By Guo Dongni

As the sun goes down, 45-year-old Lian Dongyan folds up the quilts which are hanging out to dry. Sitting in front of her new house, still not quite completed, she watches her husband busily at work on it. She does not want to go home, back to the wet and small tent, but she knows those days are almost over; she is eagerly looking forward to the final completion of her new home.

“Thanks to World Vision, we don’t have to suffer the cold this winter,” she says.

Lian lives with her husband, two daughters and a son in Wayaopo Village, Yingge Township, Taibai County, Shaanxi Province. High in the hills, surrounded by slippery slopes, the natural environment and living conditions have always been challenging there.

Before the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake, the family lived in the high hill, far from town, and were already living in debt because of medical bills for Lian’s father-in-law.

Lian’s second daughter, who lives and works in another city, rushed to the scene of the quake to find her parents squatting, dazed and covered in grey dust, at the foot of the mountain where they had always lived.

“The house was gone,” remembers Lian. “Everything was gone. After all these years, we lost our home and were left in big debts. Our child still has to go to school. What were we going to do?”

“I had no money to build a house. For more than 10 years, I have been collecting wooden materials to build a new house, and yet I was still unable to do so.”

Subsidies build a way forward

Rebuilding safe, warm, permanent shelters was an important part of World Vision’s response to the quake. In this area, it has taken the form of cash subsidies, so that families like Lian’s can still take a major role in the reconstruction process.

A total of RMB2.6 million (USD 380,000) will be given to 260 households in 4 counties and districts in Shaanxi Province to help rebuilding their new homes.

Each family will receive RMB10,000 (USD 1,500) as a one-time subsidy which can help settling about half of the entire reconstruction cost. The first release of these funds happened on October 15, with World Vision continuing to monitor the rebuilding closely alongside the local government.

Lian’s husband Liang Xing is overjoyed, full of plans as to how he will use the RMB 10,000 (USD1,500) house reconstruction subsidy received from World Vision.

“I am going to town to buy some cement, lime and tiles. The sooner we finish building the house, the sooner we can move in. We will no longer be afraid of the rain. Life will become better in winter.”

He is excited, counting the money over and over again, “It’s just incredible! It really warms our hearts before winter comes.”

Life inside the tent

Lian’s daughter remained with the family to help, but life inside a small tent has been very difficult for all of them.

At first rain was a constant issue. Rainwater leaked from the temporary kitchen set up by tarpaulins and kept pouring on the tent. Often the firewood was too wet to be burnt. The puddles, mud, chilly weather and wet bedding all made the family miserable.

Not long ago, it rained for more than two weeks, giving the entire family skin problems, with red and itchy swollen spots all over their bodies.

Then as autumn season began, the temperatures dropped to freezing in the mountains. Despite the two quilts covering their bodies, they still shivered under them at night.

“World Vision distributed quilts to us before and they now keep us much warmer at night. But we would really be worried if we had to stay in the tent for winter,” Liang says.  

Liang Xing says the government offered some assistance to rebuild their house but it was not enough. The whole village was short of finances and had no way to get loans. This family had no income and the credit cooperative was reluctant to lend money to them, even though they had asked for help a couple of times. The family had no money to buy materials and pay to the workers. It seemed that reconstructing their house was an impossible goal.

Fortunately World Vision’s subsidy just came in time to relieve their problems and keep the house reconstruction work going.

Liang Xing smiles, “Once the house is complete, our daughters should no longer worry about us but go and get married. We really thank World Vision very much! We thank all the kind-hearted people from World Vision!”

Now, everything seems to be starting anew. Lian sits by the corn she has collected from their field and talks of her future plans.

“People are so kind to help us and so we got to live our life well from now. When construction is finished and our family settles down, my husband will go to big cities to find a job and earn money to repay our debts as soon as possible. My son is going to graduate from technical school soon and he will go out and find a job too. When our children have their own children, they must study and go to college and live a good life.”

“World Vision helps us so that we have food to eat, quilts to cover and house to live. We will never forget it for the rest of our lives.”

Lian smacks the sturdy wall of the new house with joy, saying, “Though I can’t meet the people who help us, I shall remember their kindness in my heart. I will make sure my children live a good life, not forgetting those who have helped us. If there is any one in need in the future, we will surely help without any reservation.”