Volunteers keep hope springing

When spring arrives, the stirring sight of broad acres of yellow rape flowers can be seen in Southwest China. But this year, most villages in the quake-hit part of the region boasted an unfamiliar sight that nonetheless added immeasurably to the beautiful scene: the blue tents of earthquake-relief volunteers.

They were put there for a group of volunteers, including FAW-VW Audi China's employees, UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund), well-known stars and some public figures, during their recent trip to earthquake-stricken Sichuan and Gansu provinces.

In one of the most significant tasks of the trip, volunteers led by Audi China brought learning materials to students from Tielou Primary School in Wen county of Gansu province, which was rebuilt by a donation from Audi China.

Adjacent to Sichuan province, Tielou school was badly ravaged by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake last year. "But after only 11 months, I am surprised by the sweet smile on children's faces, instead of sadness and tears," said Maggie Cheung, Hong Kong movie star and an Audi Vorsprung Circle participant.

"I enjoy drawing beautiful pictures about the spring with children. I can see everything they draw on the paper is full of hope. But I still think they need continuous attention to support them to be tough and better rebuild their hometown in the future," Cheung added.

Indeed, students from Tielou School make up just a small part of the large number of students in earthquake-hit Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Yunnan provinces and Chongqing municipality who received assistance and donations from Audi China.

In the past 11 months, the automaker has contributed 150 million yuan for quake rescue work, providing 50,000 dresses and 62,000 learning materials to local students.

According to Lu Minjie of the FAW-VW Audi sales division, the company has also joined forces with its employees, customers and business partners from sales agencies across the nation to participate in quake-relief works.

"Nearly one year after the disaster, after successfully helping rebuild schools for students, we want to deliver the continuous care to people in quake-hit areas, support them to recover psychologically," Lu said, adding that the company will further work with UNICEF to implement healthcare and psychology-related rescue plans in the coming years for people in earthquake-stricken areas.

(China Daily 05/04/2009 page10)