China Children and Teenagers Fund Earthquake Relief Programs

 

Founded in 1981 as one of the first independent, non-profit charities in China, China Children and Teenagers'Foundation (CCTF) has always existed to care for, foster, and educate China's children and teenagers, particularly in the minority, border, and impoverished regions of China. CCTF is a world-recognized charity, having been given numerous domestic awards for charitable work (including the most recent, being rated a 5-A Charity by the Ministry of Civil Affairs) as well as a nomination to receive the UN Millennium Development Goal Award for our highly successful Spring Bud Program.

With the advent of the May 12, 2008 earthquake that hit Sichuan Province—one of the largest natural disasters in China's recent history-CCTF quickly mobilized to begin supporting the children orphaned, injured, or otherwise traumatized by this quake. In cooperation with the central and local government, as well as with our domestic and global partners, CCTF is currently working through our China Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Fund to provide maximum support for pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and all other children affected. Through this umbrella fund, CCTF has raised nearly 200 million RMB, in addition to providing various other invaluable support services.

The monies in this fund are restricted to programs in the following areas: Emergency relief including food, shelter, and medical care, reconstruction of schools in the disaster area, care of orphaned and handicapped children, post-disaster psychological counseling, and the reconstruction of buildings necessary for the healthy development of children, including orphanages, community centers, libraries, and medical facilities.

All construction is performed by a third-party construction company, not the local government; the budget and building process is likewise audited by a third party. CCTF strives for transparency and honesty-CCTF as a whole is independently audited by Ernst & Young-and invites donors to become involved in monitoring all steps of the donation, construction, and evaluation processes.

While CCTF has identified several general programs through which to provide earthquake relief, we are flexible and willing to tailor a project to fit a corporation’s specific desires, within the fund's restrictions. We are open to a program that involves a monetary donation in addition to volunteer efforts (in fact, CCTF finds that volunteering often strongly benefits both parties involved). Nevertheless, the major programs of the China Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Fund are as follows:

Indigent Families Relief

After the earthquake, many families lost their homes and livelihoods and saw a general deterioration of their living conditions. Some families are indigent because of the earthquake; the level of subsistence for those who were already in dire circumstances has further deteriorated. CCTF is working to provide temporary support to these families.

Over 900 orphaned or injured  children have already benefited from this relief, and CCTF will continue to provide short-term funds through this program in order to help with indigent families' immediate needs. Companies may choose to support families by funding tuition costs for needy students, giving children a chance to educate-and therefore elevate-themselves out of poverty. Likewise, companies may provide support in the form of a one-time donation of 4,000 RMB (per family).

Children's Community Centers

A simple playground, small library, and community meeting room can become a haven for children, where they can escape the difficulties surrounding them and focus on growing into healthy adults. Children’s Community Centers likewise provide a space for corporate volunteers to donate their time and love, such that they may grow alongside the children they have supported. In this way, a center supports the entire community, corporate and child.

Each square meter of center costs approximately 1,000 RMB ($147 or €93), and a center is typically 200-300 square meters. Equipment for sports, arts and crafts, and other activities costs approximately 50,000 RMB total.

Spring Bud Project-Rebuilding Schools

CCTF’s Spring Bud Project has been in operation since 1989 and has helped an estimated 1.7 million young, impoverished women to return to school. In the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake, CCTF mobilized the resources of this program to rebuild temporary schools (lasting for approximately twenty years, until permanent facilities are constructed) in the disaster areas. Please note that these schools are not for women only. Currently, nineteen quake-proof Spring Bud temporary schools are under construction.

Supporting Students and Teachers

This is a broad program, under which CCTF seeks to provide all varieties of support to students and teachers. One seemingly unimportant task is to re-supply classrooms with such basic items as desks, chairs, blackboards, books, shelves, et cetera. These items are nevertheless necessary for a functioning classroom and are relatively inexpensive for a sponsor to donate. CCTF also seeks to train teachers to fill positions at the new schools under construction in the disaster area. Likewise falling under this program is CCTF’s relocation of students, having already moved over 600 orphaned students to schools in Yunnan, Shandong, Beijing, and Hebei.

Orphaned Children and Children with Medical Needs

Many children were injured and/or orphaned by the earthquake; CCTF seeks funding to help these children to achieve a sense of normalcy. For instance, CCTF has arranged to move many children to schools outside of the disaster area, such as the orphanage school at Lijiang, which has thus far accepted forty-two earthquake-orphaned children. A new children’s village is set to break ground in Shandong Province, which will house and educate approximately 1,060 orphans.

Another often overlooked aspect of rehabilitating children affected by the quake is post-traumatic stress disorder counseling. While a children's village can take care an orphan's housing and education, psychological counseling is necessary to foster their inner sense of wellbeing. CCTF, therefore, has sent a task force of professional counselors to the disaster area, and seeks more funding to support ongoing programs to provide such psychological relief.

The aforementioned programs and descriptions are certainly not an exhaustive review of all that CCTF has done and hopes to do with regard to earthquake relief. We are always open to creative suggestions that seek to aid children and mothers in the disaster area. Donations may be made through the creation of a specific program (which is usually tailored through a series of proposals and discussion), in cooperation with and in addition to another corporation's existing program, or to CCTF's China Earthquake Relief and Rehabilitation Fund in general.

CCTF has worked, and is currently working with, many corporations interested in providing earthquake relief. For a complete list of CCTF's major corporate sponsors, please visit our "Partnership" page at www.cctf.org.cn.