August 6, 2008 4:01 pm
Epilogue

Photo: Norman Ng for Mercy Corps

I have been back in the United States since Saturday afternoon. As usual, these first few days have been experienced — and felt — through the blurriness of a fifteen-hour time difference between Oregon and China. Jet lag renders everything into vagaries.

I've traveled to China three times in just a little over a year's time, and each time it feels stranger to leave. It's like I'm forgetting to bring something back home with me — and then, on second thought, realizing that it's something I couldn't possibly carry home. When the plane lurches skyward, I am excited to return home to my family yet feel some sense of incompleteness in exiting China.

This return seems particularly so. Over the course of my week in Sichuan Province, I met and spoke with dozens of people affected by May's earthquake — but there wasn't a single person that expressed anger or frustration at the hand they'd been dealt. Instead, there was an undeniable sense of purpose, of recovery through community and of gratitude for the help they'd received. Where I had expected tears, there were smiles. So, for me, there was the odd sensation of heartbreak tempered by encouragement.

It's an exciting time to be in China, to be sure. On my way to the Beijing airport on Saturday morning, my taxi passed by the main Olympic venues. There's enormous pride and palpable excitement.

Transformation is happening throughout the country, but I think that the real change is hundreds of miles away from Beijing's stunning Olympic sites — in earthquake-stricken Sichuan Province. It's in Sichuan where displaced Chinese families are determined to drive their own rebuilding and recovery. It's in Sichuan where donations and volunteers from other Chinese provinces are telling those families that they're not alone. It's in Sichuan where local organizations are helming the relief efforts, ushering in a new era of civic action and social support.

Even with the inevitable obstacles and missteps, this change is amazing to witness — and difficult to leave. I'd already fallen in love with China's people and spirit on previous visits, and last week only deepened that for me.

After I'd flown to Beijing from Sichuan's capital, Chengdu, on Friday, I found out that — just minutes after our plane took off — another aftershock had hit the region. I immediately started pulling up stories to see what I could learn: what areas were most affected and how many were hurt. It's never easy to hear about a disaster and consider the consequences, but it's especially hard just hours after meeting survivors who have already lost so much.

My heart is here in Oregon. But, at this moment, my thoughts are far away in China.

August 1, 2008 9:48 pm
A Rare Treasure

Photo: Norman Ng for Mercy Corps

I think what I'll always remember about distribution day in Yunji is the range of emotions.

The delivery of hygiene kits to this earthquake-stricken village's 300 primary school students here evoked such feelings for everyone involved. The kit itself contains critical household supplies like soap, detergent and towels, but is so much more than that.

The families around here are among the poorest in Sichuan province. Their simple mud houses and meager possessions are all they have. Since the earthquake, most of them are now living in small tents pitched outside of their damaged homes.

For farmers scraping out a living from their meager crops, a $16 hygiene kit supplied by Mercy Corps means everything. Many of these households make do on about a dollar a day. An unexpected delivery health and beauty items is a rare treasure.

The children here at Yunji Primary School know and feel that most of all. When all the kits had been loaded off the truck, the first group of kids came running. Their enthusiasm was contagious. There was such happiness, curiosity and excitement. Dee Goluba, a Mercy Corps emergency response manager who coordinated today's distribution, played games with the children as they waited their turn in line.

Once the children received their kit, it was off to the races again: they ran as fast as they could back to dormitories or classrooms to explore the kit's contents. The children's faces showed such joy and wonderment at what they discovered within the re-usable plastic boxes: simple household objects like toothbrushes and hair clips but, again, so much more than that.

One young girl, 11-year-old Xia Qianqian, was so moved by the kit that she began to cry. One of her friends, 11-year-old Mi Xue, comforted her then told us, "These kits make us so thankful for people who are coming to help us. They really care about us."

And that, ultimately, was the thing responsible for all these emotions today: people helping each other. Young Chinese volunteers handing earthquake-displaced children hygiene kits supplied by caring people half a world away.

It's enough to bring both a smile to the lips and tears from the eyes. And it did.

July 31, 2008 11:38 pm
Literally Beautiful

As someone who loves the intricacies of language, I especially appreciate the elaborate literal translations of many English words into Mandarin Chinese. Today, while helping with a delivery of emergency supplies at a primary school, I learned how the word "philanthropist" translates: "a person of the world with a big heart."

