A Joint Initiative with our Japanese Friend, MAKI: Helping the people of Japan with our Heart

click here: Chinese Version 华文版本

That afternoon on 11^th March 2011, Teacher Tan brought us to help with Grandpa ErBo’s discharge from the Welfare Hospital and to also visit BuQiong’s family. At 15:12, we received this: “Latest news: 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked North Japan; South East Asia in tsunami alert; everyone please pray together.” Teacher Tan and I remarked: Some joker made up rumours again.

In the evening, just before sending Grandpa ErBo on his way at XiNing station, Teacher Tan called me. He told me that he found out from TV that Japan really did experience an earthquake in addition to tsunami.

17:12 –– I sent a text message to my Japanese friend, MAKI in ChengDu: “I just heard that North Japan had an earthquake, I am not sure how bad it is……I will pray for the people there! Best wishes to your family and friends!”

17:39 –– MAKI replied: “Teacher Meng, thank you for your concerns, my hometown is in the south, Shikoku. I contacted my family through the phone, they’re not affected. New Zealand, Yunnan and now Japan, my heart breaks……”

For SiChuan Earthquake, MAKI has been donating money and resources, working diligently for disaster relief. Not long after Yushu Earthquake, when she found out that we did not have enough medicine supply for the injured, she bought medicine supplies and hired a car from ChengDu to transport them to us together with Mr JiChunYaDao, in addition to RMB2000 donation. In September, when she discovered that we were helping to seek treatment for seriously injured patients as well as preparing for the winter, she immediately donated RMB10000. That money was a timely help from her indeed. The birth of little MeiDuo and her medical rescue are all thanks to MAKI’s donation, which also benefited other critical condition patients. And now, MAKI’s home country Japan is hit by a massive combination of disasters: earthquake, tsunami, fire, and nuclear crisis. How can she not provide help and support to her home country and her fellow country people?

13^th March 2011, 15:24 ––

I just arrived at Yushu. On the way, I received a text message from MAKI: “To everyone who’s supporting disaster relief areas, Hello! I am MAKI, a Japanese who had previously helped with WenChuan and Yushu’s disaster relief efforts. I have just thought out an initiative for the Japanese disaster victims: “Sending Encouragement Messages to Japanese Earthquake disaster victims from WenChuan and Yushu Earthquake disaster victims”. Therefore, your assistance is very much needed! Please add my QQ (1060092183), so that I could tell you more about the details, and for ease of communication in future!”

I forwarded her message to a few of my good friends and posted this on my blog. I also replier her: “Hello MAKI! Teacher Meng fully supports you! Do your best helping the Japanese. The hearts of SiChuan BeiChuan, and Yushu disaster victims are one with the Japanese!”

15:54 –– Mary replied my message with: “I will also support this, waiting for more project details.”

17:42 –– Mother TianTian replied: “Please tell MAKI, Mother TianTian will pray for the Japanese disaster victims! I will donate RMB500, Teacher Meng please give it to her on my behalf in fastest possible way.”

18:45 –– ZengLi called from ChengDu, asking for the exact details to help out with the project, and said: “I was just discussing with DaiXiang about how we could be of help……”

18:48 –– I had a phone conversation with MAKI. As the condition in disaster areas was very serious, and disaster relief efforts have been underway, therefore, we hope that through the connectivity of the web, psychological support could be provided first. The plan is this: to gather and arrange messages expressing SiChuan and Yushu Earthquake disaster victims’ gratitude to the Japanese for providing magnanimous help and support during their time of need. Especially, the encouraging messages conveyed in a language of personal gratitude to the Japanese disaster victims, to provide them with psychological support and mentally-encouraging spirit. These will all be passed to MAKI’s hands, and with the help of her Japanese friend, translate them into Japanese language. Then, the messages will all be sent to Japan through the web, and published on various newspapers and media broadcasts, so that they could be conveyed to all disaster victims, giving them timely and needed psychological support. And when the critical disaster relief phase is over, the messages will be passed once again through postcards to give them further warm-hearted support.

Human beings’ journey of life is a journey of passing between stability and catastrophe. No matter what discords have happened in the past between ethnic groups and countries, or that they have hurt each other in the past, they will not throw away their compassion and their love for life. Other than sincerely heartfelt love, nothing else could save humankind and the planet on which we are surviving upon. A Chinese saying goes: When the lip dies, the teeth feel cold, which illustrates the importance of mutual dependence. Everyone is their own person yet, if you do not show care and concern for others but you expect the same from others and more, does that make sense?! I hope that everyone will support the Japanese disaster victims just like when they supported the Chinese disaster victims! Even your sincerity is enough to help them!!

