We held a disaster awareness meeting in our apartment before we went to Sichuan. About 35 people came. Ten of them later joined us as volunteers in Sichuan.
Upon arriving in Chengdu, Lilian and Madeleine receive their ratings for behavior on the airplane.
Our second day in Sichuan and I (Phil) went with a group of volunteers to MZ, a city in the earthquake zone. Here they are being dropped off at the local church, which also acts as a center for disaster relief efforts.
The church itself was heavily damaged by the earthquake. Anglicans started the church in 1894 and built the current building in 1923.
Rubble from the damaged facade fills the courtyard in front of the main entrance.
People whose homes were damaged live in the church's side courtyard. Rice is cooked as you see here, over a wood fire in a big bucket.
Disaster relief supplies and volunteers fill the interior of the church.
This girl's grandmother wanted Russ to take her back with him because she said she couldn't raise her.
A house on church property, damaged.
This town sits at the very foot of the mountains. It was utterly destroyed.
Tent schools had been set up so students could finish out the school year.
Many farmhouses by the mountains suffered like this one.
Workers were busily constructing villages of prefabricated housing to get ready for the winter.
We visited a tent school in WT but the students were off for the weekend.
The tent school was set up next to a kindergarden that had its second story collapse.
One teacher and one student died.
The kids who were around were happy to see Lily and Maddie.
Back in Chengdu, Maddie had fun playing with the camping equipment piled in the office.
She also enjoyed running her own little store on the playground.
Life in the Chengdu office.
Back visiting MZ again, eating lunch prepared by ladies who live in the church courtyard.
Walls in the earthquake zone are rated on how safe they are. The MZ church is still standing, barely.
Scouting locations to hold a summer camp.
The kids at this location were proud of their puppies.
We find a spot for our first summer camp.
The kids at this location were proud of their puppies.
We find a spot for our first summer camp.
The volunteers discuss the events of the day.
Breakfast - noodles or wonton soup. It was always wonton soup for me.
Pots of hot pepper sitting out to cure. It is Sichuan, after all.
Many people in MZ were skittish about going indoors to shop, so the shopkeepers set up in tents by the road. It actually gave the town a very nice atmosphere.
The view going out to the first summer camp site.
The summer camp site.
Some buildings in MZ seemed to be only slightly damaged while others, like this police station, were hit much harder. An earthquake really shows which buildings were well built and which were not.
The running water in MZ all comes from fire hydrants. The normal water supply systems were destroyed.
Back for a rest in Chengdu. Fun with Maddie at Ikea.
Madeleine practices being a middle-aged Chinese man by hiking her shirt up over her belly to stay cool, like the guy in the background is doing.
Lunch with a team that's come back into Chengdu for a rest before going back out into the earthquake zone.
Hanging out in the Chengdu office.
We got to see Dave and Fan Fan Wainer and their kids. I lived with Dave for a while when we were in college.
Preparing for the first summer camp in the countryside near MZ. Tables are expensive and too small, so we bought a sheet of plywood and made our own.
Ready for class.
A building by the summer camp site.
Bringing in the greens.
The calm before the storm...the teachers enjoy lunch before camp begins in the afternoon.
J. drew a watch on this little girl's wrist and soon all the kids decided they needed watches drawn on their wrists.
Camp registration. Registration included all students being given English names.
Learning the camp theme song.
English game - when you hear a word, be the first to run up and hit it with your plastic bottle.
In MZ town ducks are being prepared for market.
The UN didn't give out many tents in the MZ area but theirs were certainly the coolest-looking tents.
Rapeseed/canola seed drying before being pressed for oil.
The people whose home we held the camp at prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the teachers every day. Because of police regulations I had to stay in town and commute out to the campsite everyday so I never ate breakfast there, but the others said breakfast was the same as lunch and dinner.
The younger class. The walls were cracked but we decided the building was safe enough to hold class in.
Students returned home every afternoon after class was over.
Getting water from the well. A bucket was attached to the end of the bamboo pole.
The teachers from English Camp 1.
A fruit stand in MZ. It was grape season and the area has a lot of grapes. They also have a lot of wine factories.
A market in the small town we passed through every day to get to Summer Camp 1. That's a load of chilies.
Baby Duck Mart. For those of you who feel bad for the baby ducks, you can pretend they will all be sold to loving homes as pets.
Kids from the younger class at Summer Camp 1.
Back in Chengdu, a team from Xi'an has arrived.
The countryside may be poor but Chengdu isn't. That's a Ferrari and a Mercedes limo there. The guy's other Mercedeses and his Rolls Royce were away this day.
The Xi'an team prepares to leave and run Summer Camp 2.
Lilian was sorry to see them go.
Peter's Tex Mex was our favorite place to relax in Chengdu. We recommend their burritos.
Back in MZ. That was my life, shuttling back and forth between Chengdu and MZ. This wreath stands on the spot where a building collapsed and, presumably, at least one person was killed.
A building just down the road from the hotel I always stayed at.
Tent city on the public square. The first time I arrived in MZ the square was packed with tents. By the time I left a month later they were mostly gone, their occupants having moved into prefab housing or back into their old homes.
