It's now been just over two months since the devastating earthquake hit Yushu (Jyekundo). The official final death toll from the 7.1-magnitude earthquake on April 14 was 2,698, with 270 people missing, according to the authorities. We are told it was far higher.
We wanted to share with you the picture album below and to update you on the outcome of Seva Canada's fundraising efforts and the use of your gifts. If you can’t access the pictures, let us know by emailing admin@seva.ca. These photos were taken by Kunga, Seva Tibet's Program Director.
As a recap – 100 per cent of the Seva Canada board and staff donated specifically to the immediate relief efforts, together with some close Seva family, raising a total of $7,100. In addition, generous Seva donors contributed $5,072 towards the rebuilding of the eye care programs in the Yushu region. The pictures below show our relief efforts. The rebuilding of the eye care programs is a longer-term effort.
The Seva team and convoy of three trucks led by Kunga distributed 70 tons of food, water, clothing and tents for those severely affected. Our convoy was the first to arrive with tsampa (roasted barley flour), yak butter and black tea – the traditional food of the area. Shortly thereafter, the princess Rinzin Wangmu (the late Panchen Lama's daughter) led a relief convoy of nine trucks and our team stayed on site to assist with that distribution. The princess summoned around 300 monks at the mass funeral to pray for those who lost their lives during the earthquake. There are pictures of all of this in the album below including the procession and the cremation site.
The hospital where our eye unit was located is being torn down due to structural damage. They are using a field hospital now and have short-term plans for a series of prefab buildings and eventually a new hospital. There is a picture of Dr. Norwu, the eye doctor we trained, sitting with Kunga in front of his tent… he too lost everything. The eye department is housed in a tent now but most of the equipment was removed in the immediate aftermath of the quake and warehoused. We have not been able to locate it (as of last month). The Zeiss microscope we had provided fell and the head was damaged. It will go to Beijing for repairs as soon as we can recover it from the same warehouse.
Next steps – we continue to work on re-establishing eye services to the community. We are planning to buy some new equipment and to fully re-supply the clinic with the funds raised. We’ll be doing our usual eye camps that include screening and surgery for Yushu and the surrounding communities. Hopefully there will be a prefab structure soon where the eye department can be housed before the onset of winter.
If you would like to contribute to the rebuilding of the eye care programs in this area, please visit https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/SevaCanada/OnlineDonation.html
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It's now been just over two months since the devastating earthquake hit Yushu (Jyekundo). The official final death toll from the 7.1-magnitude earthquake on April 14 was 2,698, with 270 people missing, according to the authorities. We are told it was far higher.
We wanted to share with you the picture album below and to update you on the outcome of Seva Canada's fundraising efforts and the use of your gifts. If you can’t access the pictures, let us know by emailing admin@seva.ca. These photos were taken by Kunga, Seva Tibet's Program Director.
As a recap – 100 per cent of the Seva Canada board and staff donated specifically to the immediate relief efforts, together with some close Seva family, raising a total of $7,100. In addition, generous Seva donors contributed $5,072 towards the rebuilding of the eye care programs in the Yushu region. The pictures below show our relief efforts. The rebuilding of the eye care programs is a longer-term effort.
The Seva team and convoy of three trucks led by Kunga distributed 70 tons of food, water, clothing and tents for those severely affected. Our convoy was the first to arrive with tsampa (roasted barley flour), yak butter and black tea – the traditional food of the area. Shortly thereafter, the princess Rinzin Wangmu (the late Panchen Lama's daughter) led a relief convoy of nine trucks and our team stayed on site to assist with that distribution. The princess summoned around 300 monks at the mass funeral to pray for those who lost their lives during the earthquake. There are pictures of all of this in the album below including the procession and the cremation site.
The hospital where our eye unit was located is being torn down due to structural damage. They are using a field hospital now and have short-term plans for a series of prefab buildings and eventually a new hospital. There is a picture of Dr. Norwu, the eye doctor we trained, sitting with Kunga in front of his tent… he too lost everything. The eye department is housed in a tent now but most of the equipment was removed in the immediate aftermath of the quake and warehoused. We have not been able to locate it (as of last month). The Zeiss microscope we had provided fell and the head was damaged. It will go to Beijing for repairs as soon as we can recover it from the same warehouse.
Next steps – we continue to work on re-establishing eye services to the community. We are planning to buy some new equipment and to fully re-supply the clinic with the funds raised. We’ll be doing our usual eye camps that include screening and surgery for Yushu and the surrounding communities. Hopefully there will be a prefab structure soon where the eye department can be housed before the onset of winter.
If you would like to contribute to the rebuilding of the eye care programs in this area, please visit https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/SevaCanada/OnlineDonation.html
View Album
Play slideshow
If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=101262823377004325501&target=ALBUM&id=5485604280190526001&authkey=Gv1sRgCOqVqI2ehJvOjAE&feat=email
