ARCHIVED NEWS

Reaching Out To Those Impacted
By The Earthquake in China

On Monday, May 12th a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan Province 60 miles northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu. The reported death toll is currently climbing to nearly 68,000 individuals. The true impact of the devastation is yet to be seen.

IDEAS carries out humanitarian projects in Sichuan. We have one family and one single associate serving with IDEAS who live in Chengdu, while their projects are carried out among the rural poor in the southern portion of the province. Immediately after the earthquake they sent word to our IDEAS office in Littleton letting us know that they were all safe.

The quake did impact them. Here is a portion of the report sent out by one of our Associates "It happened this afternoon around 3:00pm while I was with some friends at a tutoring center. We were on the sixth floor and the whole building was swaying back and forth. We all got to a safe place within the room and the shaking continued. This was my first earthquake and it was quite scary. The building was shaking dramatically and we could see the bookshelf's rocking back and forth, after about a minute we decided to leave the building. We all rushed down the stairs and out on the streets to join millions of other Chinese that were evacuating the buildings. Shortly afterwards everything was at a standstill. Traffic had stopped; there were crowds of people on the street. Yet, it seemed as though no one was hurt."

We are pleased to share how our IDEAS team in Chengdu has been able to play a critical role in helping the relief efforts organized by the foreign community. Our workers partnered with other organizations the day after the quake to help organize their facility into a staging area for earthquake relief. They have participated in at least seven teams traveling to the impacted area to offer medical care, evaluate community needs, deliver relief supplies and offer encouragement to the displaced families and their children.

We know that many of you want to be involved at a time of crisis. If you would like to help financially you can send your gift to IDEAS, designated for China Earthquake Relief. These gifts will be used for food, shelter, medicines and other immediate response needs.

Donations have provided for tents, medicine, food, water, baby formula and tarps for the victims. We are grateful that IDEAS personnel and our extended network of friends and partners have been able to meet needs in the midst of this devastation.