Updated: Sichuan Earthquake Care for Children Appeal

May 13, 2008 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: 3 minutes

May 13 – Our readers will be aware of the
earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan province in China that struck on Monday and that has claimed over 10,000 lives to date.

Dezan Shira & Associates supports the international charity Care for Children (CFC) in China. CFC works with the Sichuan and Chengdu Civil Affairs government for disadvantaged children in: Chengdu, Guangyuan, Deyang, Zamtang, Maoxian, Neijiang, Zigong, Bazhong, Mianyang and Yibin in Sichuan Province in addition to Chongqing City.

We have heard from their project worker in Chengdu, Ms. Tang Yisu, that there were thankfully no fatalities in the Chengdu orphanage. We have an update on the damage to orphanages in the region as follows from their China Director, Robert Glover. The quake aftermath poses dangers due to lack of sanitation, clean water and concerns over disease outbreaks as well as major construction work required to repair damaged facilities and replace supplies.

A CFC report from Robert Glover in Sichuan on the status of the 13 orphanages located around the epicenter of the quake showed six of them had sustained damage to their buildings: cracked walls, weakened foundations and broken facilities. There were no accounts of death or injury to any of the children or their foster families. The 66 children staying at the Mianyang orphanage have been moved to a military outdoor shelter. CFC has not been able to contact the remaining seven orphanages located in closer to the epicenter of the Wenchuan earthquake due to interrupted telecommunications services. Please click here for the full report.

China Briefing is a complimentary service to our subscribers that includes a free monthly magazine, access to all archives, daily news, and weekly round-ups. On this difficult occasion we would like to ask our subscribers, readers, and other members of the China blogging and business community to rally together and show their support of the Chinese children caught up in this disaster by making a donation, no matter how large or small, to CFC in assistance of their regional work. All money raised will be directed to support children and their families affected by the earthquake.

Money may be donated to Care For Children directly via the accounts shown below. All donations are requested to be marked “Earthquake Appeal.” Dezan Shira & Associates have already contributed and we appreciate the additional help and concern from the our readers and from other Web sites and blogs linking this appeal. We will be providing a special position on this thread with logos and reciprocal links to assist Web sites. For details email: info@dezshira.com.

Update:

We just received an email from Care for Children (Wednesday, May 14) which we reprint below:

Thank you for wonderful response to our appeal you support has been very encouraging! Rescuers had to trek by foot into Wenchuan county, the epicenter of the quake, after vehicle access was blocked by rock and mud slides.

Plans to air-drop food and medical supplies had to be scrapped due to bad weather.
The official death toll rose to more than 12,000 in Sichuan province alone, with thousands remained buried or missing.

We now know many of our projects have been seriously affected by the earthquake.
We know that Mianyang orphanage has been destroyed and many of the families are unaccounted for.

1000 students and teachers have been buried when the main building of the Beichuan county middle school was reduced to rubble no news of the orphanage or foster families, four schools have collapsed in Deyang City also no news of the orphanage and families.

Care for Children aim to send a small team to Sichuan with an emergency fund of RMB500,000 to support the orphanages and foster families with emergency medical aid, food, blankets and clothes.

Whatever is raised above the initial RMB500,000 we will use as a second tranche to support re-builds of orphanages, schools and helping families try to re-build their lives.