Background
The devastating earthquake on May 12 of 2008 took away about 100,000 people¡¯s life and around 15,000,000 people became homeless due to its occurrence. Confronted with such natural disaster, Jinde Charities went to the disaster areas immediately in cooperation with from Caritas Network Members, local clergy and Christians together with the assistance and coordination of local government. The relief work made up of perspiration and painstaking efforts in 2008 was actually a precious file of love and care. From May 14 when we sent a medical rescue team of 26 sisters and 2 fathers until December, the relief supplies including grain, oil and tents contributed by Jinde Charities valued more than 30,000,000 Rmb. We had also sent three caring teams as well as nineteen psychological workers to Sichuan, besides, over one hundred volunteers had took part in our relief work. Until now, Jinde Charities still carries on its work in disaster areas and it was the only organization with religious background sticking to reconstruction service in these places.
Jinde Charities transformed its focus from relief work to rehabilitation in 2009. Rehabilitation involved two aspects, say, reconstruction of schools, seniors¡¯ home as well as kindergartens and that of people¡¯s mind, which referred to helping people walk out of the nightmare of that earthquake and encouraged them to return to normal work and life. Thanks to the generous assistance from Caritas Germany and some other Caritas organization as well as joint efforts made by all staff members of Jinde Charities, 2009 was another year witnessing lots of moving moments and love. We hereby have a review on what we have done in 2009.
I. Reconstruction and Contribution
Five primary schools in the mountain villages of Heishui, Aba Prefecture were completed in 2009. The total financial investment amounted to 2.1 million RMB. The handover ceremony was held on October 22, 2009 and all of them have already been put into use. In only eight months from primary investigation in February to completion in October, Jinde Charities have finished large amount of work including preliminary investigation, project plan design, architectural drawings, budget plans, related translations of these documents and supervision on project progress. These schools were all built in mountain villages with an altitude of about 2000-3500 meters. Meanwhile the roads to these places were narrow and dangerous. Therefore, our engineers were risking their lives everyday moving from one construction spot to another. Though the whole journey was less than four hundred kilometers from Heishui to Chengdu, it may take more than ten hours because of the bad road condition after the earthquake. Among six times when the staff of Chengdu office of Jinde Charities went to examine the project process, we had flat tire twice, once had our car nearly turned over into an abyss, even once escape from a landslide by a few seconds.
The home for the elderly in Pingwu and Caritas Kindergarten in Dechang are still under way. It was a turnkey construction project valued four million yuan. Getting through complicated procedures such as design, making budget, bidding, and applying for license of construction, it has already started in January 2010, and is estimated to complete in May. With regard to Caritas Kindergarten in Dechang, We hope that the opening ceremony will be held in July.
Apart from construction projects, we have also provided some programs to offer supplies such as cotton clothes or quilt, seeds and medicines to local people so as to improve their living standard and revive their production, the total amount of which was about 593,770 Yuan. Moreover, the Individual and Family Emergency Aid Department of Jinde Charities also paid special attention to people in disaster areas. Jinde Charities have contributed seventy-four thousand Yuan in total to 5 poor patients and 83 students in poverty.
II. Company
Great changes have taken place in disaster areas in 2009. Those regions became the world¡¯s largest workshop with trucks shuttling along the rebuilt road and agitators as well as excavators roaring. Local people were also awake from that nightmare to start their new life filled with sunshine and hope. If those supplies offered by Jinde Charities were a tangible loving heart, then our respectable and lovely sisters would be angels who brought these hearts to people there to cure their trauma and encourage them to regain confidence and hope toward life.
In the beginning of 2009, fifteen volunteers of Jinde Charities (a priest, 13 sisters and a seminarian) worked in two schools and one temporary house respectively. Due to the frequent movements of temporary houses and schools during the reconstruction, our psychosocial service station had to move along with them. Twelve sisters of Jinde Charities have been working in three schools and one temporary house. So far, twenty-four sisters, two priests and one seminarian had offered their services at these stations already. In disaster areas, our sisters had to deal with various kind of problems, for example, they had to take care their spirituality and religious life by themselves far away from convent community; they had to adapt themselves to differences in diet and weather; moreover, they had to learn local dialects and upgrade their professional skills all the time for better services. The work in these areas was very different from that in their diocese. In the dioceses, catechumens and faithful would come by their own to share their own feelings of life and belief. In the disaster area, they must go out to find those in need to cure their psychological and emotional traumas. Since psychological and emotional treatment was a long-term task, it was hard for one to find a sense of satisfaction or achievement in only one or two weeks. Therefore, our sisters need to have more patience and perseverance in their work. Many of our sisters lacked confidence because they only got some short-term training before they came to Sichuan. They just depend on faith and love to back themselves up in their work.
They experienced tremendous test when first came to Sichuan in 2008. At that time, local villagers felt disgusted with psychological consultant. There was even a popular saying in Qushan: ¡°Defend against fire, theft as well as psychological consultant.¡± Because many reporters and psychological consultants came to these areas and required villagers there to recall those painful memories in the earthquake; however, after they finished their interviews or surveys, they left nothing but constant pains in villagers¡¯ hearts. Therefore, in the first two months since our sisters started their work in these regions, they were refused repeatedly when they paid visit to local people¡¯s homes. Gradually, their work and actions were accepted and welcomed by leaders and people there. Furthermore, a head of the village even asked our sisters to move together with them and start new work there. Mr. Shizhanbiao, a professor of the institute of psychology from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Jinde Charities were among the most successful teams due to their extraordinary love. Now they were accepted in these areas, besides, they developed themselves in a whole sense during this process. Our sisters have already started to give lessons on psychology in schools. The journey from a green hand in psychological service to an independent veteran who is able to conduct independent consultant service, organize activities and even give lessons in class confidently is a painful one filled with sorrow and difficulties. Only the sisters themselves know how tough the process is.
It was said that people of different religions got together to discuss how to explain disasters like this from their own religious belief after the earthquake on May 12. As a matter of fact, no explanation would be strong enough when confronted with disasters. What we can do is be accompany the survivors. God showed his love through keeping the poor and the criminal in company, from the manger where the shepherd worshipped him to the cross where two criminals by his sides. What Jesus said in evangelization is what prophet Isaiah called Emmanuel in the Gospel.
God is always with us. We will continue our efforts in doing charitable works with God¡¯s company, and we will let others know that God¡¯s love and care will always be with all of them through our own words and actions.
|
