Yushu Earthquake Response
Yushu Earthquake Response is a small coalition of local grassroots NGOs from Qinghai - including Snowland Service Group, Sanchuan Development Association, Friend of Rural Community Development, Shem Women's Group, the Pentok Institute, Qinghai Huiling Social Service for People with Mental Disabilities, and the Qinghai Tibetan Research Association - and numerous volunteers. We're working to create a bridge between the affected area and individuals and organizations wishing to offer assistance. We're working under government guidance to assess urgent needs and get help where it is needed as soon as possible.
Yushu Earthquake
At 7:49 a.m. local time on Wednesday, April 14th, a huge earthquake struck Yushu County in the Qinghai Province of China. Yushu is a predominately Tibetan area on the border of Qinghai, Sichuan and the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Ninety percent of the buildings have collapsed and there are massive casualties and injuries. Many residents fled with just the clothes they were wearing and have lost everything. The weather in Yushu is cold and windy – overnight temperatures are around -5°C in April. The urgent humanitarian need is enormous.
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Since the quake, local NGOs have been receiving many phone calls from foundations and individuals, expressing their willingness to donate. We believe that a collective effort will be more effective and efficient than individual action. Therefore, these grassroots NGOs initiated this local NGO coalition action named “Yushu Earthquake Response.
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How can you help?
Donate: Donations via PayPal here:
Short-term: The best thing you can do to help is donate money so we can purchase supplies locally, cover transport expenses, cover stipends for local staff, medical personnel, etc.
It is difficult for foreigners to get permission to work in the area unless they are working with official organizations. Also - sending supplies from abroad is extremely inefficient.
Long-term: After the initial disaster relief effort, a huge rebuilding and support effort will be needed, which will require a new wave of fundraising. We are already considering long-term plans; information about specific projects will be posted here in the future.
Donations: You can use the link at the top of the page to donate directly to us through PayPal. Paypal is 100% secure and accountable. For accountability purposes, please be sure to visit the "Contact Us" page and email us to let us know how much you sent - we'll track the transaction and email you a receipt once we reconcile our accounts. If you are making a large donation and require detailed accounts of how we are utilizing the funds just let us know.
If you are familiar with one of the NGOs in the group and would prefer to donate directly to them, please contact them directly for their bank details. None of these organizations currently take any kind of administration fee: The total amount of donations received goes straight to facilitating the relief effort in Yushu.
Updates from the Field
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May 8
The YER supply distribution team continued to pack relief materials into YER bags. The team organized 210 bags in a short time, each containing: a T-shirt, a towel, a spoon, a water ladle, chopsticks, a stainless steel cup, a lunch box, a wash basin, a teapot, an aluminum pot, and a cooking pan. The team released the goods at two locations: Daimo Road (81 families) and Xin Jian Road (129 families) in Dangdai Village in Jiegu Town.
In addition, Ha Xiu Temple in Hau Xiu Township received 100 bags of barley, 50 bags of tsampa, 50 boxes of noodles and 4 bags of butter.
May 7
We're less than a week away from the one-month anniversary of the quake, and donations keep coming in. Hong Kong Oxfam sent a truck full of relief materials, which put the YER staff in a cheerful mood. The supplies will be particularly helpful in the overlooked area of hygiene and personal health.
We unloaded: construction materials for building prefabricated toilets, thousands of pounds of barley and tsampa, 200 boxes of noodles, 600 bottles of face-protecting cream, 600 combs, 600 bottles of shampoo, 600 sets of tooth brushes and toothpaste, 600 towels, 500 pairs of underwear, 25 boxes of sanitary napkins, and 600 bars of soap.
The staff completed the inventory, classification, and storage of the supplies.
May 6
The YER distribution team and volunteers gave 150 bags filled with daily necessities to Ta Xi Da Tong community, which is one of the most affected areas. Each bag included: soap, comb, cream, toothpaste, toothbrush, spoon, stainless steel cup, washing powder, T-shirts, and shoes for men and women.
The YER distribution team also delivered Mercy Corps 105 hygiene kits to teachers of the Second Nationalities Middle School.
May 5
On May 5th, the SSG team distributed donated clothes and children's toys from Beijing to various villages.
The YER distribution team gave out 118 bags of clothes and toys and 31 bags of tsampa to 7 villages and one Jiegu town camp.
The YER distribution team broke down on the way back to YER camp. The team had to hitchhike their way back to the camp.
May 4
A YER volunteer team assisted the China Foundation of Poverty Alleviation in conducting an evaluation of affected populations in Zhiduo County, QumaLai County, Nangqian County and Zaduo County.
Under Rinchen Dawa facilitation further plans were discussed with the YER team for the waste management program: it was decided to continue the waste management program so as to raise local peoples awareness of the need for environmental protection and hygiene.
In the afternoon, YER continued to assist local people in collecting and classifying garbage.
May 3
Today, YERs Yushu volunteer team distributed relief supplies to 150 families. The 150 bags stamped with the YER logo included one set of male underwear, one set of female underwear, childrens underwear and four pairs of socks.
