Helping each other after the earthquake

Thank you to all of you for who have continued to think and pray for the survivors of last month’s earthquake in Yuhsu. A few days ago, I met with Nima, the Tibetan Principal of the destroyed Yushu Orphans’ School in Beijing, so here’s the latest news – in brief.

Help Yushu Recover

After the earthquake, seventy-seven children were added to the 208 orphans already in the school. The youngest was just nine months old. Twenty-three of the younger children were sent to neighboring Hebei province. Three of our staff visited those children on June 2nd. The children and their teachers in Yushu have now moved from tents into temporary wood shelters.

Principal Nima told me that the orphans are experiencing emotional problems as a result of the earthquake and need counseling. In addition, he said that about thirty children need help with rehabilitation. He wanted to know about Christian Action’s experience in running Qinghai’s first Children’s Rehabilitation Center in Xining, and he hopes to send older children from the orphan school in Yushu to be translators and receive training in Christian Action’s Rehabilitation Center.

It’s great that we can stand beside Principal Nima as he moves forward after the trauma of the earthquake and at present we are finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding with him and the school.  We are also actively recruiting therapists, purchasing appropriate rehabilitation equipment, and looking into facilities to accommodate the children.

One of the difficulties you could pray about is ease of communication as many of the new Tibetan orphans have limited knowledge of Chinese and there is a shortage of interpreters.  Our Christian Action staff members have been active in organizing activities and building relationships with the children and they’ve been surprised that the children have quickly accepted them.

Importantly, members of our staff have also been offering psychological counseling.  So they also need your prayers for wisdom as they help children who have been affected by the disaster.  Lastly, Nima and his wife need prayer: he has been carrying an enormous load and is under considerable stress. Nima’s wife received 30 stitches to her face and one eye was affected by the earthquake.  She will need plastic surgery.

That’s all for now, but I’ll give you some exciting news of my recent meeting with UNICEF in Beijing and a policy change that will affect all orphans!

God bless you all!

Siew Mei

Help Yushu Recover