Today from Half The Sky

Dear Friends,

I want first to give you an update on our efforts to get food and shelter
to the 1,000 orphaned and displaced children in Aba. The roads are now
closed. We asked our colleagues at the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) to
see if we can possibly bring the desperately-needed goods in by
helicopter. A couple of hours ago, moments after the latest giant
aftershock, we got good news – a helicopter for Aba tomorrow! More soon -

Yesterday morning, when I arrived in Chengdu, I was invited by MCA to
visit some of the hardest-hit sites. We visited Dujiangyan – very close to
the epicenter. It was a painful day (I’ve put a few photos on our website
http://www.halfthesky.org/work/earthquake08.php - some just too sad to
write about) but I was also heartened to see both how quickly the
government has come in and tried to take care of the basics - building
thousands of temporary shelters and schools – and how the people have come
together to help each other. A sign in one of the tent cities reads, “The
earthquake has destroyed our homes but it can’t break our spirit.”

Today we visited Mianyang Zitong CWI. A 6.4 aftershock struck moments
before we arrived at the orphanage. All of the children were rushed
outside and, in what’s become routine now, they all sat calmly in little
chairs. There were 8 new arrivals – all of them had lost their parents.
It seems they are not brought to the orphanages until officials are fairly
certain that they will not be claimed by extended family. One little boy
told us in a matter-of-fact way that both his parents were killed. Ma
Lang, HTS’ director of child development, after days assisting the
displaced children staying at the Jiuzhou stadium observed, “From the
volunteers’ and counselors’ perspectives, the children’s most common signs
of being traumatized included insomnia, nightmares, tearfulness,
indifference, and refusing to eat. In the first few days, the volunteers
in the stadium’s 'inner circle (a holding place for separated children)
had to search bathrooms and corridors for children who hid there and
refused to eat. The volunteers told me it was heartbreaking to see the
children’s eyes and persuade them that they should eat.”

We visited the “inner circle” at Jiuzhou stadium today. Almost all of the
children who had not yet been identified by family members had been
transferred to children’s shelters. The Mianyang Civil Affairs director
told us that many, many children had been reunited – if not with their
parents, then with extended families. One of our colleagues at the MCA
told us that of the 200 children who’d been brought to shelter at the
Chengdu Medical College, only 18 had not been reunited with extended
family. Today we met a girl who has become famous in China because she
was interviewed on television by Wen JiaBao. It was believed her parents
had died. He tried to comfort her. Soon after, her parents were located.
Although they haven’t yet been able to get to Mianyang to pick her up,
today we met one happy little girl. The media has been making much of the
idea of thousands of orphans. Our friends at MCA are not certain this is
true and, to be honest, the situation is still too fluid to pin down the
numbers. There are certainly many, many children with uncertain status.
And they are traumatized and very much need consistent, caring support.

Provincial CAB (Civil Affairs Bureau) has begun the process of sending
displaced children to structurally-sound colleges, military bases, welfare
institutions, and other facilities. In less-stable areas, where there are
fears of flooding and environmental issues, children housed in some
temporary facilities are being transferred, yet again. Almost every
orphanage has been advised that they should prepare for new arrivals. We
met a few sad little faces yesterday at the Chengdu CWI; they are told to
expect at least 100 more. The director at Zitong CWI told me the same
thing. And so did the director at Guiyang CWI in Guizhou! The truth is,
I believe, nobody yet knows.

These past days, the MCA has been working to draft recommendations for the
care of displaced and orphaned children. I believe they will release an
official statement soon. After two days traveling with MCA officials, one
thing is clear - government is extremely concerned that every effort be
made to reunite children with surviving relatives before adoption by
non-relatives of orphaned children is even considered.

Meanwhile, tent schools are quickly being established wherever children
are sheltered. There is a great desire to give the children the comfort
of settling into a routine and regular attendance at school is seen as
key. I visited a large tent city in Dujiangyan yesterday and the scene at
4:30 pm, with children streaming out of the temporary school toward dozens
of waiting parents, was identical to that taking place in Chinese cities
and towns every day.

HTS is working hard to complete its emergency relief efforts and turn its
attention towards the effort for which it is better equipped – helping
orphaned children begin to recover emotionally. By the end of the coming
week, with your extraordinary generosity and the help of the amazing crew
at Gung-Ho Films, we will have purchased and delivered more than 30 tons
of tents, medicines, food and formula, children’s clothing, diapers and
other infant supplies. With the helicopter to Aba and the purchase today
of an emergency vehicle to transport orphaned and displaced children for 9
counties and one city, we will have answered every urgent request to take
care of the children’s basic needs. Now we move on to try to address
those needs no less urgent, but more elusive in every way.

Tomorrow (Monday, May 26) Half the Sky will launch its Sichuan Caregivers
Training Project. I am thrilled, honored and very, very excited to tell
you that HTS will work under the guidance of the foremost child trauma and
bereavement specialists in the world, the National Center on School Trauma
and Bereavement
http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/svc/alpha/s/school-crisis/default.htm.
Based at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, but comprising an
international network of child trauma experts, the Center grew from the
tragedy of the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11 and has served as a resource
during hurricanes, school shootings, airline disasters and wars.

Together with NCSTB and MCA, HTS will hold a two-day planning workshop,
June 3-4 in Chengdu. Three experts from the Center will lead the
workshop. Attending will be four volunteer pediatric psychologists and
psychiatric social workers, HTS team of 15 field supervisors, our program
directors and officials from MCA and Sichuan CAB. That will be the start
of what will likely be a long-term project to help children orphaned by
the disaster to recover and rebuild their lives.

I’ll send along further details of the Caregivers Training Project soon.
It’s almost midnight and I’m exhausted. I’ve had two days on the road
through a landscape filled with aching sadness, determination and hope.

More tomorrow!

If you would like to donate to Half the Sky’s Children’s Earthquake Fund
you can do so through Global Giving:
http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html

Or directly to Half the Sky. You can donate by calling Half the Sky
(+1-510-525-3377) or on our website:
http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund


Many companies have announced they will match employee gifts for
earthquake relief. Please check to see if your company will double your
gift!

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http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s86248

If you would like a Hong Kong tax receipt, please call us at
+852-2520-5266 or online at
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Thank you!

with love,

Jenny

Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org