To all of you who wrote in asking how everyone back in Sichuan is, thank you for your kind words. I've gotten a hold of or heard news from most of the people I know back there, and so far everyone is okay. Chengdu, the city I was living in, escaped relatively unscathed from the earthquake. It looks like the government is working extremely diligently to get in as quickly as possible to help to people in worse-affected areas like Mianyang.

I'm genuinely impressed with how hard the army has been working, though of course there are still towns and villages that remain blocked off from relief efforts, and the most critical 72-hour window of survival has now passed. As Danwei explains, the government should be commended for its response to this disaster, which stands in stark contrast to the refusal to accept outside help and complete media lockdown of the city of Tangshan in 1976, after the earthquake there killed over 200 000 people.

I strongly encourage you to donate generously to relief efforts over there. I can't find an English section of the Chinese Red Cross site and the site has (obviously) been extremely busy, but the Canadian Red Cross is setting aside a special fund for the earthquake relief here. If you live in Toronto, you can also donate to an account set up for victims in Sichuan through the Bank of China.

Less positive has been the insane, jealous behaviour of the military regime in Burma since the cyclone hit. Aid workers are still having an incredibly difficult time getting access to people in crisis in the country. Much of the problem is the goverment's reluctance to allow outside help in out of fear of foreign aid workers and journalists stirring up already-brewing civil unrest in the midst of a rigged referendum on a draft constitution. I have an article in Vue Weekly this week about a new community of people in Edmonton who originally come from a part of Burma called Karen State. You can read it here.

Labels: burma, china

Hey,
I found your blog while looking up the guluwalk--Excellent blogging!

And point of interest: I think there's a saying in chinese-- that following a great earthquake,a great man falls (tangshan, then september 9 1976)--hmmm morbid perhaps, but we shall see...

I've heard the reference drawn to Mao's death coming so soon after the earthquake in 1976 and to the revolution in 1949. I asked a friend of mine from Zhouhai about it, and said said, We've had riots across Tibet, the Olympics are coming up... you don't think this has been a big enough year already for China? Haha

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying reading the blog! I don't update as often as I like... sometimes because I'm focusing on other things I'm working on, sometimes because I'm wary of posting any old schlock about what I'm having for dinner or something. Please do come back, and if you get a chance, have a listen to the podcast and let me know what you think!

Oh, and I should mention I'll probably have a lot more to say about the planning process for the GuluWalk this fall. I'm working with a student organization at Trent to get one started here in Peterborough, and was over the moon last year with how well the event went in Edmonton. Some serious applause is due to Lillian and Jamil for their hard work there.