Give NGOs a chance to rebuild Qinghai

If a friend offered to buy us dinner, we would say yes. If a neighbor offered to fix the front steps to our house, we would say yes. We say yes for the simple reason that it saves us money, allowing our limited resources to be used on other needs. But when a disaster strikes, as it did in Qinghai, the offer of help in rebuilding homes and communities is too often greeted by no.

The Qinghai earthquake has destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of houses and left more than 100,000 people homeless. The loss of life and property has been devastating, and the long rebuilding process can be equally devastating because of the huge cost involved.

Qinghai residents rely on agriculture but the province does not have the necessary economic power to rebuild the agricultural community. The economic power has to come from outside. It's true that the central government has provided every possible help to Qinghai, and fast. But the province needs more than that to recover.