NEW YORK – Chinese Christian Herald Crusade Headquarter in New York held a press conference last Sat. to announce the latest develop of the Sichuan disaster relief efforts and the way that the funds were distributed and urged all to continue to support CCHC Sichuan Long-term reconstruction plan.
Rev. Lau, executive director of CCHC, gave a brief report of the disaster relief efforts of CCHC in Sichuan. Immediately after the earthquake struck on May 12, CCHC donated 1 million RMB to assist the victims. This fund was the first donations sent from overseas, so it was very meaningful.
However, Lau expressed that as time pass the world’s passion and concern for the Sichuan disaster relief are beginning to die down, yet reconstructing Sichuan is a long-term process, requiring time, money, materials, human resources, professionalism and determination in order to assist tens of thousands of victims to rebuild their home, comforting their wounded spirits.
The first task in the CCHC’s reconstruction plan is to gather teams of volunteers to go to disaster area for two weeks. The volunteers must complete a training course on “Mental Help” in order to participate in the care of the victims and in the disaster relief efforts, providing long-term assistance to the victims.
According to source, the first team of volunteer will go to Sichuan in Aug.
Then, the staff responsible for CCHC’s fund distribution reported on how the funds were allocated. First, the one million RMB donated immediate after the earthquake struck was used on purchasing emergency medical supplies, sending them directly to the medical stations in the disaster areas. In addition, an additional one million RMB was used to purchase 3,000 wheelchairs in Shanghai, which will be sent to Mianyang District Red Cross in July, distributing them to those handicapped by the earthquake.
In addition, CCHC will use seven million RMB to rebuild an elementary school and a junior high school in Sichuan, estimated to assist about 2,000 students to return to school.
CCHC also plans to send three million RMB more to build a worship hall in the disaster area, allowing the survivors with the wounded hearts to receive comfort. At the same time, they will use two million RMB to promote economical housing plans, instructing the victims on how to rebuild their houses with obtain building materials at low costs and the concept of environmentalism.
Lastly, CCHC has been in contact with local authority in planning to build an orphanage in Sichuan that can fit around 100-150 orphans, giving the orphans who have lost their parents a warm home. Approximately one million RMB will be sent for the initial payment for building fund.
Until now, CCHC has fund-raised about 1.8 million, which is still $400,000 dollars short from the long-term reconstruction plan. For this, they urged everyone from all sectors of the society to continue to support the Sichuan reconstruction plan, helping local victims to quickly rebuild their homes.
[Editor's note: reporte Quan Wei fron New York contributed to this report.]
