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Earthquake-Stricken Gansu Needs Your Help

ACT NOW AND SAVE LIVES !

Over 100 lives have been lost in the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Gansu Province, China on 18th December 2023.

The Amity Foundation has officially launched an emergency rescue response, contacting partners in Gansu and Qinghai to carry out needs assessment and emergency rescue, as well as procure supplies and arrange shelter for the people in the most-heavily impacted Jishishan County, Linxia Prefecture and surrounding areas.

With temperatures in the area falling to as low as -13 degrees at night, Amity is sending coats and blankets to the displaced people in these areas to help combat the bitter cold in the aftermath of the disaster.

[UPDATE 8/1/2024] 

As of Dec 31, Amity has provided 616 makeshift houses, 1,468 tents, 8,321 thick coats, 20,820 sets of quilts, 800 folding beds, 1,150 electric blankets, 560 heating stoves, 147 tons of coal, 24,830 kg of rice, 71,910 kg of flour, 6,396 barrels of cooking oil, 2,500 kg of mutton, 34,204 kg of vegetables, 9,546 packs of sanitary pads, and daily necessities such as scarves and gloves, power strips, disposable bowls and chopsticks, toilet paper and diapers.

Recently, Amity has been focusing on building makeshift houses for the affected areas in Gansu and Qinghai, helping the affected families to establish a stable, safe and warm resettlement environment. In The Sphere Handbook – Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response, shelter and settlement are one of the four key chapters. In our years of disaster management work, Amity adheres to the humanitarian charter and minimum standards in humanitarian response. In this earthquake relief, we have provided makeshift houses and tents to the affected areas, aiming to provide safe shelter for the affected people. In addition to food security and nutrition, as well as water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion, we believe shelter and settlement are a key area in humanitarian relief.

As work progresses, the needs of the local people are changing. Since December 26, research in the affected areas by Amity staff and partners found that, there are few service for infants, new mothers and pregnant women while needs of kindergarten and primary school children in the resettlement area are taken care of. As a result, breastfeeding women and infants are lacking necessary daily supplies.

In response to the situation, Amity, together with its partners, provides vouchers for families heavily affected to help them purchase maternal and baby materials such as milk powder and baby powder to meet their most urgent needs.

From December 28 to 29, 894 sets of stationery were distributed to several primary schools to help children continue their study.

Providing food and oil:

Providing coats:

[UPDATE 24/12/2023] 

Since the launch of the Gansu earthquake relief response on Dec 19, Amity has been delivering urgently needed supplies to the disaster-hit areas of Gansu and Qinghai Provinces. As of Dec 23, Amity has provided 403 makeshift houses, 1,000 tents, 6,660 thick coats, 12,200 sets of quilts, 800 folding beds, 2,000 folding mats, 500 heating stoves, 47 tons of coal, 13,250 kg of rice, 55,750 kg of flour, 3,330 barrels of cooking oil, 5,000 kg of mutton, 17,000 kg of vegetables, 1,150 electric blankets, 9,546 packs of sanitary pads, 25,000 pairs of socks, and daily necessities such as power strips, disposable bowls and chopsticks, toilet paper and diapers.

Amity has continued carrying out investigation and needs assessment in the affected areas of Gansu and Qinghai. Because of the cold weather, large-scale housing construction will not begin until next spring, the transition period may be longer. As a result, makeshift houses, household items, food and clothing during the resettlement period are the most needed. Moreover, Amity’s distribution focuses on local elderly, children and other special groups. In some towns and villages, Amity partners and volunteers are even “delivering to door” targeted special services for special groups.

According to the assessment and feedbacks from the frontline, many houses in the affected areas collapsed and cracked, so our next step will be housing reconstruction and maintenance for people to return home as soon as possible. To this end, Amity plans to support some housing maintenance work in the near future by means of local people engagement and giving maintenance subsidies. We welcome all supporting forces to help local people overcome the difficulties.

In addition, in the future, the Amity Foundation also plans to carry out reconstruction and development work including public infrastructure restoration, disaster prevention and reduction, so as to help the affected villagers resume production and life, and improve community resilience.

You can help bring much-needed aid for the people of Gansu by donating to Amity through the “DONATE NOW” button at the top of this page or via our general donations page. You can also contribute through Amity Foundation HK’s Alipay appeal page for Gansu by scanning the QR Code below.