Helping Children in Need in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, China

By China Relief Team (Originally in Chinese)

During April and May of 2013, in order to help children in remote, mountainous areas in Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province, China and to assist four primary schools to build water cellars (underground rainfall collectors) in Yunnan Province, our merciful Master contributed RMB 110,000 and requested aid be rendered. Our Association members from China therefore quickly formed a relief team, also contributing RMB 46,819 for the humanitarian effort.

Assisting School Children in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces

The Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province and its bordering Xiangcheng County in Sichuan Province are located in remote and high-altitude mountainous areas. Children in this community primarily receive their education in boarding schools. Since many families have very low income, the schools sought help from charitable organizations. According to the schools’ needs, our Association members purchased more than 30 cases of items including school bags, notebooks, school uniforms, clothing and bedding and shipped them to Shangri-La, a city in the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in advance.

Arriving at the Shangri-La Transportation Department in the afternoon of May 1, we immediately contacted four different primary schools in the nearby Xiangcheng County, asking the principal or the director of each school to please help distribute the items. On behalf of all the schools, the Principal of Wanxiao Primary School offered precious khatas (traditional ceremonial scarves) and two carefully crafted pennants to our relief team members to express gratitude from the teachers and students.

Our Association members also shared copies of Master’s book From Crisis to Peace – The Organic Vegan Way is the Answer with the principals and the teachers of the four primary schools, who expressed their desire to read the book themselves as well as to their children. The manager of the Shangri-La Transportation Department, who helped with the delivery of the school items, was also very touched and asked for a copy of this book for herself.

In addition to the supplies distributed to the four primary schools, large packages containing 174 sets of school uniforms were given to the Dean of the Shangri-La Tibetan Secondary School in the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan.

On the morning of May 2, we went to three more schools in the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. We visited the highest educational institution, Dêqên Tibetan Secondary School, and gave school uniforms to children from three classes. Many children are from disadvantaged, mountainous areas. When they tried on the uniforms, they all displayed such happy smiles. Later on we went to the Nachitang Primary School in Shangri-La City and gave them clothing suitable for children from fourth to sixth grades.

Drought Relief for Schools in Shilin County, Yunnan Province

Shilin County is a karst scenic area in Yunnan Province; however, it had been undergoing a serious drought. Four primary schools with a total of over 600 students had concerns regarding drinking water supplies. When our Association members went to Shilin in mid-April to investigate, we reached an agreement with a charitable association under Shilin County Civil Affairs Bureau to build water cellars for four schools halfway up the mountains that had dried-up wells. In April, our Association members in Songming County built fifteen 25-cubic-meter water cellars to be used for farmers’ orchards and four schools in Shilin County. We projected that all the construction work for the water cellars would be completed by the end of May. Through helping the children and the farmers in need, we deeply recognized that everyone could be the instrument of God and convey Hiers love.

Expenditures by Supreme Master Ching Hai and Her International Association for Poverty Relief Work in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces and Drought Relief in Yunnan Province