A milestone year for China´s volunteers

Source: Xinhua | 07-04-2008 17:00

By Xinhua Writer Meng Na, Wang Aihua and Guo Likun

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Wang Jianhong, a 42-year-old maintenance man in north China's Shanxi Province, has worked as volunteer in Mianyang, one of the worst-hit areas in the May 12 earthquake, for 50 days.

He just wants to help, and he doesn't care what it costs. And it has already cost him a lot. His story of temporarily quitting his job regardless of the economic losses would have been highly unusual before May 12. But something has happened in Chinese society after the quake. And that something is embodied in the 200,000 volunteers now working in quake relief.

Wang's wife Zhang Liqin went with him to Mianyang. She too was moved by what she saw when the earthquake struck. For both of them May 12 was a sleepless night. They wept together as they watched the tragedy unfold live on their TV set in their living room. They wanted to do something, and they wanted to do it immediately.

Transport was in chaos. The earthquake had smashed roads and broken rail lines. It took them a whole day and night to get to Mianyang's Jiuzhou Stadium. What they saw was shocking. The temporary shelter of the stadium had become home to 50,000 refugees. There, Wang joined the sterilizing team and his wife helped with relief goods distribution.

When they arrived local officials were frank with them. "Sorry we cannot spare any efforts to take care of you. You have to look after yourselves."

Sadly it was true.

They spent their first night beside a bridge, with no roof over their heads. They lived on biscuits, sausages, and water, with no hot rice or dishes. Only by end of May, when most of the homeless were evacuated from Jiuzhou Stadium, did they move into a tent and have cooked food.

They suffered medical problems too. Only a few days after arriving, Wang's legs swelled from long-time fatigue and his wife suffered heatstroke. Despite all that, they didn't leave.

In order to be a volunteer in the quake-hit areas, Wang had to ask for a two-month leave the first quarter of which was his annual leave and the remaining days "leave for personal reasons".

According to the regulations of Wang's employer, Jincheng Anthracite Mining Group, the leave would cost him around 5,000 yuan (728 U.S. dollars), twice his monthly salary.

Despite the cost, the Wangs think of the volunteer work as "the best thing we have ever done in our lives".