About The Project
The China Quake project offers an exciting, innovative and interactive approach to disaster relief.
The goal: Rebuild an entire village of 55 homes destroyed by the recent China earthquake.
The innovation: Choose a family to “adopt” and watch your gift bring hope and a new home to a family who has lost everything. Throughout the course of the project, we’ll provide you with video updates, blogs and other real time feedback, including a personal video message from your adopted family!
Background: Within hours of the devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck China on May 12, 2008, Operation Blessing China staff members were on the ground delivering emergency relief supplies. Over the following days, OBI reached victims in the hardest-hit areas, delivering more than 15 tons of food, medicine, water, materials for tents and hygiene supplies. More than 69,000 people were killed in the disaster and 5 million were left homeless.
Our relief efforts focused on villages closest to the epicenter, many of which were completely destroyed. Following the initial distribution of food and emergency supplies, we began addressing the emergency needs of villages with broken water and sanitation systems. We identified 5 villages where the quake had destroyed their water supply, cracked their water tanks and damaged the piping. We repaired the tanks, installed new piping and are now serving more than 1,000 people with clean drinking water every day. We also provided materials and management in the construction of community latrines and shower facilities.
One of the villages we served is Yao Jin, population 200 (55 families). The village suffered 100 percent destruction and 7 people died in the quake. As we began to work with the villagers to install the water system, we were amazed at their resilience and desire to reclaim their village.
The villagers organized themselves to help us in constructing the water system and as we worked alongside them, they asked us if we could help them rebuild their village. Before we could rebuild homes however, we needed to prioritize the most critical relief needs – one of which was hygiene. The villagers worked with us to construct a latrine and then a shower facility. Despite the brutal, mid summer heat, the villagers were amazing; almost everyone was involved in the construction. The younger children would salvage and clean bricks, the older women would mix cement, and the men would dig and lay bricks.
As we listened to their stories, however, we realized that we couldn’t stop there. Most of the villagers are extremely poor farmers who had saved for years to be able to build their homes. One family saved for 40 years, and in less than 2 minutes, their dream home had become a pile of rubble. Many of them lost their livelihoods and jobs, leaving them with no income or means to rebuild. To make matters worse, the temporary shelters built by the villagers were flimsy and would provide little protection against wind, rain and the coming winter season.
OBI made the decision to help the villagers rebuild Yao Jin and immediately began clearing thousands of tons of debris. A top Chinese architectural firm volunteered to design the new homes which will be permanent masonry homes complete with kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms.
If you are a church, business or individual donor interested in helping a family who has lost everything, we invite you to adopt a family today! With your gift, we can build a new home and get them back on the road to recovery.
What you will receive as a donor: When you adopt a family, you will receive regular blogs, photographs and videos updates throughout the project. Upon completion of the project, you will also receive a personalized video greeting from your adopted family |