The view from Summer Camp 2.
The view of Summer Camp 2 site. This place was well away from the mountains and so hadn't sustained much noticable damage at all.
The teachers before starting their third day of Summer Camp 2, looking a bit less chipper than when they left Chengdu.
Singing the camp theme song
More singing.
F. speaks softly but carries a medium-sized stick.
Sichuan has a lot of ducks.
Scouting for a site for Summer Camp 3. This ended up being it.
Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony party!
Julie visits Summer Camp 2.
Last day of Summer Camp 2.
Julie visits the site for Summer Camp 3.
Mountains over MZ. Usually it was hot and hazy but on this day the skies cleared. Note the close attention everyone gives to double yellow lines.
Back in Chengdu.
Preparing for Summer Camp 3. One class outside under the tent, another class in a room walled in with bamboo matting that was put up after the earthquake. This home, though still standing, was far too dangerous to hold classes in.
Teachers preparing their lessons.
Pumpkins hang off the vines growing over the wall. In Chinese they're called pumpkins anyway.
Dinner is served.
The older class in their hot classroom. 
The younger class in their classroom. The teachers slept in the two tents in the background.
Students head home for the evening.
Rice enough for everyone.
Brother and sister.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes.
The guardians of the bathroom door (stage right).
The thrill of victory.
The lady of the house brings in the pigs' food.
Stuck after class due to a thunderstorm, teacher and students play a baffling hand slapping singing game.
The view from Summer Camp 3 after the thunderstorm passed.
An averagely-loaded truck. It was impossible to tell how much of the damage to the roads was due to the earthquake and how much was due to all the heavy earthquake-relief trucks rumbling over it afterwards.
The principal poses under the school sign. Translation: "Putting Love Into Action English Summer Camp." I'm sure there's a better way to translate those first four characters but it's after 1 a.m. and I can't think of anything better right now.
The walk up to the camp site.
Our gracious hostess. I could hardly understand a word she said but she was nice. She spoke Sichuanese, which is significantly different from Mandarin. Even some of our teachers couldn't understand her and the kids when they'd speak.
The older class meets for its last day of classes.
Our host enjoys some time with his Bible during his midday break from working in the fields (or wherever it was he went to work during the mornings and afternoons).
Our principal teaches the younger class how to make a wordless book out of beads.
The older class sings the songs they've learned during the week.
The younger class responds in kind.
And then they all sing together.
Sunday morning in MZ. Three fifths of the church's facade is gone, which is a shame because it was really a nice-looking building. Since the earthquake attendence has swelled to far more than the building could hold, if it was safe enough to hold anyone at all, which it isn't. I think they will repair this building to use as something else and build a new, larger, more earthquake-resistant church elsewhere on the property.
The volunteers leave MZ for the time being. Most are students and need to get back to school.
A view of a prefab village. People have just begun to move in. It's not the most attractive of environments but it is better than a tent.
There are still people living in tents but they have the option to leave and move into the prefab places if they want to.
Back in Chengdu, and some pictures of my girls to end this post.
Oh, and one last thing. At Chinese airports they'll take away your cigarette lighters at the security check, just like in the US. But unlike the US, they take those lighters and put them at the baggage claim so when you are leaving the airport you can just grab a free lighter right away. China is a very smoker-friendly country.
Breakfast - noodles or wonton soup. It was always wonton soup for me.
Pots of hot pepper sitting out to cure. It is Sichuan, after all.
Many people in MZ were skittish about going indoors to shop, so the shopkeepers set up in tents by the road. It actually gave the town a very nice atmosphere.
The view going out to the first summer camp site.
The summer camp site.
Some buildings in MZ seemed to be only slightly damaged while others, like this police station, were hit much harder. An earthquake really shows which buildings were well built and which were not.
The running water in MZ all comes from fire hydrants. The normal water supply systems were destroyed.
Back for a rest in Chengdu. Fun with Maddie at Ikea.
Madeleine practices being a middle-aged Chinese man by hiking her shirt up over her belly to stay cool, like the guy in the background is doing.
Lunch with a team that's come back into Chengdu for a rest before going back out into the earthquake zone.
Hanging out in the Chengdu office.
We got to see Dave and Fan Fan Wainer and their kids. I lived with Dave for a while when we were in college.
Preparing for the first summer camp in the countryside near MZ. Tables are expensive and too small, so we bought a sheet of plywood and made our own.
Ready for class.
A building by the summer camp site.
Bringing in the greens.
The calm before the storm...the teachers enjoy lunch before camp begins in the afternoon.
J. drew a watch on this little girl's wrist and soon all the kids decided they needed watches drawn on their wrists.
Camp registration. Registration included all students being given English names.
Learning the camp theme song.
English game - when you hear a word, be the first to run up and hit it with your plastic bottle.
In MZ town ducks are being prepared for market.
The UN didn't give out many tents in the MZ area but theirs were certainly the coolest-looking tents.
Rapeseed/canola seed drying before being pressed for oil.
The people whose home we held the camp at prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the teachers every day. Because of police regulations I had to stay in town and commute out to the campsite everyday so I never ate breakfast there, but the others said breakfast was the same as lunch and dinner.
