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United Methodists support initial relief in China

>May. 22, 2008

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

>A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom*

A United Methodist-supported relief team has been assessing the needs of
earthquake survivors in several Chinese villages and distributing
emergency supplies.

On May 21, the Amity Foundation team distributed 6.8 tons of oil and
1,700 quilts in the villages of Penghua and Wolong. According to a
report from She Hongyu, Amity's overseas liaison, other materials such
as waterproof cloths and rice were being purchased.

"Villagers were quite surprised at the speedy action as the need
assessment was only done yesterday in these two villages," She wrote.
"Villagers took active part in the distribution by helping unloading the
goods and putting up the Amity banner."

Ten days after a massive earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on
May 12, the death toll stood at 51,151, according to the Chinese
government, with 288,431 injured and another 29,328 missing. The
estimate of those left homeless by the quake is a staggering 5 million.

The United Nations announced on May 21 that, at the request of the
Chinese government, it will supply 11,000 tents to provide emergency
shelter for 55,000 people. The U.N. World Food Program is sending a
second round of relief food supplies--a 463-ton shipment of enough rice,
wheat flour and cooking oil to feed 100,000 people for three weeks.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is supporting the relief
efforts of the Amity Foundation, a voluntary Chinese Christian
organization and longtime partner of the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries, UMCOR's parent agency.

Amity and UMCOR are both part of Action by Churches Together
International. UMCOR is sending $50,000 to Amity through the ACT
International partnership, according to the Rev. Sam Dixon, UMCOR's
chief executive.

>Overseas donations

Amity is receiving a number of overseas donations for its earthquake
response, according to Diane Allen, head of the Board of Global
Ministries' China Program. "They're coming in from all over the world,"
she told United Methodist News Service in a May 21 phone interview.

The United Methodist Advance, a voluntary giving program, has given
Amity $10,000 from one of its Chinese projects to begin assistance to
children orphaned by the earthquake. "They (Amity) are just in the
process of evaluating what that would mean," Allen said.

Many mothers responded as Amity joined with "xici.net," a famous Web
company in China, to appeal for baby supplies. As a result, 42 boxes of
powdered milk, 18 boxes of napkins and 57 boxes of diapers were
transported to Chengdu on May 21 for further distribution.

Amity is centering its relief efforts on rural areas, which have not
received as much attention as urban centers. On May 19, Amity staff
assessed needs in three villages in Mianzhu County and found a shortage
of food and plastic sheets for tents. "Many families share one small
tent," She's report said. "Oil and equipment for lighting is also very
insufficient."

Some 5,600 earthquake survivors remained housed in the temporary shelter
at Mianzhu Sport Center. The Amity team visited the center and went to
the General Coordinating Office for Earthquake Relief at Mianzhu City,
where they discussed potential projects with local government officials.

In Renhe Village of Yinghua Township, Shifang City, the team found an
extreme shortage of food. "It was not until three days ago that the
elderly and children could have a bowl of rice each day, and no one
else," She wrote. "Only this afternoon, on the 8th day, was each victim
here given 2 kilos of rice."

In both Mianzhu and Shifang, Amity will distribute quilts, plastic
sheets and oil and provide a month's supply of food for all residents.
Amity also distributed quilts and met with more than 70 earthquake
survivors in Bolin Township on May 18.

A specialized counseling team--six professors from Nanjing University
and Nanjing Normal University and two Amity staff--were scheduled to
depart for Mianzhu via Chengdu on May 23.

Hongyu noted that Amity has been "deeply moved" by such volunteer
efforts and those offering other assistance, ranging from helping Amity
receive a free shipment of underwear donated by a company in Shanghai to
raising money at subway stations for relief work.

>Response by Chinese

Allen believes that compassion and China's sense of national pride have
combined to bolster the internal response to the earthquake. "My
understanding is the outpouring has been absolutely phenomenal," she
said.

The Chinese response to the earthquake will be aided by strong
government organizations on every level--national, provincial, city,
township and village. "You have an organization and system pretty well
in place already to begin to initiate various kinds of ideas," Allen
said.

In addition to Amity, she expects the China Christian Council eventually
to put out an overseas earthquake appeal. The Rev. Yuan Shiguo, who
leads the Sichuan Christian Council, is trying to do an assessment.
"They're just now getting in reports from churches in that area," she
said.

Nationally, China has undergone three days of mourning for earthquake
victims. But Connie Wieck, a United Methodist missionary studying in
Chengdu, reported in her blog on May 21 that anxiety over aftershocks
had diverted some of the attention.

"Our second day of mourning yesterday was to blanket the city with
concern and loving support of our earthquake-hit Sichuanese brothers and
sisters," she wrote. "Instead, it turned residents inward. The panic of
strong aftershocks left everyone forgetting about those up-province and
concentrating more on themselves. My apartment compound's outdoor
community doubled. The number of open-sky squatters at Sichuan
University exploded. Grocery stores, family-run snack shops and outdoor
equipment businesses quickly emptied their shelves.

"Despite seismologists' public news conferences yesterday assuring us
that tremors most likely would not cause great harm to the city, it was
too late. Panic prevailed. The damage was done.

"Today's final day of national mourning finds Chengdu with cool
temperatures, overcast skies and a sizable feeling of relief," Wieck
wrote. "In my apartment complex, late morning still had my neighbors
sleeping soundly upon their bedding. Most are now in their apartments,
going about their daily chores. Shoppers leisurely cruise the streets,
but the tent communities remain. No one seems willing to call it quits
quite yet."

Donations to UMCOR's relief efforts in China can be made to
International Disaster Response, China Earthquake, UMCOR Advance
#982450. Checks can be dropped in church offering plates or mailed
directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY. 10087-9068. Write the
Advance number and name on the memo line of the check. Credit-card
donations are accepted online at www.givetomission.org or by phone at
(800) 554-8583.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

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