Six months after a devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan, China, 45-year-old Lian Dongyan says the family's transition from a tent to a permanent home before winter arrives "will make life better".

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's husband Liang Xing is overjoyed, full of plans as to how he will use his 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."

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 high in the hills. They had to walk up and down for a long journey if they had to go to town. Their livelihood depended on beans and corn grown in their poor farmlands on the slope. While Lian's father-in-law was still alive, he was paralysed and seriously ill. Giving the old man proper treatments had put the family in serious debts.

"Earthquake" is not a word that Lian enjoys using. On May 12 when the quake happened, she witnessed the total collapse of her poorly built clay house. When her second daughter, who worked in another city, came back for her parents, the old couple was found squatting at the foot of the hill, looking lost and covered in grey dust.

Indeed, everything turned gray at that moment. The sky was gray, so were the trees and the people. Food, furniture, clothes and quilts were all buried under the rubble and dust.

"The house was gone. 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 ten years, I have been collecting wooden materials to build a new house, and yet I was still unable to do so."

Her husband continues, rubbing his hands embarrassedly. "I am very poor. I cannot support my daughters to go to school and they have to go out of the village to work. They are not educated and people look down on them. They can only make very little money."

Their second daughter was not willing to leave her parents after the quake. But sharing a small tent with the entire family was awkward for them.

It was also scary when rain or storms visited them. Rainwater leaked from the temporary kitchen set up by tarpaulins and kept pouring inside of 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 and made the family suffer much. They all were inflicted with skin problems. Red and itchy swollen spots kept growing all over their bodies making life really unbearable.

As autumn season began, the temperatures dropped to freezing in the mountains. Despite the two quilts covering their bodies, they still shiver 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 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, "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 our children have their own children, they must study and go to college and live a good life."

"World Vision helps us ...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."

Spokespeople
Victor Kan, HEA Director - stationed in Hong Kong
Office: (+852) 2309-6161
Cell: (+852) 9181-9586

Meimei Leung, Assistant HEA Manager - stationed in Tianjin, China
Cell: (+86) 138-2129-3179

Media Coordinator
Priscilla Tin, Senior Communications Officer - stationed in Hong Kong
Office: (+852) 2309-6151
Cell: (+852) 9324-9315
Nov 5-14, 2008 in Sichuan
Cell: (+86) 137-1475-1810