Sichuan Yaan Earthquake Relief: CEDAR is working with the local churches in relief operation

Posted on by 施達基金會

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On 28 April, CEDAR, together with Guanghan Church and Yaan Church in Sichuan, delivered the first lot of rice in the quake affected area of Tianquan County. Pastor Yu of Guanghan Church shared with us the relief updates and preliminary need assessment:

On the way to the hardest hit area, I found houses damaged and ruined though not many totally collapsed. Victims temporarily lived in the shelter tents. In the gorgeous points there were helmeted “gatekeepers” kept watching out; bringing out alerts immediately once landslides were noted.

After two-hour’s journey along a hilly road, we finally got to Gong He Village, Lao Chang Township in Tian Quan County. The roads split from a place named Double River Heads to Lu Shan and Bao Xin, the other to Tian Quan. All the trucks carrying the relief materials moved towards Lu Shan, but none got to the direction of Tian Quan.

There are 970 people (265 households) living in the Village. Although the houses collapse was not very serious, most of them were in dilapidated state. All the villagers now are living in the shelter tents. A dozen of people got injured in the quake, one got seriously injured and two death. An old man carrying his grandson shared that it was relatively fortunate that the quake came at 8 o’clock in the morning. It led to less casualties as villagers had already got up.

As it is in a mountainous area, the victims I encountered are much poorer than those I met in 2008 at Wen Chuan earthquake. But the villagers appeared to be very tough notwithstanding their scarcity in resources. May His mercy and blessings reach to them, Amen!

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The team saw many shelter tents along the roadside.

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Ruined house in Gong He Village.

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We distributed the rice to the victims in Gong He village.

A team comprising three CEDAR staff members has arrived at the quake affected area launching for a post-quake need assessment. Besides any immediate relief actions, medium and long-term relief operation plans will be made out. We will keep on sharing on the operation updates, please watch out and join us in the relief operations with your prayers and donation.

Relief Donation

  • Cheque payable to ‘CEDAR FUND’
  • Deposit to HSBC A/C No. 600-385678-001, enclosing with the Pay-in slip
  • Visa/ Master Card (Download donation form)
  • Online donation

(Please mark “Sichuan Yaan Quake Relief”)

[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details.
[2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts.
[3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.

Contact Method

Tel>23819627
Fax>23922777
Email>sharing@cedarfund.org
Add>G.P.O. Box 3212Hong Kong

CEDAR’s Relief and Rehabilitation Work in Past: http://eng.cedarfund.org/relief/
CEDAR Approach on Relief and Rehabilitation: http://eng.cedarfund.org/relief-approach/

Sichuan Yaan Earthquake Relief: Delivering Emergency Relief Materials

Posted on by 施達基金會

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In the past few days, our local partner Sichuan Guanghan Church was busy to find out more about the situation and needs of the victims in Lushan County and Tianquan County of Yaan City, Sichuan.

CEDAR supported Guanghan Church and Yaan Church to deliver the rice to the victims in the quake-affected villages in Tianquan County on 28 April.

CEDAR’s China programme officers will go to different affected regions on 2 May to do an in depth post-disaster assessment for planning the next phase of our relief work.

Relief Donation

  • Cheque payable to ‘CEDAR FUND’
  • Deposit to HSBC A/C No. 600-385678-001, enclosing with the Pay-in slip
  • Visa/ Master Card (Download donation form)
  • Online donation

(Please mark “Sichuan Yaan Quake Relief”)

[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details.
[2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts.
[3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.

Contact Method

Tel>23819627
Fax>23922777
Email>sharing@cedarfund.org
Add>G.P.O. Box 3212Hong Kong

Update of Quake Relief in Yiliang, Yunnan

Posted on by 施達基金會


The residents in Yiliang are poor. Many elderly villagers were moved to tears as they hold the food aid in their hands.

(For more photos, please click here)

Over a month after the quake happened in Yiliang, Yunnan in early September, where 700 thousand people were affected, many quake victims are still staying under rough shelters and even some of them have yet to receive any relief assistance. CEDAR has received the grant of 2.4 million from the HKSAR’s Disaster Relief Fund to support the quake affected victims. On 25 October, CEDAR team and Yunnan Christian Council sent a relief team to Yiliang, Zhaotong region to deliver the one-month food aid to 6,000 quake affected households in 15 villages.

CEDAR staff Alice, who has been helping facilitate the quake relief work, said, ‘Lots of houses have collapsed after the quake and the villagers are still staying under rough shelters. The blankets they received from emergency relief are soaked with rainwater. The victims are now facing the challenge of cold weather.’