The younger class. The walls were cracked but we decided the building was safe enough to hold class in.
Students returned home every afternoon after class was over.
Getting water from the well. A bucket was attached to the end of the bamboo pole.
The teachers from English Camp 1.
A fruit stand in MZ. It was grape season and the area has a lot of grapes. They also have a lot of wine factories.
A market in the small town we passed through every day to get to Summer Camp 1. That's a load of chilies.
Baby Duck Mart. For those of you who feel bad for the baby ducks, you can pretend they will all be sold to loving homes as pets.
Kids from the younger class at Summer Camp 1.
Back in Chengdu, a team from Xi'an has arrived.
The countryside may be poor but Chengdu isn't. That's a Ferrari and a Mercedes limo there. The guy's other Mercedeses and his Rolls Royce were away this day.
The Xi'an team prepares to leave and run Summer Camp 2.
Lilian was sorry to see them go.
Peter's Tex Mex was our favorite place to relax in Chengdu. We recommend their burritos.
Back in MZ. That was my life, shuttling back and forth between Chengdu and MZ. This wreath stands on the spot where a building collapsed and, presumably, at least one person was killed.
A building just down the road from the hotel I always stayed at.
Tent city on the public square. The first time I arrived in MZ the square was packed with tents. By the time I left a month later they were mostly gone, their occupants having moved into prefab housing or back into their old homes.
The view from Summer Camp 2.
The view of Summer Camp 2 site. This place was well away from the mountains and so hadn't sustained much noticable damage at all.
The teachers before starting their third day of Summer Camp 2, looking a bit less chipper than when they left Chengdu.
Singing the camp theme song
More singing.
F. speaks softly but carries a medium-sized stick.
Sichuan has a lot of ducks.
Scouting for a site for Summer Camp 3. This ended up being it.
Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony party!
Julie visits Summer Camp 2.
Last day of Summer Camp 2.
Julie visits the site for Summer Camp 3.
Mountains over MZ. Usually it was hot and hazy but on this day the skies cleared. Note the close attention everyone gives to double yellow lines.
Back in Chengdu.
Preparing for Summer Camp 3. One class outside under the tent, another class in a room walled in with bamboo matting that was put up after the earthquake. This home, though still standing, was far too dangerous to hold classes in.
Teachers preparing their lessons.
Pumpkins hang off the vines growing over the wall. In Chinese they're called pumpkins anyway.
Dinner is served.
The older class in their hot classroom. 
The younger class in their classroom. The teachers slept in the two tents in the background.
Students head home for the evening.
Rice enough for everyone.
Brother and sister.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes.
The guardians of the bathroom door (stage right).
The thrill of victory.
The lady of the house brings in the pigs' food.
Stuck after class due to a thunderstorm, teacher and students play a baffling hand slapping singing game.
The view from Summer Camp 3 after the thunderstorm passed.
An averagely-loaded truck. It was impossible to tell how much of the damage to the roads was due to the earthquake and how much was due to all the heavy earthquake-relief trucks rumbling over it afterwards.
The principal poses under the school sign. Translation: "Putting Love Into Action English Summer Camp." I'm sure there's a better way to translate those first four characters but it's after 1 a.m. and I can't think of anything better right now.
The walk up to the camp site.
Our gracious hostess. I could hardly understand a word she said but she was nice. She spoke Sichuanese, which is significantly different from Mandarin. Even some of our teachers couldn't understand her and the kids when they'd speak.
The older class meets for its last day of classes.
Our host enjoys some time with his Bible during his midday break from working in the fields (or wherever it was he went to work during the mornings and afternoons).
Our principal teaches the younger class how to make a wordless book out of beads.
The older class sings the songs they've learned during the week.
The younger class responds in kind.
And then they all sing together.
Sunday morning in MZ. Three fifths of the church's facade is gone, which is a shame because it was really a nice-looking building. Since the earthquake attendence has swelled to far more than the building could hold, if it was safe enough to hold anyone at all, which it isn't. I think they will repair this building to use as something else and build a new, larger, more earthquake-resistant church elsewhere on the property.
The volunteers leave MZ for the time being. Most are students and need to get back to school.
A view of a prefab village. People have just begun to move in. It's not the most attractive of environments but it is better than a tent.
There are still people living in tents but they have the option to leave and move into the prefab places if they want to.
Back in Chengdu, and some pictures of my girls to end this post.
Oh, and one last thing. At Chinese airports they'll take away your cigarette lighters at the security check, just like in the US. But unlike the US, they take those lighters and put them at the baggage claim so when you are leaving the airport you can just grab a free lighter right away. China is a very smoker-friendly country.
3 comments:
ok,here i am again.mandy!i've been wondering what u doing.i'm so touched that u went to sichuan.sigh.i hope to see u soon!
great 2 c what u guys have been up 2 for the last mo - we just got back stateside & started taking baby classes, wow what a change from life in asia...crissy's just back from xi'an too - we'll be n touch, thx 4 keepin us all in the loop!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting all those pics! It was great to see what your time in Sichuan was like. What an amazing opportunity!
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