ERC Newsletter for BeiChuan (北川) trip – August 29th to 31st 2008
The trip to Beichuan was a success! Everyone involved in the trip was very happy with the effort put forth by the volunteers, from us at the Earthquake Resource Center (ERC), to the local volunteers living in JingJiaCun, and most importantly, to the villagers themselves.
You dismantled two tents, assembled three tents, provided a waterproof covering for one house, completely dismantled three houses, from the roof tiles to the brick walls, and saved and stacked the reusable materials for use in rebuilding the home. You dug out the foundation for a new house, cleaned up garbage, moved materials to where they needed to go, prepared an area for construction, and all in one weekend.
You took the time to play with the local children, who really needed a little fun in their lives. You took care of the elderly, freeing the locals to do other things.
Gao told us that he was amazed with the amount of work done by the volunteers. He had not expected that so much work could be done in so little time, he was very impressed. Frank, the CEO of the ERC, who has many years of experience volunteering, agreed. He said “There is nothing greater than seeing the joy on the faces of the villagers after a long weekend of hard work by the volunteers.”
To see their joyful faces, as well as your own, please take a look at pictures from the trip.
So from all of us at the ERC, we want to thank you for all your hard work in making this a successful weekend.
In fact, the weekend was so successful, we are planning on going again this weekend. And we understand the time and effort that goes into volunteering, so to make the financial burden easier, we are planning to subsidize the cost of transportation, so each person should only have to pay around 40RMB for the weekend, which includes everything: transportation, food, lodging, equipment and materials to be used that weekend.
And this isn’t our only project. This weekend, we are also going to a town in AnXian to help repair the poorly constructed temporary housing units that are being used as dormitories for the local elementary and middle school. Right now, the leaky ceilings are making the dormitories a health hazard. In two weeks we’ll have another project in JiangYouShi where we’ll rebuild a wall of a dam that provides the water to a village for irrigating crops. And we have many other projects ranging from water restoration and rebuilding houses, to teaching children and providing counseling to people hurt by the earthquake.
We hope you enjoyed your volunteer experience, and can join us again in the future. Stay in touch. Thanks again for everything!
Sincerely,
The ERC
