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Bundling together to battle the cold
By Zhang Haizhou and Qian Yanfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-13 07:34
SHIFANG CITY, Sichuan: Crouching down at the foot of a muddy slope in Shifang city's Yinghua township, Chen Yuancui, 51, dragged a piece of wood out of the debris of her former home, which collapsed during the May 12 quake in Sichuan province last year. "I can use it as firewood," Chen said, as she carefully scraped the mud off the wooden piece, dropped it into a bamboo basket and started foraging again. Chen is one of the villagers in the mountainous region finding ways to make it through a record cold winter in Sichuan, to supplement the government assistance they are getting. Nestled deep in the mountains of Sichuan, the pre-fabricated houses set up for quake victims in other parts of the province are proving difficult and impractical to build in the terrain of Yinghua township. As such, the local government has encouraged and supported its villagers to put together their own temporary homes. To that effect, Chen and her fellow villagers have recycled quake debris like wooden parts to supplement the building of their homes. Most of these were completed in October, before a cold front was forecast to hit the area.
Chen said families in the area have put safety as their top priority in their new homes. Most of an additional 2,000 yuan ($293) government subsidy for each quake-hit household went toward new, sturdy pillars and beams. The broken pieces recovered from debris are used only for firewood. "My hut is better than pre-fabricated houses," Chen told China Daily, as she pointed out her new house down the slope. "It looks like a proper home now," she said. Her home sported bamboo mats lining the outside walls of the one-story structure. Corrugated metal sheets covered the roof, rain- and snow-proofed with a thick layer of straw. The structure was typical of many quake-victims' temporary homes, scattered along the road between Yinghua and downtown Shifang. But many say having a proper, temporary home like these is far from enough in the quake-hit region facing the cold. The average winter temperature in the quake zone is forecast to be 0.5 C to 1 C lower than in previous years, said Yang Shuqun, an official of the Sichuan Meteorology Bureau. Apart from the cold, winter in Sichuan, particularly in the mountain areas, is always more humid than most other parts of the country. "No matter how bundled up you are, the air is so humid sometimes you still feel like getting a cold bath to wash off the stickiness," Chen said. "But of course, more fires to keep us warm would definitely help," she said. Back at her new house were heaps of broken wooden blocks she had found in the debris. Nearby was her outdoor stove, in which the firewood would fuel to reduce the dampness and cook food. According to the city government of Shifang, more than 40,000 families, or about 100,000 victims, will spend their first post-quake winter in self-constructed wooden houses such as Chen's. Villagers have warmly welcomed the measures from the government to aid the rebuilding in the area.
"The government has helped strengthen each family's makeshift house with supplies," said Li Zhuo, Shifang's standing vice-mayor. The Shifang authorities have also handed out 230,000 quilts and 800,000 sets of winter clothes to quake victims. "There are only about 200,000 victims in Shifang," Li, 38, said. "Getting through the first post-quake winter in warm and safe homes will not be a problem here," Li said. Similarly, provincial leaders have stressed officials' confidence in helping victims make it through the harsh winter. The province has prepared nearly four million quilts through donations and purchases, said Chen Kefu, deputy director of Sichuan's civil affairs department. "The whole province actually needs about 3.5 million quilts," he told China Daily. The province has also prepared nearly five million sets of winter clothes, mainly thick overcoats and trousers, he said. After handing out these supplies to county and township authorities for distribution to quake victims, the provincial government still has more than 100,000 quilts in reserve, he said. "They may be distributed to more vulnerable groups of people, such as the elderly and children located deep in mountains, as and when they are needed," he told China Daily. "We can't leave a single quake victim to fend off the coming cold on his or her own," the deputy director said. The provincial government will also monitor how the local authorities are fulfilling their responsibilities to the quake victims. In Sichuan, 18 cities, townships and counties have been classified as the most severely hit by the May 12 earthquake, which left about 88,000 people dead or missing. Lying about 100 km away to the northeast of Shifang, Beichuan may be the hardest hit county in the disaster. About a quarter of the total fatalities caused by the quake occurred here. In Beichuan's Leigu township, nearly 7 km to the south of Beichuan's devastated county center, rows of prefabricated homes are lined up. As many as 10,000 residents have to spend the winter in these houses, local media reported. Kuang Zhihui, 63, sat next to a fire with other residents in a corridor between two rows of pre-fabricated houses. Sausages and Sichuan-style bacon, both local specialities for the incoming Chinese New Year, hung above the fire for drying. "It's nice and warm here," Kuang said. She now lives with her son and daughter-in-law in a 15-sq m room. She said her family has received just one quilt so far. "Three of us huddle in the same bed each night for warmth," Kuang said. "Just like us," a number of other quake victims said nearby.
Many residents in the area said the winter clothing they received from donations were either second-hand or oversized. A few months ago, the central government appealed to the whole country to donate new winter clothing to Sichuan's quake-stricken areas. A number of quake victims in the near suburb of Mianyang are facing shortages in supplies. "About 200 people live in my village, but we got only six quilts," said Li Jiqing, a farmer from Dengta village in north Mianyang's Qingyi township. Lying about 10km away from Mianyang's city center, Qingyi was not among the hardest hit and had fewer casualties than other quake-devastated areas. But most of the homes of the 200 residents in Dengta village were still destroyed in the quake. Officials in Mianyang, which covers a large swath of the quake-hit region, said a month ago that reconstruction has begun on 410,000 permanent homes, or more than 96 percent of what needs to be rebuilt in that area. But rubble continues to mar Dengta village about eight months after the quake. Li Jiqing, 61, still lives with his wife in the shack he constructed on May 12. Their home is made up of tarp draped across poles. Many of their neighbors live in similar huts and tents. Li Jiqing said the villagers have to make do with what they have for now. Daytime is less painful, as the couple spend most of that time tilling their fields. "But it is very cold in the evenings," he said. In order to get through the chilly nights, Li has had to borrow two quilts from their friends living in the center of Qingyi. But that is far from enough. He has collected some straw to try and insulate his tarp roof. He has also collected whatever thick cotton clothing he can find in place of quilts. "I've got four or five overcoats, including my thick army overcoat, on my bed," he said. "The government will give priority to those who desperately need winter necessities," said Li Dengzhu, head of Mianyang's civil affairs bureau. More than 1 million quilts and 810,000 winter garments have been handed to victims under this group, he said, citing those who lost almost everything in mountainous Beichuan as an example. The local government will "guarantee that each victim gets at least one quilt and one set of winter clothing", Li said. (China Daily 01/13/2009 page7) |
