China in mourning over earthquake says the BBC. 3 Days of Mourning in China reports Time.
Flags are flying at half-mast and a nationwide silence has been observed to mark the time it struck a week ago. More than 71,000 people are dead, buried or missing following Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake, state media say. More than 220,000 people were injured.
A week after the frantic responses to save lives, the nation is taking stock and in mourning. Everything stopped for 3 minutes except the horns, and that was noisy, eerie. (I was in China at over the funeral of Deng Xiao Ping who led China out of the post Mao reovery period, and heard the horns lamenting that hero). Since then the silence has been errie as entertainment venues close and even entertainment websites are off line for three days.
China earthquake: mourning online is the round up by the Guardian news blog. And Shanghaiist (which has come to the fore as a major portal for earthquake news these past few days) has a gathering of tweets: What China Twitterers said about the 3 minute "silence" that just took place
Shanghaiist also carried the order to close down the entertainment sites on the web as well as the major media services: Online implications for the three days of national mourning; Public entertainment venues to shut? There has been a lot of comment about that. A Ringing Silence in China is on the Time ChinaBlog, and Simon Elegant's questions about the motivation for the web shutdown are critiqued on the comments.
As a nation and its friends mourn, and its clear that few if any more survivors will emerge, its time for the stories of miracles to be told. Heroic tales of motherly love emerge is on Shanghaiist, with the following stories of motherly love that have emerged and are being repeated throughout several Chinese stations and media:
- One mother was found buried dead while still suckling her three month old.
- One picture of a female police officer Jiang Xiaojuan has been making its rounds on the internet. A new mother herself, Jiang has been breastfeeding eight babies orphaned by the quake.
And the focus goes to the delivery of aid. Here are reports of early relief operations by two NGO's I know personally. Sichuan Earthquake Relief Update, May 17 has a report from an Amity assessment team. (Amity is the Registered Church's Relief and Development NGO; they have many projects in Sichuan.) And Care for Children have a good report from a team at Orphanages they work with. (Care for Children are working with the Chinese government to get orphans fostered by Chinese families. They work a lot in Sichuan.)
Of course what chance did China have of seeing much money raised after Burma's cyclone and the unwillingness to accept aid. Time reports of 'Disaster Fatigue,' Fewer Donations.
I am convinced that the only way to get over the disaster fatigue is to personalise giving. Buld on friendship links. Get people involved. Make the connections around the world.
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