Aug/Sept 2008

30th September 2008

Earthquake Relief and Rebuilding Project

Earthquake Rebuilding Project

The contract for the earthquake rebuilding project which Partners for Community Development ( PCD ), a Hong Kong NGO, plans to support, has been signed. This project is due to be completed in one year, with the funds allotted totalling 1,100,100 yuan.  4 villages will be named for implementing post-earthquake rebuilding work, and they have been tentatively chosen to be Maping village in Yongli township, Moduo Village in the same, Chalin Village in Pianma township and Hejiang Village in Xixi township.  One year later PCD plans to support two of the four villages to be chosen as integrated project villages for a period of two years, with the aim of helping the villages become extra-healthy and harmonious.  The contract for the second and third years has not been signed yet, and the budget and some other aspects of it have not been determined yet. 

In the beginning of August PCD’s Ms. Chen Huifang and Ms. He Dexian once again came to visit, and DORS staff went along with them to Chalin Village, Maping Village and Moduo Village.  Everyone compiled information on the project villages’ basic conditions together.  Tha above picture is Ms. Dexian and Ms. Fong in Chalin Village,  with village Party Secretary Huang Wanbing  drawing a community sectional map.

In September we extensively researched Chalin Village and Hejiang Village’s post-earthquake conditions, and next we will continue to research Maping’s and Moduo’s, after which the project’s detailed implementation will start.

The contract for the schools supporting-facilities project supported by MercyCorps organization has been signed.  This project’s funds total 236,400 RMB (34,764 USD), and DORS will assist the schools in constructing some supporting facilities as well as purchasing some supplies.  In the middle of August one of the people in charge of the MercyCorps-supported schools support project with DORS, Mr. Yue Yao, came to visit, visiting some of DORS’ tentatively chosen project schools.  Currently we are officially starting the project with the details of its work, and the abouve picture is Fucun township’s Central Primary School’s old toilet building—rebuilding it is part of the plan for this project.

County Town Earthquake Relief

In order to assist some earthquake-affected families in Fulin, Hanyuan’s county town, we chose some people out of the list of first-round DORS supportees, including: disabled people, families in trouble with the additional burden of a student in high school or college, for instance, and families with widows/widowers, senior citizens, to benefit from the second round of flexible funds provision.  We still hope to support some families to establish small businesses, for instance, in order for them to become more independent.

After the Panzhihua earthquake, we also discussed with the donors of some of the tents we were given early on what to do with them and they agreed we could donate the remaining 5 tents to Panzhihua Church, to be distributed to those who need them.  Our army tents (returned by the users when no longer needed due to heavy weight making transportation impossible), were not donated to Panzhihua but some reloaned to Chalin Village, where households reconstructing their homes will have to live in tents for a time.  We will loan the remaining tents, when they are returned to DORS, to other rural households rebuilding their homes.

The physical materials donated to DORS for earthquake relief have now been distributed, and we once again thank their donors.

Rural Energy Projects

(Supported by Australia’s Charities Aid Foundation)

Qinglin Village

Left pictureFQinglin Village’s wooden Diaojiaolou buildings.  The lower story is made of stone and is a sties-building for livestock, while the upper storey is a wooden living area.
Right  pictureFQinglin’s wooden homes.  Around the outside are wooden planks and firewood.

After introduction by Hanyuan County’s Poverty Alleviation Office, we planned to first construct 5 demonstration stoves in Qinglin, and if the demonstration stoves are a success then implement them throughout the village.  This is a new project village for us, and they have preserved many neat ancient buildings—wooden “diaojiaolou” buildings.  Qinglin Village Hamlet One is connected to a through road, and the Hamlet Two road is slated to be completed as part of the “Public Roads Through to Villages” (Tongcun Gonglu) government project, but Hamlet Three isn’t connected to a viable road, and transport in and out depends on human hands and horse-labor.  This village’s electricity system has already been put in place through the government “Nongwang Gaizao” program.  The water system is not good though, it still requires improvement.  The entire village altogether has three hamlets, 55 households, and 182 people, with 120 of these able-bodied laborers.  Villagers mainly rely on electricity and firewood as their energy sources, with some households being able to buy small quantities of brick coal for cooking and heat, though usually this isn’t affordable.  Every year every household burns 15,000 to 28,000 kilos of wood, and needs to put in 50 to 60 working days of labor just collecting/chopping wood. Unfortunately places where wood is available are becoming fewer and further between.  When we did the needs assessment for fuel-efficient stoves, all of the present villagers expressed willingness to construct them, as well as put in labor and funds towards the construction.

