me some pictures from his trip.
On Friday last week I went to Tumenzhen with Wenbo, Lydia and two filming guys from Shenzhen (George and Yimin). We delivered a whiteboard, toys and teaching material for several schools and then dropped off Lydia and Wenbo at two schools to stay there as volunteer teachers. Unfortunately Lydia twisted her ankle and so had to come back to Chengdu before she actually got to start classes. She is okay and back in Beijing now.
This Thursday I went to Qingchuan to bring the first couple of hundreds of our “back to school kits” (backpack filled with “good grief booklet”, pencil case, pen, pencil, eraser, pencil sharpener, two notebooks, candy and a small toy) and two foreign teachers (James and George) and one Chinese translator to the Huangpin Primary and Middle school. By the way those schoolkits are sponsored by a Belgian University who I’m in touch with, they generously donated for educational projects. The teachers were extremely grateful for our help and gave us a warm welcome (lots of baijiu included). James will stay in Qingchuan for 2 weeks George for 1. There were no roadblocks and the streets were in pretty good condition but one way takes about 5 hours (yes it was a long day).
On Saturday I brought an American doctor, his two kids and a Chinese counsellor and a box of toys up to one of the tent schools we are in touch with (in Tumenzhen- close to Mianzhu) to stay and teach there for at least one week maybe even two. We had to register at one of the local “tent offices” which unexpectedly only took 5 minutes, the whole trip went well. Wonderfully we didn’t have to pay any driver, since I talked to Leo about how expensive our driver to Qingchuan was and so he hooked us up with a very nice volunteer and his super comfy car, who brought us there for free (even insisted on paying the toll fee) and who made me promise to call him any time we need a free lift to the affected area (I already called him on this today- bet he didn’t expect to hear from me so soon).
Yesterday a volunteer teacher, called Saima, from Beichuan called me and I met with her and another teacher the same day. They are in charge of several tent schools in Beichuan and told me that the kids have literally nothing at the moment, they especially asked for books so I let them fill out the form that the library project gave me and I’m going to visit one of the schools on Monday (one day trip with the volunteer driver from Leo). They also asked me for 250 back-to-school kits and possibly some toys (I’ll send another project proposal to the funding committee about that).
I’ve been emailing back and forth with Jenny and Tom from the library project and sent them infos about six schools that might be good locations for a library. They are very eager to get the project started so I hope to send you guys some news in the next week.
Lynda the author of “Good Grief” and Hong, her manager,have sent us almost 2000 copies of “Good Grief”, a booklet for kids that deals with the topic of how to cope with loss (translated into Chinese especially for the earthquake kids). I’ve been delivering those books to all the tent schools I’ve visited in the last week and also put one copy in each back-to-school kit. Lynda and Hong will be coming to Chengdu between July 25th and 27th. I’ve already arranged a trip to Luoshui with the Rainbow Project for them and will probably also take them to one of “our” tentschools in Jiulong or Tumen.
The “back to school kits”, have been a big success so far and we’re going to buy some more for the school in Qingchuan and Beichuan.
Rebecca has been working tirelessly on getting in touch with all the NGOs so our first NGO Newsletter will hopefully be sent around soon. So, that’s pretty much all (not enough space for all info about the many other meetings we have had).
Tags:Add new tag, Back-to-school kit, baijiu, Beichuan, Belgium, British Chamber of Commerce, driver, Dujiangyan, fundraiser, Good Grief, Holland, Huangpin, hygiene, library, Luoshui, Lynda Dyer, mayor, Mianyang, Mianzhu, newsletter, NGO, postcard, Qingchuan, Rainbow Project, reconstruction, school, Shenzhen, T-shirt, teacher, tent, translator, Tumenzhen, volunteer, Wenchuan, Yingxiu
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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.
More photos can be seen in SQR’s photo gallery of the day.
Tags:Bayi, children, Children's Day, China Daily, community, foreigner, game, Goff, happy, music, paint, play, school, shelter, student, toy
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