• Aftershocks, threat of flooding and risk of landslides pose risk to survivors and World Vision’s relief work
• Disaster preparedness activities for children continue in open areas
• Staff wearing helmets and working in teams of 5 to 6 people to deliver aid

Hong Kong, May 28, 2008 - Aid workers and quake survivors are making safety a priority in quake stricken Sichuan, where aftershocks, flooding and landslides continue to frighten people and pose risk to relief operations after a deadly earthquake struck southwest China.
To better equip children to cope with the on-going stress of aftershocks, World Vision has been running disaster preparedness activities in open areas. These activities help children understand how to identify risks and how they can better protect themselves during earthquakes, flooding and other such natural disasters.

World Vision aid workers continue to work under challenging conditions. "We work with communities and together face the same dangers " it is terrifying when the earth buckles due to an after shock or when we have to evacuate areas where we are doing distributions due to threats of flooding. Last week a landslide blocked the road we were using to deliver our emergency supplies, furthering the challenge of getting aid through," said World Vision aid worker in Qingchuan Office, Andrew Lok.

Aftershocks in China’s Qingchuan County have not caused damage to World Vision’s projects and distributions or injury to any staff working in aftershock areas. However, damage to homes has been reported by Xinhua news with more than 420,000 houses known to have collapsed in the area.

An aftershock of 6.4 on May 25 in Qingchuan had staff running for safety along with villagers while conducting a distribution of emergency items in Dayuan Township. Local military relief kept watch on World Vision’s supplies until it was safe to return and continue with the distribution. By the end of the day, a full quota of 1,530 quilts and 510 tarpaulins had been given out to survivors.

The need in quake-affected Sichuan remains great. More than 45.6 million people are reported to have been affected and 5.2 million made homeless, according to government reports. "We will continue to set up distribution sites in tented areas, safe from unstable buildings and falling debris to minimise risk to our staff," Mr. Lok continued. "We’ve asked our workers going into dangerous areas to wear safety helmets and work in groups of 5 or 6," he said.

As the number of dead and missing from the China earthquake reaches 88,000 people, the Christian aid agency plans to reach 350,000 survivors with immediate and long-term assistance over the next three years. Emergency and rehabilitation work will continue in Shifang and Mianzhu in Deyang City; and in Qingchuan, Yuanba, and Jiange in Guangyang City.

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