In the first week of the relief operation, staff and volunteers finished 40% of the food aid distribution. This is the first time volunteers from Yiliang Church take part in relief operation. However, after the briefing and practice on the first day, they have been familiarised with the operation. In the third day, our relief team was even able to deliver food packages to 300 more households within less than three hours work. Praise the Lord!

Local staff and volunteers are now delivering the rest of the relief materials to other quake affected villages. The relief operation will be finished in early November. We are glad to see that not only have the needs of the quake victims have been matched, but also the capability of the Yiliang Church in responding to disaster has also been built up.

‘The residents in Yiliang are poor’ Fountain, a programme officer from CEDAR who has taken part in the quake relief work, shared, ‘many elderly villagers were moved to tears as they hold the food aid in their hands.’ Most of the people there are lived by farming. However, in recent years, the livelihood of villagers has become more and more difficult by the climate change. ‘They are used to growing grape, tangerine and Sichuan pepper. However, the fruits in recent years have rotten before they have time to ripen.’ Landslides caused by the quake and the loosen soil caused by rainwater have worsened the condition of the damaged houses, making them more susceptible to collapse. The only school in the village has been closed till next April.

‘Last Sunday, we passed through the most affected region. Seeing with my own eyes the quake-shattered cement plant, the boulders and remnant of landslides left on the road and the scene after serious landslides, I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been when the quake hit.’ said Alice. ‘It has happened over a month since the Yiliang quake, but there are still some victims staying in tents far away from the road with very little assistance. If we were in their shoes, I am sure we would agree that they definitely need our continual care and support.’

Fountain said, ‘Most of the Miao people there belong to the Hua Miao group. Christianity has had deep impact on their culture and way of life 100 years ago. I really hope that through the participation of local churches, China’s government could have more concern on the special need of Miao minority in the after quake rehabilitation.’

Pray for the quake relief and rehabilitation in Yiliang, Yunnan:

  • Pray that the quake victims will have sufficient relief materials for facing the challenge of cold weather;
  • Pray that local government will confirm the plan of rehabilitation shortly and the resettlement of quake victims will be efficiently implemented and finished;
  • Pray that God will give strength to the staff and volunteers from the Yunnan churches to finished the rest of the food aid delivery;
  • Please remember the next phase of rehabilitation work. Pray that we can collect more donations to support the long-term post-disaster recovery and development in Yiliang, Yunnan.

Act now to support the quake-affected people through financial assistance:

  • By cheque: Please make cheque payable to ‘CEDAR FUND’ and mark ‘Yunnan Earthquake Relief’ on your cheque, and then have it sent to G.P.O. Box 3212 Hong Kong.
  • By ATM:  Please make deposit directly into our bank account for emergency relief (HSBC 600-385678-003). Please mark ‘Yunnan Earthquake Relief’ on your pay-in-slip, and then have it sent to G.P.O. Box 3212Hong Kong.
  • Online Payment: You can also transfer your donations to our HSBC account for emergency relief through online banking services. For online banking transfers, please send the online transfer confirmation to sharing@cedarfund.org with the subject ‘Yunnan Earthquake Relief’.
  • Download donation form

For enquiry: 

Please contact our staff Alice Kwan and Jojo Poon at 2381 9627.

Ethiopia Tearfund Drought Rehabilitation and Community Development Project

Posted on by 施達基金會

The “Horn of Africa” which refers to the Eastern part of the Continent has been seriously affected by climate change in recent years. Drought often occurs and the local people who rely heavily on pasturing and farming have suffered a lot. In the Borena zone,Southern Ethiopia, most families are pastoralists and they were made poor and vulnerable by the recurrent drought. They did not have enough food for themselves and there is not enough pasturing grass for their livestock. As a result, livestock becomes weak or die. For many years pastoralists do not have the ability to prepare and store food in order to survive through future droughts, making daily lives very difficult.

CEDAR has supported Tearfund a drought relief project in Oct – Dec 2011 in the Borena zone of Ethiopia. Following that, in partnership we provide assistance to 7,000 poor and vulnerable households in the area of rehabilitation with project interventions focus on improving local’s livelihoods such as restocking of livestock, income diversification through introduction and promotion of high yielding agricultural inputs, construction of water schemes for human and livestock consumption, promoting saving and credit culture through organizing Self-Help Groups. Formation and strengthening of Cooperatives with the primary aim to promote trading & marketing of livestock as well as to explore alternative income sources. Moreover, awareness raising on the right knowledge of HIV/AIDS will be dealt in the project.  This can help the people in Borena zone to recover from the negative impact of drought as well as to enhance their ability to fight against drought or climate change in the future.