GlobalGiving China Recovery and Rebuilding Fund Update July 28, 2008

Thanks to continued support and donations from the GlobalGiving community, we have made emergency grants to three of our partners in China during the critical months following the earthquake. Millions of families are still affected and the recovery stage is currently underway. Our partners continue to support Chinese communities, helping to rebuild schools and homes, provide children with long term medical care and provide counseling to survivors. Below are updates from the two organizations that have received your generous donations:

Half the Sky Children’s Earthquake Relief Fund

The fund has provided emergency shelter, food and medical care for children orphaned by the earthquake. The Children Activity center in the Dujiangyan refugee camp has become a magnet for children, a place where they can play and share even their most troubling earthquake experiences. The volunteers and staff have provided “psychological first aid” for the children, working together with professionals at a Sichuan University hospital. They have also helped with various other projects, helping to distribute toys, fixing drainage problems in the collapsed Juyuan Middle School, and most importantly, providing support to the children survivors.

Half the Sky is beginning to find new ways to provide relief and recovery from the disaster. The organization is firmly committed to helping the newly orphaned and displaced children of Sichuan heal. Right now, the Blue Sky provincial training program is underway in Hubei Province. Over 100 caregivers from welfare institutions are being trained in trauma recovery.

Half the Sky would like to tell its donors, “Now, as the Sichuan story fades from the news, we are even more grateful that you continue to remember the children whose struggle is just beginning.”

ActionAid- Earthquake Response for Rural Communities

ActionAid is based in Pengzhou, in Sichuan province, one of the worst-hit areas by the earthquake. Their main focus is on rural villagers who were often overlooked by relief efforts. To meet the immediate needs of the rural villagers, ActionAid's emergency team sends food, water, flashlights and hundreds of tents to Huangcheng Village and Yonghua Village. In Yonghua Village, where the majority of its 2,800 villagers were left homeless after the earthquake, the government was able to supply only 10 tents. ActionAid focuses on bridging the gaps between what is available and what is needed.

As many of the harvests begin, ActionAid is gearing up to provide long-term recovery to ensure the safety and self-sufficiency of these rural communities. This includes providing farmers with seed and other agricultural resources. One farmer says, “The wheat harvest will start in a couple days, and hopefully, we can rebuild our village.”