As I saw happiness on the faces of the children here today, I couldn't help but think of the thousands of Mercy Corps supporters who made this delivery possible. It's truly a beautiful translation of caring into action.

July 30, 2008 10:25 pm
Turnabout

Photo: Norman Ng for Mercy Corps

I interviewed them for a half-hour, and then they interviewed me for an hour. And I think they asked the tougher questions.

I'd come to Xiaode Middle School, a conglomeration of temporary classrooms set amidst the damaged buildings of a small township, to talk with students about a recent Mercy Corps distribution of relief supplies to their families. Mostly, however, I found myself involved in a cross-cultural question-and-answer session with five inquiring middle school girls.

These students' old school, which sits nearby, was rendered unstable by May's earthquake. Each of the girls has her own story about how she felt, what she did and how she escaped when the tremor struck. Today, they're all living in tents pitched near their uninhabitable homes and attending classes in these prefabricated buildings, put in place here by Mercy Corps' local partner China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.

But, on this hot and humid day in Sichuan Province, these five young women preferred to talk about the future rather than the past. They were here in this classroom in the late afternoon to study for school tests, set to begin this Sunday in order to make up for time lost in the weeks following the earthquake.

I asked each in turn what their favorite subjects were, and why. Two said Chinese language. One told me she liked English, and "Olympics" is her favorite word. Another said preferred politics. And, when the fifth girl admitted that she likes history best because her teacher was cute, all of them giggled.

They all have great ambitions: to become a news broadcaster. A doctor. An actress. An English teacher. A poet.

After a few more questions, I thanked them for their time and asked if they had any questions for me. They talked hurriedly among themselves and then, all of a sudden, 16-year-old Yang Mengxue took out a notebook and pen. The questioning began simply enough with requests for my name and where I was from. They asked if I am a journalist. They asked my age. They asked if I was married.

And then came the in-depth interview. They asked me, among other things, about the advantages of capitalism, the range of environmental activities in the United States, the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and the differences between the American and Chinese educational systems. I found myself hoping that I could answer the questions correctly and honestly while being culturally sensitive.

The interview continued: have you met any barbarians during your travels? How about cannibals? I responded "no" to the latter, but indicated that some of my best friends in school were somewhat of barbarians.

We all laughed a lot. Everyone learned quite a lot about each other. And, by the time our time together was finished, I swear I'd forgotten that I was sitting in the middle of the damaged houses and makeshift tent dwellings of an earthquake zone.

July 29, 2008 10:30 pm
Adding Oil

A displacement camp isn't an easy place for a child to live. Besides the confines of the camp structure, there is a lack of open, green play areas. Also, the very place is a daily reminder of the tragedy and trauma that has brought them and their families there.

In the Qinjianrenjia camp on the outskirts of the earthquake-stricken city of Dujiangyan, a few hundred children are living this reality each day. Hundreds of their friends and classmates are absent, having been sent by parents to live with relatives in other parts of China. Other friends were taken by the earthquake.

But, over the last several weeks, the camp's children have gotten a respite from the difficulties of life here. Dozens of caring volunteers, supported by Mercy Corps, are organizing play activities for kids and teachers using the Moving Forward methodology.

Moving Forward uses fun and games to help children get together, interact and begin to heal the hurt caused by the earthquake. This caring, proven approach is working, according to 24-year-old Zhang Xiaocui, who coordinates activities in the camp on behalf of the local Women's Federation.

"There are a lot of uncertainties among children: they have nothing to do on a daily basis, school is out and, since many of them experienced their schools collapsing, most children are nervous about going back to school at all," she said. "Moving Forward helps them share those feelings with us and other children. The children like it, and their parents are happy for them to participate."

More than 20 caregivers at this camp — mostly teachers, psychologists and volunteers — have attended Mercy Corps trainings to learn how to implement the Moving Forward activities. Since the beginning of July, they conducted activities for the camp's children three times per week. About 50 children have taken part each time.

We are lucky enough to be here on a day when Moving Forward activities are taking place. About 7:00 PM, we witness a few dozen children running gleefully toward a group of young women — caregivers — wearing white Mercy Corps t-shirts. The energy and enthusiasm of everyone involved is palpable.

