Just as China is beginning to cope with the loss of life and property, another strong aftershock hit the province of Sichuan. The aftershock was 5.8 magnitude and destroyed a reported 70,000 homes, injured 400 and killed at least one person. This comes on the heels of the terrible earthquake that rocked the province on May12 and has sent aftershocks throughout the region every since.

As the death toll goes over the 60,000 mark new fears arise. In assess the damage the Water Ministry of China has locate 69 dams that are unstable, meaning that flooding is a major concern. More people could die if these dams break. Over course fixing the dams is challenging for a number of reasons. One being that the aftershocks continue to come and the other reason is because there are millions of people that are homeless and need care. This seems to be the major preoccupation of the government right now.

What can be done to get people out of the paths of these dams? Is it possible to move all of the homeless masses to a safe spot? This, if it is possible would be a painstaking task. People have already lost everything that they own and some of their loved ones. Moving them to other parts of the country will take a great deal of time and may further put people into shock.

It is sad to say that the death toll is till rising but another positive, hopeful story did emerge from Sichuan province. An 80 year old paraplegic who had been trapped for 11 days was rescued after suffering 266 hours of being trapped. Apparently the beams of the man’s house fell and he was trapped. His wife was able to feed him while they waited for help.

The government believes that 45 million people were affected in some way by the earthquake. With aftershocks still hitting the region there is a growing concern that there may be more death and destruction. It seems that there is no safe place in Sichuan province right now. The homeless masses have no place to go and nowhere that is safe. The ground could shake at any moment and bring more rubble down on their heads. It must be a terrifying situation to be in. The need to rebuild can not be met until the after shocks stop and since they are still going on, it is hard to gauge how much longer the province will be receiving those terrifying jolts.

This seems to be a very extreme earthquake. I know that predicting earthquakes is nearly impossible but I am wondering why this particular earthquake has been so terrible. It will be interesting to hear what geologist and other scientist have to say about this quake and the abundance of aftershocks and the strength of which they have rattled the ground. Of course before any of these questions can be answered, the ground must stop shaking. Hopefully the ground underneath Sichuan province has stopped moving for good now.

80,000 people is hard to imagine but what is harder to imagine is 80,000 people being dead. That is the sad story that is coming out of China. Those in charge of digging people out have diligently worked to get as many bodies and survivors out of the rubble as possible. Miracles have happened and survivors were found long after it was assumed that no one would still be alive. However, the time for live survivors is running out.

The tireless spirit of these troops and police that are digging and searching for life is very admirable. How does one recover after seeing the damage that was done to some of the towns that the earthquake hit? There are entire towns that have been decimated by the earthquake and have no survivors. The concept that there are no survivors in some towns is unthinkable but true.

The destruction and death that has consumed China will pass but the weight of this tragedy must be remembered and learned from. Was there a way to prevent some of these deaths? Was there something that could have been done when constructing the buildings that could have helped lessen the effects of this quake? If the technology is available to build structures that can fair better in an earthquake than China must take advantage of that.

Everyday the death toll takes a large jump. Now as days pile upon days the government is starting to realize that there finding survivors is getting less likely. However, the chance that there are some survivors left in the rubble has not completely left the minds of recovery teams, they still are hoping for miracles.

The sad reality is that a lot of people with have to come to terms with the fact that their loved ones are not coming home. After days of holding out hope the time will come for them to let those hopes go and the mourning will start all over again.

U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stopped in Yingxiu to offer support and reconciliation to Chinese officials. During his visit more aftershocks hit as areas continue to be rocked even though the 7.9 earthquake hit on May 12. Mudslides triggered by the earthquake have transformed the landscape and the areas around mountains lay flattened and covered with rubble.

The residents of the fallen towns are now living in tents. Government officials say they need 900,000 tents to house people in. They have encouraged tent makers around the country to try to mass produce tents. Over 15 million homes were lost in the quake, leaving people huddled along the sides of roads.

Another concern is the threat of other disasters that may occur in wake of the earthquake. Floods, mudslides and aftershocks continue to threaten many people. There is only so much that an be done and moving masses of people is difficult in areas that resemble war torn regions. The trouble of China’s massive earthquake have spread far beyond the initial disaster. The rebuilding process will be a long and strenuous one.

Officer Jiang Xiaojuan does not think of herself as a hero but we all know that she is. What she calls a mother’s reaction is much more than that. While China’s earthquake left many parents without children, it also left some children without parents. Others have mothers that survived but they are too traumatized to produce milk at this time. That is where officer Jiang Xiaojuan comes in.

Officer Xiaojuan is a police officer helping with recovery efforts in China’s earthquake riffled region. She has supplied something that only a mother could give, milk. She is 29 years old and has a child of her own but she is saving other children by sharing her milk. At one point she was feeding nine infants, some of which have now gone to orphanages. While the future is uncertain for those that were orphaned, at least they have a future. Without Xiaojuan they may have not made it through this terrible tragedy.

It is stories like this that show the extreme solidarity that is being displayed around the world by Chinese everywhere. It is wonderful to see people come to together and work to salvage what is left. Today I saw a story about children that have returned to school, some of which have lost both parents. They are finding strength in friendships that obviously extend beyond the surface level. A family like atmosphere seems to be in place and it seems that those that have survived the quake will be able to make amends. Wounds will live forever but they will heal enough for a life to be lived.

