Dec 08 -Jan -2009

31st January 2009

Earthquake Relief and Rebuilding Project

Post-Earthquake Material Support

Just prior to Spring Festival DORS supplied 28 particularly poor earthquake-survivor households in Maping, Moduo, and Chalin Villages as well as the county town of Fulin with some “festivities materials” for the biggest holiday of the year, Spring Festival, namely:  rice, oil, pork, candy, and some nutrition-boosting convenient food.  Of these 28 households, 8.5 were supported by Charities Aid Foundation of Australia together with World Relief, and 19.5 households were supported by various individual donors to DORS for earthquake relief.  We greatly thank these warmhearted donors for their donation.  With their care and support we were able to help these earthquake-affected households in hardship celebrate a happier, more bountiful Spring Festival.

Above left photo: Delivering New Year’s gifts in Moduo Village.  Right: Chalin Village senior citizen with New Year’s gifts delivered by DORS, supported by CAF and World Relief.

PCD (Partners for Community Development)

In December and January DORS monitored Moduo, Chalin, and Maping villages’ progress in distributing the materials for rebuilding.  In the last two months we visited all four villages, surveying to what extent or how well the villagers had received their allocated materials, and the condition of the houses being rebuilt or repaired. We also frequently kept in touch by phone to come to understand the latest materials needs and other needs to be accomodated.  In Moduo, we picked up their chart of how many materials each family had received and paid a portion of the materials fees due to their purchasers; in Hejiang, we discussed their implementation plan as well as confirming how the funds would be allocated.

MercyCorps

MercyCorps organization is currently helping DORS provide post-earthquake care to five originally poor primary schools in Hanyuan.  Current progress includes: the basketball court/cemented playground area for Wanli Central School is completed, inspected and approved, and the costs to the school entirely reimbursed by DORS; DORS’ volunteer in Chengdu, Zhang Ling, purchased library books and had them delivered to Hanyuan, and according to plan DORS had these delivered to Hongshuisanjiu school and Wanlin village school.  This project’s sporting equipment has been entirely delivered to various schools; the computers, blackboards for mobile classrooms, desks and chairs, TVs, DVDs and stands have been inspected, paid for, and now are all being used.  In between we went and inspected, replaced faulty supplies and now everything is in regular use.  This includes Wanli Village School’s desks and chairs—because the road conditions going to the school are very poor, in the course of two times delivering them, a few were damaged each time.  But the supplier exchanged the damaged ones twice, and the third time all was well.  By the end of January we had completely inspected all materials that can be bought at this time, and because they were satisfactory, paid all the bills for them. The only remaining purchases to be made are the multimedia equipment (projectors, etc.), and psychosocial equipment (books, sporting equipment, etc.) for Tangjia School, which we plan to do once they are finished constructing new rooms/facilities to house these, and we can directly install them there.  Photo:  Industriously installing new computers in Fuchun’s antiquated but very carefully-preserved computer lab.

Rural Energy Project

Charities Aid Foundation

Charities Aid Foundation’s fuel-efficient stoves and biogas construction project has completed 80 stoves and the construction of 22 biogas systems thus far of a total 400 stoves and 150 biogas for this project.  Recent notable progress includes:

We went to inspect the condition of Wanjia village’s stoves so far.  They have completed 40 of the 53 stoves they had planned for this project, influenced by the earthquake that means rebuilding some houses first.  Ranmo’s demonstration stoves are finished, and have been completely evaluated, confirming there are no problems.  7 of Ranmo’s biogas containers are completed—they just await rangetop installation to be useable.  In addition, considerable training has been done by DORS technical trainer Bai Shihai in Moduo, Hejiang, Chalin, Ranmo and Daying villages.   These training sessions are designed to let new owners of biogas systems know how to safely use and maintain them, as well as raise the residents’ environmental consciousness to a new level.  We hope through the construction of fuel-efficient stoves and biogas as well as the training to encourage everyone to construct more, thus benefitting both oneself and the environment, but also, hopefully to let everyone consider new ways we all can conserve the environment in our daily lives. 

Finally, DORS’ technical trainer went to the villages to train new technicians in the construction of fuel-efficient stoves and biogas.  In the end, 16 villagers were trained in the construction of biogas systems and 8 in the construction of fuel-efficient stoves.  All 8 stoves trainees can now independently construct them, but of the biogas trainees, currently just 3, because it is harder.  This is a work in progress.  Recently we entered the winter freezing weather period when cement work construction in the villages must stop.  Planning, contract signing, training, and evaluation continues, however.

Left Photo:  DORS staff Zhang Guangtao inspecting stove in Wanjia with the help of owner, baby on back. 
Right Photo:  Carrying home firewood in Wanjia.  Now this work will be lessened by 1/3 to 1/2 for new stove owners.

Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)

Last year Worldwide Fund for Nature’s Chengdu office invited DORS to survey two villages for them in Ganluo county, near Ma’anshan Nature Preserve, on their impact on the preserve and what could be done about it.   DORS did this.  In December WWF followed up by inviting DORS to submit a proposal for implementing the planned fuel-efficient stoves project in two of these villages, Bobo and Naituo Villages in Bobo township.  This DORS did.  The proposal was to build 40 fuel-efficient stoves in Bobo and Naituo.  In January DORS also met with Ma’anshan Preserve’s leaders, hoping to establish the details of the project in consultation with everybody.  We met with village and hamlet leaders too to determine a namelist of those who could first build demonstration stoves.

Global Fund for Children

DORS is currently preparing a namelist of supportees for middle school, high school and vocational school for Global Children’s Fund, and deciding on a village primary school in which to implement the library.

Contacts, Visits and Donor News

Fuchun Central School, one of the beneficiaries of the MercyCorps project through DORS, came to visit DORS shortly before the turn of the gregorian New Year with fruit and a red thank-you banner for the support provided.  Thank-you in turn to MercyCorps who provided the funds.  Fuchun School’s leaders truly throw their heart into their work for their students and teachers, so it is a pleasure to work with them.

In January Shiquan Village’s Party Secretary Li and the village leader gave a thank-you banner to DORS to express their approval of DORS’ work in Shiquan these years.  We surely thank the village leaders and villagers for their cooperation and support—because of them our work goes smoothly.  Heartfelt thanks also to Nanjing Zijinshan Obervatory’s astronomer and scholar Mr. Xiong Darun, along with friends in the astronomy field—with their help we are able to help the people of Shiquan Village.  Photo:  Shiquan Village leaders giving the banner to the DORS office.

In January we received Tu Qing Fan of Hubei’s ￥300 donation as well as Li Wei of Chengdu’s ￥200 donation.  The continuous voluntary support of numerous individuals of our work is a source of unending encouragement.

DORS News and Information

As DORS, Hanyuan and the entire country gear up for a week or two of rest and relaxation from the year’s worth of labors (and what a year this has been!), DORS’ entire team gratefully wishes you and yours an exciting Lunar New Year, a wonderful time with family, and all things new with the coming of spring!