Update on Relief Efforts
Trip Start
May 07, 2008
1
13
15
Trip End
May 24, 2008
Chengdu,
China
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The day Monday was spent shopping for supplies for both a childrens' center at a refugee camp as well as purchasing supplies for a small village that was decimated by the quake. Monday evening was spent packing all of the supplies for taking up to both areas yesterday.
There was a bit of a scare on Monday evening because it was rumored that a 8.0 earthquake was supposed to hit during the night. We slept in the apartment in our clothes and had bags packed to grab on the way out but thank God all was fine. There was a mass exodus out of the city by some residents.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit the refugee camp and then the small village with 3 other women to deliver the supplies we had purchased on Monday. There are about 1300 residents in the village. The village elder met us and the village was excited to meet the wives of the men they had previously met on previous visits. Since it was a group of women, we focused on nurturing both the women and ids. We played games with the kids, taught them a simple song about hygiene, did some crafts, sang some songs and then I played frisbee with a boy for about a half an hour. It was a wonderful time. It is amazing to see the happiness on the kids' faces in the midst of all of the destruction around them.
Today, more suplies are being purchased to take up to the same refugee camp and village. Chris is planning one more trip up there tomorrow and then on Friday we will be packing and getting ready for our flight back to the States on Saturday. Getting our tickets changed from Kunming to Chengdu for the return flight to Beijing ended up being more troublesome and expensive than just purchasing new tickets from Chengdu to Beijing. Go figure.
Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We are looking forward to sharing our experiences and pictures with you when we return.
Love, Wendy for al the Tueys