YER volunteers are continuing to implement its waste management program, and YER leadership is preparing mid-term and long-term reconstruction plans.
The YER volunteer team in Xining sent a truck loaded with quilts, sheet, folding beds and second-hand clothes.
May 2
SSG's waste management project team held a meeting at the Yushu Yiji Park with volunteers to discuss future plans, and decided that:
* Since most of the volunteers are students, garbage collection work can only be done on the weekends
* Every household should be encouraged to be responsible for their own garbage collection and recycling
* Volunteers should have caps and T-shirts identifying them as members of the organization
* In order to raise residents' awareness, the team will produce and distribute Tibetan leaflets on garbage collection and hygiene information on a daily basis
* Other volunteers should be mobilized to collect waste
Starting early this morning, our distribution team packed and loaded supplies for the afternoon distribution to 150 victims of the earthquake. The selected site is the heavily affected Za Xike Road near Yushu Comprehensive School. The team provided each household with: 1 bag of toilet paper, a comb, a toothpaste, 2 toothbrushes, 2 bags of washing powder, 10 pairs of socks, a stainless steel lunch box, two towels, 2 soaps, 1 package of cream. Also, the team gave out bags for tsampa, men's and women's shoes, women's articles and other materials.
Led by SSG's director, a team of YER volunteers conducted an evaluation of the conditions of a Gongya Monastery school in Nangqian County with 154 students. Due to the earthquake, female students were sleeping in tents and the male students in the school playground. 60 orphans slept under 20 square meters of plastic sheet. The youngest students is 7 years old; the oldest is no more than 15 years old. A representative of Chongqing Yike Wo E-Commerce Co., Ltd., Mr. Chi Guang Cheng, donated 27,000 RMB to this school.
May 1
Today our team distributed supplies, including 260 health boxes to Ha Xiu Township Government, 20 boxes of clothes to villagers in Jie Gu Xin Zhai Village, 15 health boxes to local Jin Ba Foundation in Yushu, 1 tent for each household of 6 families that was seriously affected by the earthquake.
Also, SSG director Rinchen Dawa had a meeting with the Secretary-General of Poverty Alleviation Foundation to introduce him to SSG's past history and future cooperation development plans.
Additionally, the team in Yushu had the streets and community waste recovery projects meeting. The personnel involved are: Yushu Earthquake Response volunteers, SSG staff, the Wantong Charitable Foundations Secretary-General and community volunteers. Collection and classification of waste (recyclable, non-recyclable) was managed by the Yushu County Management Department and the Sanitation Department together. The team negotiated with the Urban Management Bureau to place 2 tons of garbage bins at the designated spot. Starting tomorrow, we will continue to mobilize community volunteers to clean up waste, and expand the project to other sites.
April 30
Today the YER distribution team organized to release supplies they received from Mercy Corps to 125 families who didn't get health box supplies yesterday. The team also distributed health boxes to the following groups:
1. 300 health boxes to 300 faculties in Yushu Prefecture Comprehensive School
2. 30 health boxes to 30 students in Jiangyuan Class
3. 34 health boxes to 34 faculties in Yushu Mass Art Gallery
4. 30 health boxes to 30 teachers in Tongbao Da Village in Jie Gu Town
5. 52 sets of health boxes to Yushu Meat Company
At the same time, a family affected seriously by the earthquake received a tent, kitchen staff and tea brick. Also 120 teachers and students from Jie Gu Town Center School received 120 stainless bowls, cups, adult shoes, socks and 100 childrens shoes.
SSG continues to work on the streets and community waste disposal project. The staff from SSG and Wantong Pema Public Foundation Secretary-General Li Jin went to the community to examine and at same time get some ideas for the waste disposal project.
April 29
There is a general feeling among the YER team that we are now fully organised in Yushu and have the capacity to tackle the huge job ahead.
There are now more than 30 volunteers and staff at the Yushu Relief Centre. Rinchin Dawa is providing clear leadership and everyone now works strict work hours. We have a research/assessment team, a distribution team, a medical team and a management team.
Today the medical team visited 30 families in the community living in the Yushu Park. The main issues they found there were: colds, stomach bugs, and bladder infections.
April 28
Last night, a truck loaded with hygiene kits from Mercy Corps in Chengdu arrived. Today, the Mercy Corps manager assessed our distribution methods and 221 family hygiene kits were distributed by local volunteers to households in Yushu.
A team of 3 doctors conducted an assessment of the medical conditions of the inhabitants of the Yushu Park camp. Out of the 30 households interviewed, 4 persons showed signs of severe post traumatic stress (one person explained that he was afraid every time the wind would blow on his tent), and had not received any psychological support yet. Finding local psychological care doctors is proving very difficult.
April 27
One of our volunteers arrived back in Xining last night and is now filling us in on the latest news and situation update in Yushu.
The assessment/distribution work is going very smoothly, and communities are very happy to receive our assistance. Our assessment team is getting very strict and in one case turned down a request for help - it soon turned out that their suspicion was correct and the request for help was bogus!