One of the first activities is a race where children try to maneuver through orange cones with a ball between their legs, without dropping the ball. It looks hard but is, at the same time, incredibly silly looking. The laughter is infectious. In this moment, these children are only thinking about this game. There are no sad faces to be found. Dozens of older camp residents have also gathered around and, within minutes, their countenances invariably change from worry to joy.

As their friends continue to compete in the ball race, most of the children are chanting something. I ask 31-year-old Zhou Li, a local kindergarten teacher, what they're saying.

"Jiyiu," she said. "It means ‘add oil.' This is how children encourage each other to compete, to keep going. Even the team that has already won keeps cheering on the other teams until they all finish.

"We have seen the impact of these activities on the children, and the changes in their moods and behavior. At first, they were very nervous to be here. Now they're more open and involved. It's like they forgot to be afraid."

Over the next hour or so, the children will move between activities such as badminton, jump rope and ping-pong. At each activity change, the caregivers will take time to subtly discuss how they're feeling, drawing analogies between these games and what has happened over the last few months. And then, once tonight's activity has ended, the caregivers will gather together to evaluate what went well and what can be improved.

"The children have a lot more energy than usual tonight," said Zhou Li, "they're kind of all over the place."

Isn't that the way happy children should be?

July 28, 2008 9:23 pm
Several Thousand Good Neighbors

Photo: Norman Ng for Mercy Corps

To step inside the walls of the Qinjianrenjia displacement camp boggles the mind. To spend time among camp's residents warms the heart.

Built by the Chinese government for survivors of May's Sichuan earthquake, Qinjianrenjia lies on the outskirts of the disaster-affected city of Dujiangyan. The camp houses more than 13,000 people from the city and its surrounding villages — and it is only one of ten such camps around the city. At the time of the earthquake, this place was fallow farmland. A little more than two weeks afterward, it was a small city of temporary homes, paved byways and community infrastructure.

In Mandarin Chinese, Qinjianrenjia means "prosperous and diligent." It could just as easily mean "neighborly."

Each home in the camp is a mere twenty square meters and accommodates four people. There are six such apartments per building, making for close living quarters. There are literally hundreds of these dwellings. When I looked down the rows of buildings, I couldn't see the end of the camp.

Displaced families will live in this place for the next three to five years, until their villages and apartment buildings are rebuilt. Between this fact and the recent trauma of the earthquake, you might assume an impatient and even volatile situation. But instead, residents are making the best of life here.

Families are busy at work beautifying their tiny living quarters: we saw several couples making flowerbeds outside their home. Others shared in the task of tidying up the sidewalks. Residents treated each other as old friends; in some cases, they had been neighbors before moving here nearly two months ago.

Lu Daifang, who comes from nearby Dujiangyan city, lost everything in her household when the earthquake collapsed her building — at least 40 of her neighbors didn't make it out alive. Today, she lives along the same block as many of her surviving neighbors.

"We get together more often now," she joked, as a dozen or so friends gathered near. In addition to the living quarters, the Chinese government provided her surviving family — herself, her husband, their son and 10-year-old grandson — with beds and bedding.

Not far away, eight-year-old Li Xinrui sits outside solving math problems. She's doing "holiday homework," which is especially important this year since classes halted in the earthquake's aftermath. Her family's apartment building in Dujiangyan also collapsed, as did her school. Even when we're talking with her, she barely looks up from her workbook.

Mercy Corps, working alongside the local Women's Federation, is helping children like Li Xinrui to move past the trauma of the earthquake and cope with life in this new reality. Two youth-specific programs — Comfort for Kids and Moving Forward — provide age appropriate, culturally sensitive activities that feel more like fun and games than an opportunity for healing.

The children here in Qinjianrenjia followed us around and tried to greet us in English. One eight-year old boy even gave us some of his candy. When I tried to take just one piece, he dropped several into my hand. Nearby his mother, 33-year-old Deng Chunyan, is preparing a Sichuan specialty called twice-cooked pork. "It's a dish that makes everyone happy," she says. The delectable aroma permeates the whole neighborhood. She invites us to stay for dinner, but we have to go to another meeting.

This camp sprung from this land out of necessity. But it's the kindness, generosity and collaboration of its residents that has made it a community.

Please consider a generous donation to our China Earthquake fund to help speed the recovery process.

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