Friday and Update from HTS

Busy morning. Sams, Wal-mart (and if you know me, you know I hate to go to Wal-mart!), trying to get everything bought for the birthday party. I hope tonight will be a good, slow night at work since I have a feeling I am going to be exhausted.

I just read the Half the Sky update and wanted to share it. While we complain about gas prices, food prices, government, etc. (and I'm guilty too), these people want to find their families. Children newly orphaned, parents that have lost their only child. We have little to complain about.

Friends,

I dearly wish I had more good news to report. The very best thing I can tell you is that we have not had a single report of injuries from the welfare institutions. As of this morning (Friday) there were 19,509 people confirmed dead. The State Council today said there will likely be more than 50,000. Today’s government report describes one terrible scene after another: thousands homeless, thousands missing, thousands injured, thousands trapped or buried alive. Hope for survivors is dimming. There is an urgent call for body bags to prevent the spread of disease. There have been over 4,400 aftershocks.

HTS Director, Child Development, Ma Lang has arrived in Chengdu and sends this note: I am deeply touched by your moral and emotional support. I only slept two of the past thirty hours. The first thing I did after landing was to donate some medicine to the Chengdu Red Cross. It was very much appreciated – exactly what was needed. They gave me a wish list for further donations: antibiotics for children and adults, medicine for diarrhea, cold capsules (not instant medicines that must be mixed in water), bandages, gauze, tape, iodine, cotton swabs, herbal medicine to stop bleeding and some for pain relief. Other much-needed donations include tents, tarpaulins, warm clothes and shoes. People in Chengdu are doing everything they can to help with the earthquake rescue. I saw al lsorts of vehicles carrying things to the donation centers. I registered for blood donation and was put on the waiting list – the blood center was overloaded with donated blood and it’s difficult to transport the blood to the hardest-hit areas. More to come… Lang
Here is the confirmed information we have regarding welfare institutions: The following institutions not mentioned in yesterday’s note suffered no serious damage:
Chengdu 2nd SWI, Chengdu 3rd SWI, Ziyang SWI, Neijing CWI, Chengdu SOS children’s village, Leshan SWI, Ganzi CWI, Guang’an SWI, Suining SWI
The following report damage, but, again, no injuries. Your generous donations will help meet all of these requests for assistance: Bazhon CWI – Severe damage to building; children are fine. Meishan SWI – Cracks in buildings, have evacuated all children (50+) to tents. They have adequate food, water and clothes but request 20 cribs and bedding. Guangyuan SWI – Damaged buildings, all children have been in tents for 4-5 days, often in the blazing sun. They request food, baby formula water, diapers, bedding and other daily necessities. They urgently need drugs and food supplements to protect against disease and heat stroke. Nanchong SWI – There was substantial damage to buildings, all children (100+, more than half under 6 years-old) are living in tents. They need more tents, disposable diapers, children’s clothing, wagons, cribs and bedding. Deyang CWI – Dormitory for school-age children was severely damaged. Although the other buildings seem fine, pending inspection, all children and staff have been moved to tents. There has been constant rain and much that was pulled from the buildings has been ruined. They request bedding and children’s clothing. They still have disposable diapers left from our assistance during the winter storms but will be running out of those as well as infant formula in the coming days. Mianyang Zitong CWI (update) – Children have been moved back from themilitary base to a safe building in the institution. There is adequate food and water but they request clothes, bedding, infant formula, diapers and medicine for colds. They are now caring for 66 children, 23 of them under 2 years. Sadly, 24 new orphans – earthquake survivors - arrived at the institution yesterday. We are still unable to reach these orphanages: Abazhou CWI (52 children)and Mianzhu SWI Please give what you can to help the children who survive go on with their lives. If you would like to donate to Half the Sky’s Children’s Earthquake Fund, it would be great if you would do so at Global Giving. My apologies for giving incorrect information yesterday; the Ford Motor Company is generously matching EMPLOYEE gifts to Global Giving, not ALL! Still, it is an easy and convenient way to make a donation and helps HTS by handling processing of your gifts. Now maybe some other corporation would like to step up and match ALL donations?! http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html If you prefer to donate directly to Half the Sky, of course that’s fine. Here are the various ways: You can donate by calling Half the Sky (+1 510525 3377) or on our website:http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund
Thank you for your tremendous support. Although it is heartbreaking to write these reports, we are so honored to be in a position to help during this terrible time.
with love,
Jenny
Jenny Bowen
Executive Director Half the Sky Foundation