In addition to our efforts to provide emergency housing for earthquake victims, WildChina’s Europe Director, Veronique d’Antras, is working with a relief group to provide warm clothing, food, money and medical supplies to the area. The group will leave tomorrow (Saturday) morning for Yushu with their supplies. Their efforts are part of a quickly-moving influx of aid workers in recent days to the southern Qinghai area.
d’Antras is also working with the Yushu Orphanage School, in conjunction with WildChina’s local partner and Rokpa, an international NGO, to assist in evacuating the orphans and other family members to the countryside. Together, they are working to remove the children from the area as quickly as possible. In the meantime, they hope that these children will be housed in WildChina’s donated tents that are currently being set up.
Outside of our relief efforts, WildChina is closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Qinghai through communication with our local partners. To date, we have heard the following:
– Electricity is down in the area, and it is thus difficult to communicate with those who either no longer have cell service or whose phones have run out of power.
– Structures in Yushu are unsafe, and survivors are trying to vacate the area as quickly as possible.
– The children from the orphanage and school in Yushu are alive, although some have been injured. Sadly, two teachers have perished, and other orphanage staff have suffered injuries.
– The director of the orphanage recently met with Premier Wen Jiabao.
For more information on the situation in Yushu, please see the following articles and media:
– Latest updates: Qinghai earthquake (via China Daily)
– Donations, supplies flood into quake-hit NW China region (via Xinhua)
– Rescuers race against time (via China Daily)
– Video: Quake kills hundreds in Western China (via New York Times)
WildChina will update our blog as new information becomes available.
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Photo credit: Oxfam Trailwalker and Land of Snows
