Days after a strong 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit China’s Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008, I arrived to the devastated regions to document response and recovery efforts on behalf of Mercy Corps. Mercy Corps, an international non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Portland, Oregon was on the ground working with their Chinese partner, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA). Together both were able to mobilize much needed aid to earthquake survivors including food, water, temporary shelter and psychosocial support.
That week I saw a lot of destruction beyond my wildest imagination. The smell of death lingered in the air from the nearby collapsed school buildings where many innocent children lost their lives. An estimated 5,000 students perished, buried under concrete rubble from their very own classrooms. It was truly a difficult and heart wrenching site to see, much less to photograph.
Despite the loss and grief the survivors endured, and seeing first hand how merciless earthquake natural disasters can be, I came away with the feeling that the survivors would be well looked after. Through the collective efforts of NGOs like Mercy Corps and CFPA, Chinese and foreign government aid and most importantly the banding together of ordinary Chinese citizens from across the country to help, the strong-willed and determined survivors never lost hope as they pressed forward in the aftermath of the quake.
In the end, the Sichuan earthquake killed closed to 70,000 people, left over 15,000 missing and displaced over five million residents from their homes.
