China: An Aid Worker’s Diary - Part 2
By Lily LI (World Vision communicator)
August 7th
It was bound to be a day full of aftershocks. I met a group of lovely children when our relief team arrived at Laowuji community in Lijiashan Village, Huodehong Township. Despite having lost their homes in the recent earthquake that shock Yunnan Province, these children were playing around the heaps of ruins, smiling at when their eyes caught my camera. They were excited to receive the child friendly kits from World Vision that day.
I asked one of the boys if he had any particular difficulties right now. He answered resolutely, shaking his head while saying, “no.” Right behind him there was a coffin, in it lies his grandfather.
Another girl I met looked nervous and intensed. Her father said his daughter has been screaming every night, awoken by dreadful dreams since the earthquake. Their house had completely collapsed. Next to the debris, there was a mess of pots and bowls borrowed for conducting funerals for dead relatives. Besides a few potatoes, they had nothing to eat.
Since this is a remote village, relief goods are yet to arrive the day I arrived. The adults here stayed up almost every night, for fear of aftershocks. On the night of the earthquake there was a downpour. Villagers set up temporary tents with plastic cloth, standing up throughout the night, battered by wind and rain.
While I was taking photos in front of collapsed houses, an elderly villager quickly approached me and advised that I leave the scene with concerns of an aftershock. In his hoarse but concerned voice he said, “I just don’t want to see anything happening to anyone again.”
The weather was scorching during noon. Despite water shortage, villagers brought us bottles of mineral water to relieve our thirst. We didn’t take any but I will carry their sincerity in my heart for a long time.
When we were in the village, we often met affected people coming to us saying “thank you.” They knew we traveled a long way, this made them feel they are not being forgotten in these challenging times. But I personally think what we did was menial compared to the pain of loss and suffering that are weighing down on them.
Due to logistical challenges and security, our car was not allowed to go deeper into the mountains. When we thought we would have to walk for two hours, two kind-hearted villagers came forward to offer us a ride on their motorycles. It took us almost one hour biking through the mountains before we reached our destination. The journey was graced with dust and mud, turning even our drivers' eyebrows grey. When offered a token, they wouldn’t receive any from us, not even for the gasoline. All I could utter was a mere 'thank you' from the depths of my heart.
On our way back from Ludian County to Zhaotong City, dark clouds gathered in the skies. It was about to rain. I knew from this moment that in my heart there is now a special place for the people of Laowuji community. Whatever happens in the future dear villagers, please be strong and take good care.