This is not just my personal initiative, but also an initiative representing all Chinese descendents who willingly supports the Japanese disaster victims! So let’s smile and let bygones be bygones! Courage in the face of adversity! It’s this attitude and spirit that makes us Chinese descendents proud and great!

Written by Teacher Meng under the hazy sky of Yushu

13 March 2011, 20:20

Adapted from:

Teacher Meng’s blog entry dated 13 October 2010

Special thanks to our translator: Ng Lai ThinChinese Version 华文版本

Recent happenings in Teacher Meng’s camp

Isn’t this photo beautiful? Especially the mountains. Seems very romantic!

How about when there is a shortage of winter clothes, when there is no place to keep you warm enough?

Living there, how will it be like?

It rained there. Under this kind of environment, how would you feel?

After dinner, the sky turned dark, and the rain turned into snow.

Snow, is it still romantic?

Today, we received a call, a chilling phone call. DuoJie said, officials from XiHang requested them to shift their relief camp to another place, without delay. Because of this, some leaders who are on leave had to be called to deal with this. However, even when they were negotiating in the name of Yushu Earthquake Relief promotion division, the officials gave them no leeway. Other things we can tolerate, but speaking of shifting, we are very troubled. The last time we shifted in May, the three of us worked the whole day and by 4pm, we were all exhausted. Yet, there were still tons of things to be done. Now, we’ve also only three persons. History repeating itself? No idea. Let’s hope that the leaders will be able to arrange a satisfying result.

Isn’t this pouring salt on wound?

Which is colder? The weather, or the heart?

※This entry is permitted as use for reference for disaster relief purposes only. Reasons other than disaster relief purposes are strictly prohibited for use. Contents of this entry are not to be distributed without permission.

Adapted from:

Teacher Meng’s blog entry dated 13 October 2010

Special thanks to our translator: Ng Lai Thin

Mother in pain, The scarcity of medicine

Click here: CHINESE VERSION 华文版本

I still remember the moment when we first met this mother, was one where she was holding the hands of a relative and weeping at the same time. However, her face changed almost immediately into one smiling face when she saw us. And every occasion after that, she greets us with a smile and says goodbye with a smile.

When we left her place last night, Papa BaMao kept admiring aloud on the way back: “This woman is really strong. Even when she’s that sick, she still says ‘Thank you’ with a smile on her face. Really amazing! Yet, it’s heart-breaking!”

The first time we visited, the mother was paralyzed from waist down, yet her family who is also facing financial difficulties wanted their daughter to continue her studies in middle school. Now, the daughter has left her home to another place to study for almost two months already. However, the mother’s illness keeps going downhill. Looking at her diagnoses – spinal fractures, lung contusion (bruise of the lung caused by chest trauma), pleural effusion (accumulation of excess fluids in the pleura, a fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs), paraplegia – it was a ghastly sight.

According to doctor’s advice, when the mother gets home, she needs to perform a CT scan on her lungs, an X-ray on her abdomen, acupuncture, nutritional diet, psychological therapy, recovery and regular medical check-ups. However, here in Yushu, except for psychological therapy and X-ray (occasionally), almost all of that couldn’t be realized.

We received two phone calls for us to visit the mother. A kind-hearted teacher told us that the mother’s leg has a deeply festered cut, and we didn’t imagine that it would be very bad. But when we saw it with our own eyes, we were taken by surprise. To quote Papa BaMao, “Too much, this is too much. This woman is really pitiful, a fate worse than death.”

As if losing all sensory function to her lower body is not enough, the extent of the wound’s festering is scarily unthinkable, and it has now spread to the other leg. Already the patient herself could feel nothing physically from waist down, she also couldn’t see the regeneration of muscles, instead she only sees how her flesh gradually rots day after day.

The weather turned cold. Because of that, a CT scan of the lungs couldn’t be done. Also, the mother’s coughing deteriorates as days pass, and fluid keeps accumulating in the peritoneal cavity (parts of the abdomen) [medical term: ascites].

Indeed, we are in no position to deal with the mother’s complicated situation. Still, since yesterday, I asked her husband whether they tried to do check-ups in hospitals, etc. With a tone of helplessness, the husband said that the state hospital’s reply was: “We don’t even have alcohol, nothing can be done.”

We heard that yesterday, people from the disabled association came to bring the patient to another place, “to examine whether the state of paralysis is faked”. After some poking around, they declared: “Paralysis is real”. Today (with us at the scene), those people from the disabled association brought a group of newly recruited interns to demonstrate some methods to the interns such as how to sterilize gauze, etc. After that, they left a few pairs of medical hand gloves (one-time use only) there and went on their way.

