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An Oxfam team distributes blankets to survivors in Dujiangyan. Photo: OxfamHK
Oxfam Hong Kong China Unit Director, Howard Liu, distributed packed milk to villagers in Xiushui town, one of the quake zones in Sichuan. 21 May 2008. Photo: Keith Wong/Oxfam Hong Kong
A woman stands next to her home which has been collapsed. Now she stays in a temporary tent with her families. Photo: Keith Wong/Oxfam Hong Kong
China earthquake
On 12 May 2008, a devastating earthquake hit Sichuan province in China. According to government records, up to 46.24 million people were affected.
Oxfam responded immediately, providing relief supplies, public health services and counselling for survivors, reaching more than 600,000 people.
What Oxfam is doing
Six months on, Oxfam (through Oxfam Hong Kong) continues to support thousands of people in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.
A new phase of reconstruction has commenced to restore damaged areas to their pre-quake status. Oxfam also sees this as an opportunity to help those affected in poorer areas with long-term development solutions to help them toward self-sufficient lives free from poverty.
The following reconstruction projects have begun:
- A pig raising fund to encourage women to raise pigs and produce fertiliser for income
- Researching the preservation of Indigenous cultures badly affected by the quake
- A disaster response fund to assist with the effects of aftershock and to help prepare for the first winter
- Projects to help with planning and rehabilitation process in affected regions
Oxfam's five-year plan includes:
Sichuan:
- Building temporary schools
- Reconstructing roads and water supply systems
- Helping poor communities to restart their farming and other ways of earning a living – provision of livestock, seeds, fertiliser, loans and building materials
- Provision of counselling services
- Developing long-term projects with locally-based partner organisations
Gansu:
- Building 16 permanent schools, with earthquake-resistant techniques developed by Lanzhou University
- Helping people to rebuild their livelihoods
- Building roads and water supply systems
- Developing relationships with local partner organisations
How you can help
- Donate online or by calling 1800 034 034
Latest news
- A home of red-white-blue (June 2008)
- A large percentage of the population is in urgent need of resettlement. In the town of Xiushui, in An Xian, Sichuan, hardly a building remains standing, and almost all of the survivors are homeless.
- China Earthquake: Oxfam reaching remote areas (May 2008)
- Oxfam is reaching people in remote rural areas in the southwest provinces of China following the earthquake that stuck the area on 12 May 2008.
- Oxfam commits $1.6 million to China Earthquake (May 2008)
- Oxfam Australia's statement in reaction to a series of earthquakes that hit south-west China on Monday 12 May killing more than 12,000 people.
- China Earthquake: Oxfam reaching remote areas 16 May 08
- Oxfam is reaching people in remote rural areas in the southwest provinces of China following the earthquake that stuck the area on the 12 May.... Read more...
- Oxfam commits $1.6 million to China Earthquake 14 May 08
- Oxfam Australia's statement in reaction to a series of earthquakes that hit south-west China on Monday 12 May killing more than 12,000 people.... Read more...