One need we had overlooked is shoes! Many families point out that they have received food and shelter and warm clothes but no shoes. So today our purchasing team picked up 200 pairs of shoes. They will go to Yushu tomorrow along with large water tanks which our relief centre urgently needs to store clean water.
April 26
Today a new Mercy Corps specialist arrived and prepared to go to Yushu. Mercy Corps has also sent a truck full of supplies from Chengdu that should arrive soon.
We're working hard now to coordinate our efforts with other organisations. We communicate regularly with local government officials in Yushu and make sure we don't duplicate our efforts.
Today we also prepped three local doctors to go in and provide more medical support to our assessment and distribution team - they will provide basic medical care and also help to assess hygiene and nutrition issues so longer term project planning can begin.
April 25
SSG's English Training Program may start up again fully soon - but most students are not happy about studying in tent schools in Yushu. When asked, the students responded that they do not want to continue to study in such a difficult environment.
SSG would like to try to move the program to another city, especially since some students are preparing for their university entrance exam; we are looking at different options. Five ETP students died during the earthquake and lots of have lost relatives. All are traumatized.
April 24
The Yushu team is beginning to get a clear picture of the situation in more remote areas now.
Each day they send their assessment teams out to interview local village leaders and households to find out how they are coping. There is a wide range of findings. Some families are well set up in their new tents with food for up to 2 weeks. Other families have no tents and food for as little as 3 days. The team often finds older folk who have received no support at all.
The Yushu team has started a water distribution program now with deliveries twice a day. Yushu locals are now being sourced to replace outside volunteers with the goal of providing jobs rather than creating a welfare dependency in the community.
April 23
Today was again a little more manageable - the Xining team has cut back their hours to a more sane 10 hours a day!
Two NGO experts from Sichuan joined the team today and provided valuable insight into the challenge of long-term planning, and also the issue of publicity.
Already Yushu quake news has been relegated to fine print at the bottom of most news websites, and local people are worried they'll be forgotten when the rescue teams leave.
The team in Yushu now has enough goods for at least 4 days, so the shopping team in Xining was able to relax for another day.
Today our procurement manager went on a research mission to find a source of reusable cloth bags. Our distribution team has pointed out that they need bags to distribute vegetables, tsampa, flour and butter to families, so we decided to find reuseable cloth bags rather than hand out plastic bags which are used once and discarded, creating considerable pollution - we're hoping that the government and other organizations will follow our example.
April 22
Today our Disaster Response Management Specialist returned to Xining, and we were finally able to get a real sense of the situation on the ground in Yushu.
Overall, it appears that most families have received assistance, and basic shelter and food needs have been met for now. Government clean-up crews are out on the streets in Yushu and the situation is stable.
But later in the afternoon we got a call from the assessment crew to say that they had just visited a damaged village north of Yushu that had not received any aid at all and was urgently in need of tents, food and medical assistance. So plans were quickly drawn up to get another aid distribution set up as soon as possible.
Today we also got a much clearer picture of conditions in the camps. While basic needs have been met for the next few days, there is an extremely urgent need for effective toilets (most camps have none whatsoever), and clean water is a huge problem.
April 21
This morning we woke to 2 inches of fresh snow here in Xining; on the highway we heard there is up to 6 inches in places, and in Yushu it is cold, windy and miserable.
At 10 a.m. this morning Xining came to a standstill for three minutes in honor of the Yushu victims, and it sounded like everyone in town leaned on the horns. Looking out the window through light snow, butter lamps lit in the small shrine in the courtyard added a faint glow to two huge trucks being loaded with supplies - it was surreal and immensely sad. Tears flowed freely amongst our team here.
In Yushu, the team conducted more successful supply distributions and widened the range of our community assessments. There are now plenty of supplies for the next few days, so our shopping and packing team took a well-earned rest.
Tomorrow, they'll be back at it again...
Archived updates
April 14-20
YUSHU
Yushu County is located in the southeastern region of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Northwest Chinas Qinghai Province, near the border it shares with Sichuan Province and Tibet. It covers an area of 13,462 sq km with several rivers flowing through it. Yushu has a small airport that opened last year, but much of the area is difficult to access with very remote, mountainous terrain and an average altitude of 4,493 meters. The area's high altitude means that snow and freezing temperatures are not uncommon, even at this time of year.
The population of Yushu County is approximately 67,000 and about 93 percent are ethnically Tibetan, with other ethnic groups including Han, Hui, Salar and Tu. There are nine townships in the county, and the capital is Gyegu (Jiegu) Town.
The area is particularly well-known for its being the source of three major rivers in Asia (Yangtze, Yellow, and Mekong). Culturally, the Yushu Horse Racing Festival held on the grasslands in July attracts thousands of tourists every year. This well-known site is now home to tents for thousands of families displaced by the earthquake.
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CONTACT
If you would like more information about the individual groups that make up this coalition, please use the contact form on this page to get in touch with us.
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To contact our coalition communications coordinator please use the form below. This is the best way to communicate clearly with our group - we meet at 10.30 each morning to plan our day and share information.
