Please Help China Earthquake Victims in Sichuan

Today, I put my draft post of fitness/health aside.

On 12 May 2008, an earthquake occurred in Sichuan province of China. As of this post is prepared:

• About 5 million people are homeless.
• Close to 300,000 are injured.
• Over 60,000 are confirmed dead.
• Approximately 14,000 are still buried.
• Estimate of 160 earthquake relief workers were killed in their rescue mission.

At least 135,000 Chinese troops and medics are involved the rescue effort. More than 100 helicopters were deployed for the delivery of food, water and emergency aid, including evacuation of the injured. This is China’s largest ever non-combat airlifting operation.

Millions of people lost their beloved ones, homes, and belongings.  Yet there is no looting, no complaints, just people helping each other. The highway to the earthquake struck city Dujianyang (20 mile from Chengdu) was almost jammed one hour after the earthquake, not by people fleeing the aftershocks, but by volunteers, led by over 1,000 taxi drivers, came from Chengdu to rescue.

A chief executive of a conglomerate brought 120 drivers and 60 digging machines from eastern China all the way to Sichuan to assist relief and road reconstruction there.  They arrived at the disaster area 24 hours later, almost the same time as Army Engineering Corp.

1,1000 paratroopers started boarding airplanes 2 hours after earthquake.  Despite heavy rain, high wind and thick cloud,  they jumped from over 20,000 foot high to remote mountain areas where they did not even know if there would be a place for them to land.

With roads buried by landslide and bad weather hammering airborne operations, a group of 600 soldiers and medical teams, walked 21 hours on foot in mountain area, carrying heavy relief supplies, risking landslide and falling rocks. They became the first group to arrive at the epicenter of the earthquake.

When the earthquake struck, many teachers rushed to carry stunned students from classroom on high floor to the ground.  Teachers managed to pull out many students, but the building collapsed when some were still trying to pull out the last few.  At the last moment of their lives, they were trying to use their bodies to shield the students from falling concrete.  They did not make it, so did the students.

On May 14, China has formally requested the support of the international community to respond to the needs of affected families. Since then, rescue groups from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia and Taiwan has arrived on 16 May to join the team. US sent two of its U.S. Air Force C-17’s carrying supplies, which included tents and generators into China. About US$1.5 billion had been donated by Chinese public. More than US$100 million in money and goods have also been received from worldwide for the rescue efforts.

Human can live about 40 days without food, about 33 days without water, about 8 minutes without air, but only for 1 second without hope.

We cannot bring back the lives who have gone. But, we can help the victim families to rebuild their shattered lives. Give them hope.

How To Donate:

• US readers:
  • Donate to the American Red Cross China Relief fund
    
• Canada readers:
  • Donate to China Earthquake Relief effort via Canadian Red Cross
    
• The UK readers:
  • Donate to British Red Cross
• Other international readers:
  • Donate to Jet Li’s One Foundation. Jet Li is an ambassador for the Red Cross Society of China. The site is in Chinese.
  • Alternatively, go to your local Chinese Embassy office in your country. The addresses of worldwide Chinese Embassy can be found here.

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