Jiang Xiaojuan sacrificing her milk is a step beyond her duties as an officer. She is taking responsibility for the well being of children that have no way of fending for themselves. As we watch more and more stories like this come out of China I believe we all will acquire a new found respect for China.

The officer says that her efforts are a small thing and that they are not really worth mentioning. She seems to think that breast feeding the babies was the only thing to do, as if there was no other choice. Well there were other choices and one of them would be to leave the fate of the children up to someone else. There are some that would have chosen such a route. The actions of officer Xiaojuan are more that worth mentioning. With all of the tragedy in the news around the world, we need to know that there are people out there that have good hearts and are eager to help others. In the midst of clouds of dust and aftershocks, there are people that are willing to do the right thing, even if it is not the easy thing. Breast feeding is not a small feat, especially when a woman id feeding nine babies. I salute officer Jiang Xiaojuan and all others that are in China fending off death by helping survivors, big and small make it to the next day.

With all of the pain that is going on in China there are some stories that bring us hope. A 102 year old woman survived eight days underneath the rubble of a building. This is one of those stories that must motivate rescuers to keep digging for life even though the odds are completely against it. You just never know what life has in store and this 102 year old woman being found alive is one of beautiful surprises that are totally unexpected.

Another woman who is sixty managed to stay alive by drinking rain water. She had some facial bruises and a minor fracture but this woman was able to hold on for 195 hours before she was rescued. A few hours before that two men were pulled out from the destruction of the earthquake.

Finding life after digging out so many lifeless bodies must be something very special for rescuers. The job they are doing is perhaps one of the worse ones ever created. To be the people that are responsible for recovering people, both dead and alive, but most dead must be a stress that the majority of us can’t understand. Many of those that perished are children and nothing is more difficult than lifting up a small body that never truly got a chance to meet its potential. Yet someone must recover the dead and account for them so that there is no glint of wonderment in the hearts of their loved ones.

In other parts of China the varied ethnic groups that make up the over a billion people that live in the country are coming together. A massive crowd that gathered in Tiananmen Square for moments of silence and finished that moment up with chants of “Go, China, Go!”. Around the world we have our questions about what goes on in China, and there are human rights issues but right now we are all saying the same thing. Go, China, go you will be well again.

Chinese nationals have rushed to the aide of earthquake victims. Chinese citizens are making huge donations as well. Clothing, food and money have poured in showing extreme solidarity. It is wonderful to see the worldwide Chinese population coming together. It is also wonderful to see the world stand up and offer what it cane. China is viewed in varying ways across the world but right now they are the victims of a terrible disaster and even those of us that question some of the practices that go on in the country are pulling for a speedy recovery.

My donations are small but I felt like I had to donate something. I don’t have much to give and honestly, it could e argued that I really have nothing to spare, but I do. I still have a home, car, town all of my immediately family and scores of friends and loved ones. So many people in China have nothing right now that a simple monetary donation is nothing. I can sacrifice not buying organic this week to donate money to China.

After a few weeks of dealing with the destruction of a cyclone Myanmar is trying to find a way to rebuild. With a government that was slow to react and allow aide into survivors, Myanmar is a country in pain. With over 130,000 people dad and over 2 million people homeless, turning away help the way that the ruling junta did seems down right despicable. However now that it is clear that Myanmar can not reconstruct their country by themselves and some foreign aide is being allowed in now.

Myanmar was one a very fertile area where food was plentiful. However, the cyclone wiped out crops and will prevent farmers from planting again immediately. Rice fields are completely wiped out in Irrawaddy Delta, the area of Myanmar that produces 60% of their rice crop. Rice is planted during the dry season and once in the rainy season. The cyclone that swept through Myanmar’s low lying rice growing region may have destroyed 200,000 tons of rice. Fortunately the government has a stock pile of rice that can save the citizens of Myanmar from starving. The only catch is that it will have to be hand delivered.

This is where the help of other nations can be sued. If Myanmar intends to save the people hat survived the cyclone and prevent them from starving they need to get help from every nation that is willing. Surely an international gathering of workers and supplies can help get the rice to the starving masses. This is no time to be picky or to keep foreigners out. This is the time to let helping hands in and allow them to help save lives.

In addition to the loss of the rice crops, Myanmar has also lost many of it’s working animals. Water buffalo also suffered major casualties in the storm. Carcasses of the animals can be found throughout the delta’s river. This decrease in rice production is extremely bad news because rice is the staple food of Myanmar.

To add to the trouble of Myanmar rice growers, the land that they plant on was completely soaked by flooding. It will be some time before planters will be able to grow rice in those fields again. Myanmar and its farmers will need help to make it through the next few months.

Of course, the ruling junta is still refusing aide workers. While they have realized that they will need food from other countries the government is still reluctant to allow foreigners in. Since the end of British rule in 1948 Myanmar, or Burma, foreigners have not been welcomed in the country. After decades of political turmoil military rule set in. The junta that now rules is not interested in other countries and information is hard to get out of the Myanmar. The past has not been that great between Myanmar and the world but the time for arguing politics and incidence of the past is over. Right now help is needed to save the people of Myanmar and the government of that country needs to take all of the help they can get. Refusal of foreign help equates to genocide.