In the morning of April 14, 2010, a strong earthquake of 7.1-magnitude hit the Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai, China. Abruptly, tens of thousands of victims – kids, students, parents, and the seniors – were buried under the ruins. By April 25th, at least 2,220 people were killed, and more than 12,000 wounded. In many regions, more than 99% of the dwellings were destroyed; and more than 100,000 survivors (more than 90% of whom are Tibetans) are in urgent need of food and housing.

Yushu, a mountainous area with an average altitude of 4,493 meters, has the typical chilly climate on the Tibetan Plateau. The average annual temperature is only 2.3 degree Celsius. There were heavy snows and freezing rains after the earthquake. The homeless survivors had to face not only the sharp pain of losing families, but the harsh weather. Some got through the chilly nights only through cover of plastic sheets. Despite the tremendous support from the Chinese government and the rest of the world, many areas are still in urgent need of tents. According to one report, 79 orphans were squeezed to share five tents.

Having had the first-hand experience during the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, HELP volunteers and their partners are giving keen attention to the Yushu earthquake. Our partners, Xiaobo Wang and his volunteer medical team, arrived in Yushu on April 17. Another NGO partner of HELP, Fauna and Flora International (FFI-China), has devoted to community-base grassland conservation in Yushu for seven years; their project site, Shanglaxiu Township, was also severely damaged during the earthquake.

With the knowledge that Yushu is in urgent need of tents, and through the full support by the Administrative Bureau of Wolong Natural Reserve, HELP has collected 300 standard 3-meter-by-four-meter relief tents. On April 23rd, HELP volunteer Ming Meng led two trucks, loaded with more than 15 tons of tents valuing more than RMB 300,000, to set off for Yushu. The transportation will cover more than 1,000 kilometers between Wolong and Yushu, mostly in alpine areas above 4000 meters (please CLICK HERE for the map, photos and most most recent updates of HELP’s transportation team).  The recent heavy falls of snows have made the trip particularly challenging.  At this point the HELP transportation team has just passed Shiqu County of Garzê Tibetan autonomous prefecture.  The destinations of the trip are Jiegu Township and Shanglaxiu Township of Yushu.  All tents will be distributed by HELP’s local partners to the Tibetan families who need tents most.

Here we call for the full support from every volunteer and donor. This is the time to act! Please give your generous donation to support this tent transportation. The donated funds will be used to pay for the expense incurred during the transportation (estimated to be ~ $3,500, covering gas charge, truck rent and drivers’ food and lodging). The residual funds will be distributed via HELP’s local collaborators in Yushu to the survivors who are in dire needs. As always, we will work hard to ensure that every penny will be spent properly because we know it contains the hearty blessings and cares from our donors. We will keep you quickly informed on how the funds are used; in this way we can share the touching joy of helping the earthquake survivors!

Through heavy snow and freezing rain, our two trucks of tents are heading toward Yushu (one of our trucks was trapped in snowy mud and just got out).  Though we cannot be with our heroic drivers or with the victims, we can act in our own way to support the campaign to its full success. Please visit online at www.helppanda.org, and get the most recent update from http://www.helppanda.org/shownews.jsp?autoid=75.

Donation details:
1. Check donation:
(1) Write the check payable to “HELP”.
(2)  At the lower left corner of the check, where you see “For ____”, write down your email address so that we can contact you to send you the tax-deductable receipt.
(3) Please also note on the check that it is meant for earthquake relief in Yushu.
(4) Send the check to:
 HELP, P.O. Box 1365, Okemos, MI 48805-1365, USA.

2. Online donation:
Please visit http://www.helppanda.org/donate.jsp?autoid=13 and follow the instructions accordingly.

Since this is a special donation event, we will provide you “close-to-real-time” updates on the donation and the relief campaign. We will also publish on our website (http://www.helppanda.org) all details on the use of funds.

If you have any question, please contact us through phone, email, or fax, as follows:

Fax: 866-249-9870
Email: volunteers@helppanda.org

Phone:  Joey Pan, 001-510-3318195 (US) 
               Wei Liu , 0086-13683088261 (China)

Let’s unite to help the survivors who are suffering through the earthquake and the harsh weather!

HELP