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What the American news leaves out:
- The Chinese government has sent in 130,000 troops already with no transportation capabilities to certain areas because they are in the mountains and don't have roads. The soldiers carry in bags of grain and medical supplies and then carry out bodies.
- Three days ago reporters had asked a soldier how long he's been there and he had replied that he has no idea because he hasn't slept since he started working. He said ,"Maybe 2 days." He had been there for 5. (and then passed out shortly after the interview)
- A man was away for business and 15 of his family members were lost. As soon as he got back to the village he started working to save others. Reporters asked him if he's cried yet and he replied, "There's no time to cry. Does it look like I have time to cry? There's still so much left to do. I will set aside a day to have a hearty cry one day, but it is not now."
- Some villages are in hollows and are covered in clouds/mist. There's no way for helicopters to land and no way for people to know what's going on down there or if there are people still alive. To date, 15 paratroopers have volunteered to jump into these villages so that they could report back if there are still people alive, if there are people at all, or if they need supplies. Before jumping, however, these paratroopers need to write their wills because they don't know what they're jumping into (i.e., if buildings have toppled there could be wooden beams just sticking up, etc.).
- There is a Chinese legend that 7 days after a body has died their spirit returns home. At the exact time of the earthquake one week after it hit, for three minutes in ALL of China, they stopped traffic, and work, and had a country wide moment of (not) silence. All the alarms and loud speakers were set off and fire/police/ambulances set off their sirens. Even if you were on a bus, you got off to face the closest Chinese flag you could find.
- Seven days after the earthquake hit, kids are already back in school. The army has set up tents and temporary facilities and teachers from across China have gone to the area and volunteered to teach them. Psychiatrists have also come into the area to talk to the orphans to get them back on track.
- I CRIED: Rescuers found a woman curled up with her head down and back up (kind of like they teach you during earthquake drills in elementary school). She had died but she was protecting her baby daughter underneath her. When they got the baby out, they found a cell phone wrapped in its blankets with a text that read (in Chinese, of course), "Darling daughter, if you live, I want you to know that mommy loves you very much." The woman had known she would die, but gave her life to save her daughter anyways.
- The person from Taiwan that has donated the most money has given $40 million (in addition to the rest of the island with some donating up to $20 million as well). Individuals from China have similarly given just as much (with much more given in man power, that's for sure). Russia, Japan, North Korea, and Mongolia have also made every effort to shed what they can. The United States, to date, has offered $500,000.
- There has been a lot of criticism about the government not letting in foreign aid. The Chinese government has said that they want your money, your food, not your people. Their reasoning is that they don't have enough spare people to translate or try to organize them. It's not about politics right now, it's about people. Let's not try and pretend that the United States had turned down ships from Castro during Katrina.
Updates coming.
- Three days ago reporters had asked a soldier how long he's been there and he had replied that he has no idea because he hasn't slept since he started working. He said ,"Maybe 2 days." He had been there for 5. (and then passed out shortly after the interview)
- A man was away for business and 15 of his family members were lost. As soon as he got back to the village he started working to save others. Reporters asked him if he's cried yet and he replied, "There's no time to cry. Does it look like I have time to cry? There's still so much left to do. I will set aside a day to have a hearty cry one day, but it is not now."
- Some villages are in hollows and are covered in clouds/mist. There's no way for helicopters to land and no way for people to know what's going on down there or if there are people still alive. To date, 15 paratroopers have volunteered to jump into these villages so that they could report back if there are still people alive, if there are people at all, or if they need supplies. Before jumping, however, these paratroopers need to write their wills because they don't know what they're jumping into (i.e., if buildings have toppled there could be wooden beams just sticking up, etc.).
- There is a Chinese legend that 7 days after a body has died their spirit returns home. At the exact time of the earthquake one week after it hit, for three minutes in ALL of China, they stopped traffic, and work, and had a country wide moment of (not) silence. All the alarms and loud speakers were set off and fire/police/ambulances set off their sirens. Even if you were on a bus, you got off to face the closest Chinese flag you could find.
- Seven days after the earthquake hit, kids are already back in school. The army has set up tents and temporary facilities and teachers from across China have gone to the area and volunteered to teach them. Psychiatrists have also come into the area to talk to the orphans to get them back on track.
- I CRIED: Rescuers found a woman curled up with her head down and back up (kind of like they teach you during earthquake drills in elementary school). She had died but she was protecting her baby daughter underneath her. When they got the baby out, they found a cell phone wrapped in its blankets with a text that read (in Chinese, of course), "Darling daughter, if you live, I want you to know that mommy loves you very much." The woman had known she would die, but gave her life to save her daughter anyways.
- The person from Taiwan that has donated the most money has given $40 million (in addition to the rest of the island with some donating up to $20 million as well). Individuals from China have similarly given just as much (with much more given in man power, that's for sure). Russia, Japan, North Korea, and Mongolia have also made every effort to shed what they can. The United States, to date, has offered $500,000.
- There has been a lot of criticism about the government not letting in foreign aid. The Chinese government has said that they want your money, your food, not your people. Their reasoning is that they don't have enough spare people to translate or try to organize them. It's not about politics right now, it's about people. Let's not try and pretend that the United States had turned down ships from Castro during Katrina.
Updates coming.
