Show Volunteers take lead leadin in organizing tent city Maureen Fan FanTh Th The Washington Post The heart of the largest tent city in Sichuan province is at the foot of the steps to Jiu Zhou Sports Stadium in front of a bulletin board of handwritten appeals for missing parents and children Above three Chinese flags fly at mast half-mast as the newly homeless watch TV news updates update's about the AJ country's deadliest earthquake in wt three decades All around refugees search for lit family members seek first aid r and wait in lines for cooked rice and instant noodles Nowhere officials it seems are senior directing anything The propaganda chief from the municipal Communist Party committee who appears to be nominally in charge knows enough to say that the arena is now home to of the 12 million people left homeless by last weeks week's earthquake But mostly this tent city runs on autopilot an oasis from the chaos that has marked each refugees refugee's panicked flight from the hit hardest-hit towns near the quakes quake's s epicenter I dont don't know who is in charge here said Liu Yu a ayoung ayoung ayoung young volunteer from the China Academy of Engineering Physics a nuclear weapons research center that had positioned two laptops in front of the bulletin board so survivors could check a database for relatives We just follow the orders of our research institute In most disasters relief agencies or government officials direct organized teams of volunteers Usually China rigidly scripts its official response to emergencies to bolster the party's image But as with about this cake ke the this time has been unusual The enormity of the tragedy has inspired civilians of all stripes to turn up in ad hoc fashion dishing out food and medicine they have cooked or bought themselves and helping the tent city run smoothly even if it does not have enough supplies So far the government and military have shipped tents to the disaster zone and contracted for another to be delivered as fast as they can be produced and packed In the meantime the government has dispatched nylon tarps to tobe tobe tobe be used as makeshift tents Once the homeless people are in stable conditions then we will work out a plan for reconstruction Jiang Li deputy civil affairs minister told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday noting that 21 million houses had been damaged and more than 5 million completely destroyed Right now were we're focusing on peoples people's immediate needs and guaranteeing their well For now the tent city refugees are polite patient and orderly even while lining up for not enough food and not enough blankets They sleep on treadmills in a boxing ring under plastic tarps stretched across newly planted saplings and in army anny tents Some w weep ep but many play down their misfortune or apologize for complaining about their losses Sometimes we wait a long time and we cannot get any food if we weare weare weare are too late in joining the line said Fan 42 a potato and corn com farmer waiting for dinner with an enamel cup and a pair of chopsticks We know that now is isa isa a difficult time Were We're not asking Volunteers Continued on Volunteers in China Continued from A I 1 Ifor for much Actually all I want is to have something to cover my stomach when I sleep sleep at night instead of sharing a blanket There are identity cards for those who arrived at atthe at atthe atthe the tent city early and registered Some said the card entitled them to better benefits including more food others managed to eat without a card At mealtime Tuesday two Buddhist monks were among the volunteers who suddenly appeared with large vats of cooked rice They dished dished it out until there was none none left and the line of people quietly disappeared Meanwhile those who have lost relatives are putting their energies into surviving as much much muchas as grieving The reason they can withstand this is because they understand this is a natural disaster and there is nothing you can do about it said Chao 50 an accountant at Hospital whose family survived Its different from losing someone to illness or a disease Jiang 84 stood in inline inline inline line for two hours Tuesday for a rice and vegetable lunch He carried two bowls in his trembling g hands one for himself and one for his wife who had a broken leg legand legand legand and waited indoors on a quilt quilton on the floor Volunteers he discovered would only fill one bowl per personA personA personA person A lot of people care about our life but there are too many refugees here so its it's kind of hard to get supplies Jiang said As he struggled up the stadium steps with his bowl of rice faltering midway two students came to his aid helping him the rest of the way Once inside he gave the hot lunch to hiss his s wife Liu Yuzhen 80 Im fine with instant noodles but my wife doesn't like them Jiang said So Im I'm OK Jiang and Liu have no idea what they will do next Almost no one does At the end of a dirt path leading away from the stadium a smiling volunteer in a new T-shirt T waited for a delivery of supplies The volunteers are increasing everyday and most are unofficial unorganized volunteers like me said Yan 18 a student who worried about x the shortage of thin padded mattresses |