Yesterday, I initially made up my mind to take a picture of the mother’s wound carefully without invading her privacy. Today, however, I decided against it. Just by having these photos, it can spoil (overindulge) those people who can’t be trusted – who desperately find other ways to make up for their distrust only after abusing the purpose of these photos. How pitiful and despicable.

Now, I can only hope, wish and pray that this mother’s body still possess some kind of capability, so that the festering could stop, and her lung condition could become better.

*prays* *Ommanibaimeihom*

※This entry is permitted as use for reference for disaster relief purposes only. Reasons other than disaster relief purposes are strictly prohibited for use. Contents of this entry are not to be distributed without permission.

Excerpt from:
Teacher Meng’s blog entry dated 14 September 2010.

Special thanks to our translator: Lai Thin

Children in Hardship

Click here: CHINESE VERSION 华文版本

Delayed this for a day. 

Today, we gathered all our forces and went to CuoDuo Village Primary School in the town of LongBao. Because the amount of supplies is limited, we could only bring some sweaters and children’s hats. However, this brought the school principal headache. With what we brought, he said it was difficult for a fair distribution. Choose the poorer ones to give, you say? Fact is, their situations are not much different. If their children don’t get the supplies, the parents will be dissatisfied. Seeing the principal’s troubled look, we felt bad. Those who haven’t been to a place like this school would not be able to fully understand how bad the situation is. To describe it, the word “suffering” is not inappropriate.

As if being helpless is not enough, there is another thing that is most absurd. In the school’s storage room, sits a bag of summer clothing for the children which the principal said was donated by an organization two months ago. However, they didn’t let the school distribute them to the children, saying that they have to wait until the organization comes together with television film crews and banners. The school waited and it’s now more than two months since. They enquired about the matter a few days ago and the organization replied that they have to wait some more.

In the kitchen, seeing the “food rations” the children brought themselves, the pain that Mr. Wang felt is written all over his face. When we came back at night, he said: “If we didn’t go there, never would’ve thought that things are as bad as that.”

The principal and the teachers told us that they received four donated tents three days ago. The material looks thick, but when it rains, rain leaks through it; when strong wind blows, wind seeps through it.

This tent has just been erected, yet a lot of holes can already be seen. And it wasn’t even properly sewn together in the first place. The principal and teachers didn’t complain, but we felt ashamed of this kind of donors. How could such things happen?

Rain leaks through the tents from cracks of this kind. These cracks could be seen the moment the tents were erected.

Every student stepping on two blocks of red bricks.

To avoid the accumulating water on the floor due to leaking rainwater, to avoid the cold floor, and to prevent students from freezing, the school principal and teachers came up with this “solution” – stacking red bricks under students’ feet.

Because the connecting parts of the tent doesn’t fit, they were forced to leave it be, forming holes, which is useless against preventing the cold and wind. Furthermore, the connecting parts of the supporting brackets have no screws provided, and they were forced to temporarily uphold the tent by wounding it with metal wire. The principal’s feeling of helplessness is far beyond that of the students. When we were discussing about the school’s situation with the principal, coincidentally a parent came to give food to her child, and off we went to look at the children’s meals.

According to the principal, some villages thought of the idea to gather two or three families together to slaughter a yak, therefore some children could finally eat some meat. However, most of them couldn’t. They were worried that the children’s stomach couldn’t take it by having an instant noodle every day. But this is only what the school can do at the moment. For the students who sometimes have no food, the school would make mantou (steamed bread) for them.

All these instant noodles with names are the children’s staple food, therefore the principal is very concerned about the children’s health and nutrition. When we went to look at the school’s “accommodation”, Mr. Wang and YongZhen kept sighing. For a tent that’s supposed to house 12 people for sleeping, it’s now cramped with 24 students and a principal.

This is the principal’s bed, truly a space for one. Because it’s unorganized, the principal said that he lost the phone number that we gave him last time. Other than school matters, he also has to teach three classes because of teacher shortage. Even though he’s sick these few days, he still had to teach. I only found out today that they don’t have normal off days and no weekends. Other than two and a half days of work leave, they have to conduct classes everyday.

This is the bed arrangement, with two children sleeping on every bed.

On the way back from the school, Papa BaMao kept saying: “This principal is good! Good!...” The students are really having a hard time, but they are fortunate to have a good principal who’s willing to endure the hardship together with them.

※This entry is permitted as use for reference for disaster relief purposes only. Reasons other than disaster relief purposes are strictly prohibited for use. Contents of this entry are not to be distributed without permission.

