Face of the Hero

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Today I visited the widow of the Teacher Wu who died in the school building near my parent's house. She was very thankful for our visit, she now lives in a tent without a job. Another school has promised free education for her son, she now lives by herself as the boy is away at school some one hour's drive away. She is very sad and appears at a loss and numb about what is hapenning around her even two weeks after her husband's death. I guess beside the sorrow and pain she is suffering from losing her husband, she must be wondering how she will survive in the future without him and a job. I gave her 10,000yuan ($1500) and hope it can take away her financial worry for now. I told her to make sure the children carry on with their education, if she needs more money for his education, please contact my parents and we will continue to support her. She was very thankful about the funds, but I could hardly see any joy in her. I hope she wil be ok.

In general, the supply of food and water is no longer a problem here, the government is also providing housing to affected farmers. I think what people need is money, many families suffer financial hardship and cannot purchase the available supplies. They have lost their home, their livelihood and some cases the breadwinner of the family. The government is providing some relief funds, but it is not adequate as it is distributed evenly regardless of the individual situation. Tomorrow I will visit a few more families to see who is in most need to give some money to. Any surplus of funds will be given to Red Cross China.


Bob
Thanks to friends and families who have donated generously,
Current balance of the fund: Aud$1,850 or 12,200 Yuan
Amount spent so far: Aud$1,900 or 12,500 yuan
For donation details please refer to Day 1’s blog.
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Photos

Face of the hero
On 12 May, a high school English teacher named Mr. Wu sacrificed his life to save his students. After guiding his class safely to the playground from the fourth floor, Mr. Wu went back into the building in search of his last student who was missing. Fate did not forgive him for such a heroic act, he was killed when the whole building collapsed. He left behind a sick wife and young children.

The widow of the Teacher Wu.
She is now living in a tent and unemployed. She is the second from right, the two people on the left left are my parents.

Reconstruction begins of the school
They work 24 hours a day, the goal is to complete the temporary school building in two weeks so that sudents can return.

Reconstruction across the road
Rapid progress is being made, I can hear the noise from the site throughout the night, they also have a target of two weeks to build temporary housing for 3000 people.