A Helping Hand is Like a Timely Rain
▲Hu (right) shares the family kit she got with World Vision staff.
Hu, aged 64, walked to the store room, showing us her two remaining bags of rice. Then she carefully climbed up the wooden staircase all the way to the second floor and picked up the family kit that she got from World Vision not long ago. “The items in this kit are so helpful and I don’t want to use them right now.” she smiled. Her smile was like the warm sunshine in winter, kicking away the darkness in the floor.
Hu lives with her husband in a village located in Taibai Town, Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province. Their two sons and one daughter are all married so they don’t live with them. When Hu was 57 years old, she had a head injury in a serious car accident and the total medical bill cost her RMB270 thousand. Although the driver who was to blame for the accident paid RMB100 thousand as compensation after a lawsuit was filed, the remaining bill needed to be paid by her 3 kids. This put her family in an even worse situation, given the fact that her family was living a hard life in the first place. After the head injury, Hu could only do some simple housework instead of hard physical work and the major source of income of her family depends on her husband’s part-time jobs. “We still can’t afford to repair the house and we built the second floor with wood.” Hu said.
▲Hu (left) tells World Vision staff the situation when the floods hit her house.
“My house was severely flooded back then. The current was so swift and soon rose to the height of an average person. Some of the submerged items in my house were broken and some of them flew away with the floodwater. I was terrified at that time and became ill later, which cost me RMB500 for the medical bill.” she still felt so scared when she recalled that awful memory in the flood.
World Vision decided to distribute a total of RMB2.23 million in relief materials, including 195 tons of rice and 3,360 boxes of household items, in six severely affected villages and towns in Wuyuan County after learning about the disaster on the ground and actively applying for the Hong Kong SAR Government's Disaster Relief Fund. The donation will help local victims relieve the pressure of daily living. When giving Jiangxi Province a total of RMB3.46 million in charitable contributions after the catastrophic flood hit it in 2020, the Hong Kong SAR government is now supporting the catastrophe affected people through World Vision for a second time.
World Vision distributed the first shipment of relief supplies in July and Hu got a bag of rice and a bottle of cooking oil. And this time, she got another two bags of rice and a family kit.
“We have opened the bag and tried the rice inside. It tastes and smells so good and my husband and I love it. Since we don’t eat too much, we still have two bags of rice at the moment.” Hu laughed. “Although I haven’t used the family kit, I have checked the items inside already. There are pots, bowls, tableware, blankets, face masks, etc. All of them are quite useful. Now that it becomes cold, the blanket which feels so soft and warm is ready to be of service soon. Thank you for giving us all these supplies. You’ve been a great help to us.” Hu said.
Later, she began her housework, walking through the kitchen, living room and the backyard. A pot of rice and two delicious dishes were what Hu prepared for her husband who would soon come back from the part-time work.