Excerpt from:
Teacher Meng’s blog entry dated 12 September 2010 

Special thanks to our translator: Lai Thin

Schools in Yushu - September 2010

Click here: CHINESE VERSION 华文版本

After doing 15 years of photography, I still don’t like displaying the pictures I’ve taken. From Sichuan to Yushu, tens of thousands of pictures were taken, excluding those that were lost by accident. The photos I’ve taken were rarely shared to the public for various reasons, with few exceptions – i.e. as a gift to the cute people in the photos.

However, after these two days of visiting schools in four different remote rural villages, I have the urge to post the photos here as soon as possible. Reason? You’ll know when you see them. The irony, though, is that when I’m about to post them, the modem failed, no matter how I tried.

Since 7 September, we distributed sweaters to the children in the rural villages, which were donations from Teacher Zhou from Guangzhou and others, because the weather turned cold. The first place that we went was GuoQing Village Primary School (now named ShaoYun Tent School), situated 10 miles from Yushu county. Just when we thought that things would be better since our last visit (almost half a month ago), we were greeted by the sight of broken tents due to heavy rain and wind. The winter is coming and yet the tents were gradually broken. From what we heard, tents for winter use were requested, however no one is sure when they’ll arrive.

 Though the tents look like this, loud reading sounds can still be heard from them.

The classroom which originally houses standard six students were temporarily vacant as six of the students have entered Form 1 in TianJin. The teacher proudly told us that in the recent exams, “Our students finished top, especially in Tibetan language and languages.” “Their drawings were also good,” I added.

The school principal personally took on three levels of Tibetan language classes. The way he accepted the poor conditions, his content and pleasure in his job left us deeply moved.

 The principle and the teachers took a photo in front of the simple and crude school. The teacher at the right come back to teacher immediately after she just done her intravenous drip.

It was raining yesterday since dawn and we were supposed to go to GanDa Village Primary School 20 miles from Gyêgu town. Yet this morning Mr. Wong said “Even though the weather is bad, we still have to go.” After loading the stuff onto the truck, we headed for GanDa. The rain accompanied us throughout the journey, however the mountains on either side of us were covered in snow. And what filled our minds were thoughts of the children in the rain.

Ganda Village Primary School, now named Yushu First Hope Primary School.

Among these tents, only four classes were being used for conducting classes. According to a teacher, the authorities stipulated that no classes be conducted for standard 1 and 2 students because there wasn’t a minimum of 20 students.
“Won’t those children lose the opportunity of going to school?!”
“What to do…” even the teacher sounded helpless.

 These are the dorms of children who were only able to go home once a week.

The best way to stay warm here is still these green military coats only.

We left GanDa and spontaneously decided to go visit villages situated nearby. On the way there, the rain turned into snow and we GenDuoLaMao and his grandmother. After a while, we reached LongBaoCuoDuo Village Primary School, now known as ShaoYun Tent School.

In this school, there are 230 students with only 6 teachers, 4 of which are permanent and the other 2 temporary. 

 Because a lot of students were staying at the school, they had to sleep next to each other in a dorm like this.

The children welcomed us happily even in the windy and snowy weather, even when their floor were filled with water.

Because the children can go home only once a week, they have to bring a week’s worth of food from home to school and keep them in the food storage tent.

Whenever it turned windy, rainy or snowy, the children have their meals in this tent which serves as the canteen. However, the tent is broken and couldn’t shelter them from bad weather.

This is the kitchen and the “chefs”. The mother who’s sitting was sick.

 

The principal and the children waving us goodbye in the windy and snowy weather.

Today (9 September), we heard from the principal of ChanGu Village Primary School that the authorities decided to merge a few schools to boarding schools in the town center. All of us were concerned about the outflow of children from schools. This is because if these students from village primary schools wish to continue schooling, they have to stay at the boarding school dorms. However, it is quite impossible for young children to leave their homes and stay at schools. Also, older children might not be able to stay at boarding schools for other various reasons. In fact, more than a month ago, the principal of GanDa said that he sought out the authorities numerous times and proposed that certain village primary schools be retained so that other children from remote villages could continue schooling. Yet, now we hear of merging schools. If that’s the case, children who are of age to start standard 1 and 2 would most probably lose the opportunity to go to school. As for the other children, they would stop going to school due to accommodation, transport and meal issues. For these nomads, lack of civilization means losing the opportunity for their children to education. Returning from our visit today, our hearts were heavy. Let’s hope that all necessities will be delivered to the children as soon as possible.

※ This entry is permitted as use for reference for disaster relief purposes only. Reasons other than disaster relief purposes are strictly prohibited for use. Contents of this entry are not to be distributed without permission. 

Excerpt from:
Teacher Meng’s blog entry dated 9 September 2010

Special thanks to our translator: Lai Thin