Change for China

Schools in rural areas of China were extremely unstable even before the earthquake

Sichuan is a beautiful province in China with gorgeous green mountains filled with waterfalls, monkeys and ma la, also known as “the numbing spice,” which gives Chinese food its famous zest. Four years ago I spent a summer in rural Sichuan, hiking the mountains with a medical team, working with the indigenous Yi children and learning about their culture as well as my own, as a Chinese American.

Recently, Asia has been devastated by both a powerful earthquake in Sichuan and a cyclone in Myanmar. On May 2, 2008, a cyclone tore through Myanmar with winds as high as 121 miles per hour, killing in excess of 20,000 people and leaving more than one million homeless.

Ten days later, on May 12, an earthquake registering at 7.9 on the Richter Scale hit the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, China. It is estimated that at least 55,000 have been killed, 247,000 injured and more than five million have been left homeless.

Upon hearing of the devastation in Asia, my mind immediately jumped to the faces of the children and friends I made during my travels. I wondered whether my friends were okay, whether their houses made of sticks and mud could withstand an earthquake. Were their farms (their only means of earning money) durable enough? Many of my friends lived in areas deep in the mountains. Would someone be able to find and help them if their area was affected?

Although the area that I travelled through was safe, it’s scary to think of the thousands of lives that were destroyed or changed forever by these devastating natural disasters. Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed by the disasters that happen around the world, but from working at Free The Children I’ve come to realize that we’re never as powerless as we think.

Recently, it has come to light that an estimated 10,000 children were killed due to the collapsing of old, unstable schools in China’s rural areas. Although the schools in wealthier urban areas were able to withstand the force of the earthquake, the schools in the rural areas were so poorly constructed that they began caving in due to the force. Free The Children works in rural areas of China to build sturdier schools so that young people throughout the country, regardless of their economic position, can attend safe schools.

To help heal China’s wounds, students across North America are taking part in Free The Children’s Change for China campaign, raising money to provide health kits, medical supplies, food relief and school repairs for the areas affected. Although Free The Children’s mandate is to empower communities through long-term sustainable development, our work in the nearby Gansu province makes us well-positioned to provide immediate aid to citizens of Sichuan.

You, too, can get involved! By supporting Change for China or Adopt a Village campaigns in China you can help your peers overseas rebuild their lives.

It doesn’t matter who we are, how old we are, how much money we have or how insurmountable the problems we face seem. We all have the power to make a difference. Join Free The Children’s efforts today and help give hope to your friends in China and throughout the globe.

Aileen Tsao
International Youth Coordinator

Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network.