70,000

Its been a long time but im finally back. The last blog i remember wanting to write was about my experience here in China during the SiChuan earthquake on May 12th. By comparison our sparsely populated country can hardly fathom a death toll of such magnitude. I thought i would share a bit of the Chinese perspective and some of my own experience while here during that time.

Even thousands of miles away the quake was felt here in Ningbo. My roommate was in a high rise that was evacuated for safety as it swayed under the shock wave. No one at that time knew exactly what had happened of where it came from and when we finally did learn that night we were shocked by the distance (over 1600 km). To give some perspective that like having the epicenter located in Denver and wondering why your building is shaking in Chicago.

Exactly one week after the earthquake the government implemented a 3 day mourning. On the very first day there was to be a 3 minute silence. My co-worker Bree had just so happened to have all of the office over to her place for breakfast (se was previously a chef). On the minute of the silence we went to the window of her high-ish rise apartment. That is when the silence began and the sound of every single individual with a car, motorcycle, or ebike laid on their horns. Even the air raid sirens went off as if they were all in sync. It felt as if it lasted 10 full minutes. When the sirens finally subsided there were tears in all of the Chinese staff's eyes. Many had friends or family that lived in the area and they were worried about their well being. My friend went to the aid of her family only days after and I never heard from here again.

For 3 full days all businesses dealing in entertainment were ordered closed for the mourning. This included everything from roller rinks to bars and even internet sites. Trying to access these sites redirected you to the main page set up for relief efforts and all other facts about the earth quake. Turning on the TV was the same. Furthermore the entire internet was devoid of color. Everything was black and white. It was awe inspiring to see such national attention and cooperation.

Soon after the earthquake emerged the realization of a problem. Thousands of children became orphaned and thousands of parents lost their only child. This is a hurdle for the "one child" policy. The government immediate stated that pardons would be granted for those who had lost their children but its not as if the parents grieving would simple end overnight. Years later if and when the parents choose to "try again" they will have to prove through forms and at least some red tape that they qualify for a "2nd" child. It did very much feel as if the government was doing all it could to make this difficult process as smooth as possible but my heart went out for those parents who would have to be reminded of their lose while filing the necessary paperwork some years from now.

10 weeks later things are normal as ever. I do wish however that i would have been able to volunteer in SiChuan.