Ranmo Village

After Ranmo Village’s demonstration fuel-efficient stoves’ implementation, approval and evaluation were completed, we started the second stage of this project.  Because this village has some villagers who, due to being affected by the earthquake and having to rebuild their houses, must wait until that is completed to construct the stoves, in this stage of the project only 10 stoves are planned.  Villagers have already transported the materials to the villages, and the work has begun.

Shiquan Village
Supported by Mr Xiong Darun

Paths to Hamlets

In August we inspected and evaluated Shiquan Village’s Hamlet 6 cement paths (above picture)—altogether 12 households were involved and 49 people benefited.
 This type of construction project’s quality, ability to be finished within budget and ability to be finished on time is inseparably related to the village leaders’ sense of responsibility and duty. Shiquan’s leaders’ responsible attitude confirmed the quality of this project. 

School playground construction

As the above picture confirms, Shiquan village’s playground leveling and paving is approaching the final stages—the villagers have completed the sides, and DORS’ car is parked on the playground in front of the school.  To the right is the newly constructed toilet building, and to the side of the toilet there is also a ping-pong table constructed.  All of these are possible due to the support of friends in China in the field of astronomy.

Misereor Social Development Foundation of Germany

Through two periods of screening, out of 8 villages, we chose Pianma Township’s Daying village and Yongli Township’s Shashu Village in which to implement the income-generation project.  Daying Village plans to plant Moyu and Green Sichuan Pepper, while Shashu Village plans to plant large sweet cherry trees.  These two villages have plans to implement some quick-results projects for groups  requiring special care (particularly poor households, disabled people, seniors living alone, etc.) These could include raising organic chickens, raising boar pigs, or long-haired rabbits, keeping bees etc.  Large-scale agricultural projects in these two villages have also been tried by villagers, and all have achieved definite amounts of success.  We plan to first choose some people with related technical skills and enthusiasm for the project to do demonstration planting. Then they could instigate broad scale self-starting study of these plants’ management techniques and knowledge among villagers.  Then planting throughout the village will be encouraged and popularized. 

We have already discussed with Wanlin Village’s residents about how to divide up the remaining funds for that village’s integrated project.  The next step is to carry on with further detailed implementation work.

Contacts, Visits and Donor News

At the beginning of August, Sichuan Province People’s Congress representative, Minorities and Religion Committee director, Sichuan Province Poverty Alleviation and Development Association routine Vice-Chairman, former Sichuan Province Poverty Alleviation Office Director Mr. Yan Jilu as well as Sichuan Poverty Alleviation Association’s secretary-head Mr. Tao Hongyong and the Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office’s Foreign Projects Management Office Central Office Head Ms. Wang Honghong came to visit.  DORS Vice-Director Guo Yumei, Hanyuan County People’s Congress Vice-Director Qiu Jianxiong and Hanyuan County PAO’s Director Liu Hua accompanied Director Yan in visiting Daying Village, after which Director Yan visited DORS’ office, talking with different members of the staff.  At the same time as roundly praising DORS’ poverty-alleviation work in Hanyuan County, Director Yan also raised some invaluable suggestions relating to our present and future work as well as suggestions for our Ten Years of DORS publicity materials.

DORS News and Information

At the beginning of August DORS added two unpaid volunteers to our team: Hanyuan’s Wang Qian and Chengdu’s Zhang Ling.  Wang Qian helped DORS with some office work for one month, and Zhang Ling is working as an information-gatherer based in Chengdu for DORS longer-term.

At the end of August, DORS project officer Bai Shihai attended a conference hosted by NGO 5.12 Relief Center, the topic being Evaluation of Earthquake Effects and Project Management.

At the end of August Project Assistant Zhang Guangtao attended Sichuan Youth Volunteer Program Office’s third training.  At the end of October Zhang Guangtao will end his work as a volunteer, and DORS has decided to hire him at the beginning of November to continue work as Project Assistant.

DORS’ hiring of new project assistants is completed.  Ms. Liu Yusen from Shandong’s Weifang and Mr. Wang Yang from Sichuan’s Guang’an have arrived in Hanyuan and begun work, at the end of August and the beginning of September respectively.  For more information about these new staff and volunteers please see our website, www.dors.org.uk.

Hanyuan’s three short-term unpaid volunteers (Mu Fan, Luo Xiaojuan, Wang Qian) have left DORS during the last two months, returning to school to continue their studies.  DORS thanks them sincerely for their help and conscientiousness, and we wish them good luck in the future.