Earthquake Response for China's Rural Communities

Pengzhou, in Sichuan province was one of the worst-hit areas by the earthquake. While people in the cities received immediate help after the earthquake, rural villagers in the vicinity of Pengzhou were desperate to hear from outside world.

"We needed shelter dry blankets, food, medicine, and everything", said Wang Shunfu, the village head Huangcheng Village in Pengzhou area.

The death toll in the Cifeng township of Pengzhu has been lower than the towns further north, where many people were buried when their houses collapsed.

"When the earthquake hit, most of us were in the field, which saved our lives", said Wang Shunfu.

According to him, among Huangcheng village's 1300 inhabitants, eight were found dead, 16 were injured and seven are still missing.

However, over 90% of the houses either collapsed or were severely damaged.

"Most of our villages are now flattened", he added.

Many villagers spent the first few days and nights in a state of shock, fear, cold, and darkness as the rain poured relentlessly.

While the main focus for the government wass on the life-saving rescue work in bigger towns, the rural villages were somewhat neglected.

ActionAid's response focused on villages like Pengzhou. To meet the immediate need of the rural villagers, ActionAid's emergency team sent food, water, flashlights and hundreds of tents to Huangcheng Village and Yonghua Village two days after the earthquake.

"We have lost everything. Everything is buried down there." said Zhou, a female villager, "We don’t even have a cooking pot."

Even now the villagers are still terrified.

"You should really go to see it. The mountain was literally torn apart. It's something you can never imagine on your own", said Zhou Jingfeng, referring to the massive landslides took places all over the mountain ranges in the area.

With 5 million people left homeless after the earthquake, ActionAid provided tents to serve as temporary shelters and as schools in these small villages.

Yonghua village, where majority of its 2,800 villagers were homeless after the earthquake, the government was able to supply only 10 tents. ActionAid focuses on bridging the gaps between what is availale and what is needed.

In addtion to providing tents, ActionAid acquired 3,000 square meters of waterproof materials, along with scissors and ropes so villages can make temporary shelters in the meantime.

Compared to the mountainous area further north, where whole villages were destroyed, villagers in Cifeng might be considered lucky - they still have their farms.

"The wheat harvest will start in a couple days, and hopefully, we can rebuild our village", said Luo.

In the villages that were not so luck, ActionAid is providing immediate food, shelter and medical assistance and, more importantly, working on long-term recovery strategies to ensure the safety and self-sufficiency of these communities.