Log丨On the Way to Disaster Relief
World Vision staff interviewed with the affected children to understand more information about the disaster.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
The day before, my colleagues knew that I would go to Hunan for needs assessment the next day, and they wished me a safe journey and all the best! With my colleagues' care and wishes, I took the flight from Nanning to Changsha at noon that day. Upon arrival in Changsha, I and my colleague in charge of disaster relief went to Suining County of Shaoyang City without a stop along with the leaders of Hunan Charity Federation. After a five-hour drive, we finally reached Suining County at 19:30.
World Vision also carried out flood relief activities in Suining County in 2009, when it mainly distributed rice down to the survivors and helped them to build houses, benefiting nearly 6,000 people. Mr. Long, Secretary of Suining County Civil Affairs Bureau still remembered the aid from World Vision that year. This was my first visit to Suining County, but it felt very cordial to me when I heard about Mr. Long talking about the participation of World Vision in rescue that year.
Sunday, June 17, 2019
According to the local weather forecast, there will be another round of rain next week. Accompanied by the leaders of the provincial charity federation and the county charity federation, we went to three severely-stricken villages in Suining County to learn about the disaster situation. The local infrastructure was badly damaged, several civilian bridges washed out, the roads damaged and the dams destroyed. The flooded crops were buried in the mud in a wide range. The tomato sheds and pepper sheds were destroyed. Farmer's houses are also in a mess, with the furniture, beds and quilts to be cleaned or treated. The mud, sand and stones left by the flood in the houses also need to be cleaned up.
The rainstorms and the mud destroyed all the furniture of a farmer's house and buried the house one meter below. Her family's rice crop was flooded and her hard work yielded nothing. At present, her family is staying with a relative next door. She felt helpless in the face of the mud that had buried her house. What she wants to do most for now is to clean up her house and repair it. She could not help shed tears as she recalled what happened that day.
Monday, June 18, 2019
Today, I went to another county to learn about the disaster situation. After going to the countryside these two days, I learned that the survivors were in need of quilts and rice. For now, some survivors have begun to resume production, and some are actively cleaning their belongings and trying to return to the life before the disaster.
On the way back, the question how to help the survivors always haunted me. I hope I can do what I can to bring some comfort, care and support to the survivors.
(Written by Addie Liao)