Plateau Perspectives Response

Response, Relief, and Recovery efforts by PP and YEQR

Our Response So Far

Plateau Perspectives responded to the request from prefecture government to assist in the relief work since 14 April 2010. In carrying out its work so far, PP has liaised with the prefecture Foreign Affairs, Health Bureau and Public Security Bureau, and also the provincial Public Security Bureau. Our emergency response has been profiled in national and international media, including BBC, CNN, CBC, Time Magazine and Global Times. The Global Times article can be viewed at http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2010-06/537192.html.

Medical Camp in Yushu

In the first two weeks following the earthquake, Plateau Perspectives ran a medical camp that treated between 120 and 240 patients each day, for a total of more than 1,200 patients. PP also established a ?Samaritan Fund? so that individual patients needing further care can be assisted if and when they travel to Xining. Overall, all partners in prefecture government (and the local communities served) have been extremely appreciative

Caring for Patients in Xining

In Xining, nearly 300 patients under the care of several provincial hospitals received care packages, with items ranging from toothbrushes to new clothing, with the help of many volunteers in town.

Emergency Relief Supplies

Relief supplies have been purchased and distributed in Yushu, including items such as large tents, beds, cooking utensils, solar powered electric lighting and thermals (clothing). Such household supplies can greatly enhance people?s living conditions in the new relocation camps. Additional donations of good quality used clothes have also been received from FedEx and now await distribution.

Water Supply and Purification

Potable water is a necessary commodity, especially in relocated communities. Assistance was given in the start-up phase for a national project to expand water services in Yushu town, and now additional plans are under review to trial and demonstrate a low-tech (appropriate technology) system developed following the Sichuan earthquake. It is unclear, though, how much local communities recognize a need for supplementary purification, such that the future of this venture remains uncertain.

Training Workshops about Caring for Traumatised Children

A child and adolescent psychiatrist who runs an inpatient adolescent ward in the United Kingdom and whose daily work consists of speaking to traumatised children, will present workshops in Xining on 8-16 June 2010. Topics will include communicating with children, children who are distressed or upset, bereaved children, and also guidance on different approaches that are helpful and approaches that may be harmful when working with (i.e., supporting, counselling) traumatised people, especially children.

Building Sustainable Livelihoods

Over the past few years, Plateau Perspectives has also been working closely with local pastoral communities to help improve their quality of life, with a special focus on increasing economic opportunities; and amongst the options available is the development of appropriate tourism. Discussions are therefore already underway to develop a ‘Yushu Tourism Network’ that may help set the desired ’standard’ for tourism in the region, which should consider social, cultural and environmental factors as well as economic benefits. Following the earthquake, helping to rebuild and/or develop alternative livelihoods will be of great importance, and with a national focus now on Yushu as a major ecotourism destination, engaging with and supporting local Tibetan communities so that they may truly benefit from such new developments is a key role for us to consider.

RELIEF UPDATE

Relief Updates as of 1:19am local time on 4/26

On Saturday evening, all of the medical relief camps under the direction and supervision of the prefecture health bureau — including our camp, which had operated for nearly 10 days — were requested to bring their operations to an end, as the provision of medical care for residents of Yushu was to be transitioned over to the government’s field hospitals, under the coordination of a representative from the national health bureau.

This therefore brings to a close the initial, short-term, ‘Phase One’ of Plateau Perspectives’ response to the devastating earthquake that hit Yushu on April 14, 2010. However much more will need to be done in the weeks and months ahead; and so from our perspectives, we now are simply moving into a next phase of work — including such matters as water purification, distribution of relief supplies, and other support for local partners (including both government bureaus and specific communities) that have been significantly affected by the earthquake.

Already, two water purification systems have been installed in one of the largest displaced person camps on the outskirts of Yushu, each with a proven capacity to provide potable water for over 2,500 people; and a request has been made for 30 water purification units in total, to be set up at 19 different locations throughout the town. Further afield, even remote counties, townships and villages in Yushu prefecture are affected by the earthquake, due to the breakdown in the normal medical referral system. Therefore, many herding communities that we have worked with in the past — some for more than a decade — also are likely to require additional support in the months ahead. A more detailed needs assessment, including health and other areas of social service, will be carried out in the near future.