Subject: Half the Sky Earthquake Update - May 16
Dear Friends,
I dearly wish I had more good news to report. The very best thing I can
tell you is that we have not had a single report of injuries from the
welfare institutions.
As of this morning (Friday) there were 19,509 people confirmed dead. The
State Council today said there will likely be more than 50,000. Today's
government report describes one terrible scene after another: thousands
homeless, thousands missing, thousands injured, thousands trapped or
buried alive. Hope for survivors is dimming. There is an urgent call for
body bags to prevent the spread of disease. There have been over 4,400
aftershocks.
HTS Director, Child Development, Ma Lang has arrived in
this note:
I am deeply touched by your moral and emotional support. I only slept two
of the past thirty hours. The first thing I did after landing was to
donate some medicine to the Chengdu Red Cross. It was very much
appreciated - exactly what was needed. They gave me a wish list for
further donations: antibiotics for children and adults, medicine for
diarrhea, cold capsules (not instant medicines that must be mixed in
water), bandages, gauze, tape, iodine, cotton swabs, herbal medicine to
stop bleeding and some for pain relief. Other much-needed donations
include tents, tarpaulins, warm clothes and shoes. People in
doing everything they can to help with the earthquake rescue. I saw all
sorts of vehicles carrying things to the donation centers. I registered
for blood donation and was put on the waiting list - the blood center was
overloaded with donated blood and it's difficult to transport the blood to
the hardest-hit areas. More to come. Lang
Here is the confirmed information we have regarding welfare institutions:
The following institutions not mentioned in yesterday's note suffered no
serious damage:
Chengdu 2nd SWI, Chengdu 3rd SWI, Ziyang SWI, Neijing CWI, Chengdu SOS
children's village, Leshan SWI, Ganzi CWI, Guang'an SWI, Suining SWI
The following report damage, but, again, no injuries. Your generous
donations will help meet all of these requests for assistance:
Bazhon CWI - Severe damage to building; children are fine.
Meishan SWI - Cracks in buildings, have evacuated all children (50+) to
tents. They have adequate food, water and clothes but request 20 cribs
and bedding.
Guangyuan SWI - Damaged buildings, all children have been in tents for 4-5
days, often in the blazing sun. They request food, baby formula water,
diapers, bedding and other daily necessities. They urgently need drugs
and food supplements to protect against disease and heatstroke.
Nanchong SWI - There was substantial damage to buildings, all children
(100+, more than half under 6 years-old) are living in tents. They need
more tents, disposable diapers, children's clothing, wagons, cribs and
bedding.
Deyang CWI - Dormitory for school-age children was severely damaged.
Although the other buildings seem fine, pending inspection, all children
and staff have been moved to tents. There has been constant rain and much
that was pulled from the buildings has been ruined. They request bedding
and children's clothing. They still have disposable diapers left from our
assistance during the winter storms but will be running out of those as
well as infant formula in the coming days.
Mianyang Zitong CWI (update) - Children have been moved back from the
military base to a safe building in the institution. There is adequate
food and water but they request clothes, bedding, infant formula, diapers
and medicine for colds. They are now caring for 66 children, 23 of them
under 2 years.
Sadly, 24 new orphans - earthquake survivors - arrived at the institution
yesterday.
We are still unable to reach these orphanages: Abazhou CWI (52 children)
and Mianzhu SWI
Please give what you can to help the children who survive go on with their
lives.
If you would like to donate to Half the Sky's Children's Earthquake Fund,
it would be great if you would do so at Global Giving. My apologies for
giving incorrect information yesterday; the Ford Motor Company is
generously matching EMPLOYEE gifts to Global Giving, not ALL! Still, it
is an easy and convenient way to make a donation and helps HTS by handling
processing of your gifts. Now maybe some other corporation would like to
step up and match ALL donations?!
http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html
If you prefer to donate directly to Half the Sky, of course that's fine.
Here are the various ways: 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
If you would like a Canadian tax receipt, please donate at
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
https://www.paydollar.com/b2c2/eng/charity/payInfo.jsp?charityId=4947
Thank you for your tremendous support. Although it is heartbreaking to
write these reports, we are so honored to be in a position to help during
this terrible time.
with love,
Jenny
Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org
Half the Sky was created in order to enrich the lives and enhance the
prospects for orphaned children in
nurture and preschool programs, provide personalized learning for older
children and establish loving permanent family care and guidance for
children with disabilities. It is our goal to ensure that every orphaned
child has a caring adult in her life and a chance at a bright future.
Want to receive our free Half the Sky newsletter, full of stories and
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