4·14 Earthquake Relief Special - 7

　　Yushu Rescue – We’re Doing Our Best, Part 7

　　 Sow love in every corner, and help one more family.

　　April 29, 2010: Sunny turning partly cloudy.

　　Today, we’ve begun purposefully searching for overlooked corners of society and proactively reaching out to deliver everyone’s kindness to those who need it most. Almost every household we’ve visited has been a deeply moving scene: everyday necessities that people normally take for granted become incredibly precious in the eyes of disaster victims struggling to make ends meet. We can’t help but feel grateful to all of you—for it is your compassionate goodwill that made this company’s relief effort possible, enabling these families, including single parents and orphaned children, to temporarily overcome their hardships and offering a small measure of comfort to hearts that have endured so much suffering. It’s difficult for us to calmly recount each of these stories one by one; all we can do is keep striving, with all our might, to fully channel everyone’s kindness outward—to help even just one more family in need, and yet another.

　　At 6:30 a.m., as usual, everyone got up early to prepare for the day’s work. The two aftershocks from the previous night hadn’t affected anyone’s mood in the slightest. Following last night’s logistical arrangements, Sangcuo had prepared breakfast for everyone on time. At 7:30 a.m., after everyone had gathered for a meal together, they were getting ready to set off and distribute supplies when a mother and her child came up to our tent, hesitantly asking if they could receive some food donations. However, since our breakfast rations were limited, we could only manage to make them two bowls of instant noodles. After quickly finishing one bowl, the mother and child stood up to leave. We offered them the second bowl, but the frail mother shyly replied, “One bowl is enough—my child doesn’t eat much.” Sangcuo reassured her that it was okay, even though the noodles were already prepared; it would be a waste to let them go to waste. Just then, the little boy, who was about four or five years old, spoke up: “Mom and I can share one bowl—it’s enough. My dad hasn’t eaten yet.” Hearing these innocent words from such a young child, everyone felt deeply moved, their eyes welling up with tears. Everyone immediately began searching through their supplies, gathering food and snacks to pack for the mother and child. As they were leaving, someone even gave them a set of steaming utensils. Seeing how much stuff they had, everyone wanted to help them carry it all the way home—but the mother repeatedly declined, saying, “We don’t even have a tent yet, so please don’t trouble yourselves. You’ve got important work to do; we won’t hold you up any longer.” As they watched the simple, unassuming mother and child slowly walk away into the distance, everyone found it hard to calm down, their hearts lingering with emotion long after they’d gone.

　　Yesterday, the tally showed a total of 21 households among the most severely affected disaster victims. So everyone decided to mobilize all logistical staff to come to work, and at noon, they’d just make do with instant noodles to stave off hunger. Since all the disaster victims on the list lived in remote, rubble-strewn areas, within the allotted time, they managed to visit only seven of these extremely impoverished households. Among them, one family faced particularly dire circumstances: a woman in her 40s had been abandoned by her husband before the disaster and was now left to care for four children all by herself. The youngest child was just five years old, and the age difference between the children was very small—none of them could really help their mother with anything. Moreover, the family also had to support a 71-year-old mother who was still dependent on them for care. During this earthquake, the woman suffered injuries to both her head and lower leg and has been confined to bed ever since. To make ends meet, the 70-year-old mother had no choice but to take to the streets to beg for charity. We donated all the remaining supplies we had to this family, hoping it would provide some relief and assistance. Wanmadan Zeng, a friend who works as a civil servant in Xunhua, asked us this time to help him find a suitable child for adoption from Yushu. Seeing the family’s desperate situation, Wanma spoke to the mother about our request, asking her not to be upset. The mother replied that they wouldn’t be angry—that we were doing this out of concern for their well-being. They said they’d think it over tonight. When we left, the entire family burst into tears, which broke our hearts.

　　On the way back to the camp, we happened to notice a woman sitting beneath a tree by the roadside, cradling a young child in her arms. She looked utterly distraught and in great pain. Wanmadan Zeng quickly got out of the car to ask what was wrong. It turned out that the mother’s leg was severely injured and she had difficulty moving around. The child, still nursing, had a worn-out bandage stuck to the left corner of his eye, with faint traces of blood visible underneath. Wanmadan Zeng decided to take them both back for medical treatment. He immediately asked the mother’s permission to take the child along for care. The mother agreed without hesitation. Wanmadan Zeng carefully carried the child to the medical station, and everyone helped support the woman as well. When they began treating the child’s wound, they realized it was quite large—nearly half an inch long—and clearly needed stitches. However, it had been treated only with a single bandage, and the wound was likely already infected. So they promptly administered anti-inflammatory medication. Throughout the procedure, the child remained sound asleep, and everyone was extremely careful, afraid of waking him up and causing him pain. Meanwhile, the mother’s leg injury also received timely medical attention. Everyone temporarily settled the mother and child in a tent to let them rest a bit. They provided them with compressed biscuits and yogurt to stave off hunger. When the child finally woke up, he refused to eat even when someone tried feeding him. Later, after offering him a whole box of yogurt, the child, truly starving, grabbed it himself and started eating eagerly. In another day or two, we’ll come back to treat the child’s wound again.

　　Today, as the team members went out to distribute supplies to particularly vulnerable beneficiaries according to the original plan, the female team members saw an elderly grandmother sitting in the open air, her eyes red and swollen from infection. She said she didn’t have a tent at home, her allocated supplies had been stolen, and all that remained of her furniture was just a single table. The young women suggested helping this grandmother. Team captain Wanmadan Zeng said that if they gave the supplies they’d brought today to this grandmother, one of the families scheduled to receive supplies wouldn’t get any at all—and it would be better to stick to the original plan for now. But at that moment, the girls were crying, and the grandmother was crying too. Seeing such a heartbreaking scene, even Wanmadan Zeng, a man, nearly burst into tears himself and found it hard to speak. So he decided—against the original plan—to give one set of supplies to the grandmother right away. He also made some arrangements for her housing and promised to come back the day after tomorrow with some wooden planks to help her build a tent.

　　Today, we also sent back to the company the latest needs we’ve observed in the disaster-stricken area, hoping that this time we can procure two water purifiers. Here, the public tap water supply points are located very far away, making it extremely difficult for households without able-bodied members to fetch water. Moreover, given the local residents’ habits, most people rely on river water for their daily lives. However, the riverside is crowded with tents, and there are many sick people. As a result, various kinds of domestic sewage and medical wastewater are being discharged directly into the river, making it incredibly filthy and posing significant health risks. Even just looking at that water makes us feel utterly unable to swallow it. We sincerely hope that our wish to help the disaster victims purify their water sources will receive everyone’s support.

　　As the day’s work came to an end, everyone felt both fulfilled and deeply aware that our rescue efforts were like “a drop in the ocean.” We resolved to redouble our efforts, doing our utmost within the limited time available to help more disaster victims. We’re filled with anticipation for tomorrow’s work.