SPECIAL PRAYER GATHERINGS FOR KYIGUDO EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
Tuesday, April 19, 2010

Special Prayer ServiceThe Tibetan Community of New York & New Jersey is co-organizing several mass prayer gatherings for the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Kyigudo (ch: Jiegu) in Eastern Tibet. As you all are aware, an estimated 1,700 people have been killed and more than 12,000 people are injured.

Approximately, 85‰ of buildings have collapsed and now tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters are displaced from their homes struggling for basic needs such as shelter, food and clothing.


    We would like to request Tibetans in New York and New Jersey area to please attend the prayer gatherings on the following important days (Marking 1st week, 4th week, 7th week of the earthquake and the 15th day of Saka Dawa):
  • Monday, APRIL 19 - Starting at 5:30pm
  • Monday, MAY 10 - Starting at 5:30pm
  • Thursday, MAY 27 - Starting at 5:30pm
  • Sunday, MAY 30 - Time and location TBD



There has been great show of support from our community with both prayer offerings and monetary contributions. We thank you for your compassion and your show of solidarity. However, because of the magnitude of the devastating earthquake as we hear later reports of ever more tragedy and deaths, more needs to be done. Hence, we will continue to collect donations for the relief effort during these prayer gatherings as well. The entire donations will then be forwarded to Office of Tibet, New York, who will then channel the contributions through several Tibetan NGOs working in Tibet. Some of the Tibetan NGOs had already started their relief effort.


Organized by:

  • Regional Tibetan Women’s Association, NY
  • Tibetan Community of NY & NJ
  • Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, NY
  • Tibetan Volunteers for Animals, New York



KYEGUDO EARTHQUAKE RELIEF
(Update, April 19, 2010)

On Friday, April 16, 2010, a consortium of seven local Tibetan NGOs known as “Yushu Earthquake Response” was founded in Xining, the capital of Tso-ngon (Amdo), to coordinate the earthquake relief efforts in Kyegudo.

The seven local NGOs are:

  • Snowland Service Group
  • Tsongkha Charitable Association
  • Sanchuan Development Association
  • Shem Women's Group
  • Qinghai Tibet Research Center
  • Friends of Rural Community Development

The consortium is being assisted by international experts in Xining from:

  • Tibet Village Project
  • Columbia University
  • Machik
  • Trace Foundation
  • Mercy Corps
  • Bridge Fund

The consortium also coordinates relief fund received from abroad, particularly from the foreign NGOs working inside Tibet. For instance, on the first two days after the earthquake, the consortium received $13,000 from the Washington DC based NGO “Machik” and $15,000 from Columbia University.

In order to coordinate the relief fund, the Yushu Earthquake Response has launched its own website, http://www.yushuearthquakeresponse.org/. The website contains complete information on how to transfer funds directly to the Yushu Earthquake Response.

This morning (April 19th), Yushu Earthquake Response also managed to open a Relief Center just two kilometers outside Kyegudo to coordinate relief work on the ground.

The North American based NGOs:

  • Tibetan Village Project
    http://www.tibetanvillageproject.org/
    Note from Colorado based Tibet Village Project (TVP): The TVP volunteers in Chengdu have begun to collect supplies and equipment. First group of volunteers (10 Tibetan men) left Chengdu this evening (April 15th) with a truck full of supplies for Yushu. Volunteers are also being sent to main hospitals in Chengdu where injured Yushu residents have been airlifted to. They have no family of friends in Chengdu so much support is needed. More volunteers are needed to translate and assist as many of the injured were Tibetans from Yushu area that do not speak Chinese. TVP’s International Project Coordinator, Tamdin Wangdu, and Chris Jones arrived in Xining today and they are helping to coordinate local NGO’s response and relief efforts led by Snowland Service’s Group (SSG) a Yushu Based NGO. The group decided to form a coalition of NGOs named Yushu Earthquake Response to coordinate a centralized volunteer effort. A new website will be created soon to offer information about what and how people can help. A group of volunteers led by Rinchen Dawa of SSG will leave Xining on April 16th for Yushu with supplies to setup a relief center in Yushu and to establish immediate needs. At this point, cash donation is the quickest and the best way to help. It will help covering cost of medical supplies, tents, blankets, food, and water and trucks to deliver them by to Yushu. Please visit www.tibetanvillageproject.org to contribute. In meantime TVP is encouraging others to recruit local Tibetan and Chinese doctors to send into Yushu area. At this point, it is unclear whether or not foreign volunteers are permitted to travel.

  • Machik
    http://www.machik.org/
    Note from Machik: As the hours go by, a grim reality has begun to set in: the situation in Jyekundo is far worse than projected and the challenge to bring emergency relief is going to be far more daunting than was hoped. Under near freezing conditions, unknown numbers of people remain trapped under rubble while thousands are still without basic necessities - food, water and shelter. Over the past 48 hours, the Machik Earthquake Relief Appeal has raised over 13,000 USD. Thank you to everyone who responded in these early hours of the appeal. The full amount of your donation has already been wired to an emergency relief fund established by a coalition of local organizations in Xining. Medical and healthcare needs are also urgent and growing by the hour. The people of Jyekundo will need our continued support in the days and weeks to come. Visit http://www.machik.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=273

  • Trace Foundation
    http://www.trace.org/

  • Bridge Fund
    http://www.bridgefund.org/
    Note from the Bridge Fund: TBF has 4 staff from Yushu and fortunately they are all fine. The devastation is pretty bad and they will be doing an assessment soon. They are currently checking on family and friends.TBF has a number of projects in Yushu and we are sad to inform you that a TBF vocational center and a school have both collapsed. One person died at the vocational center and as yet we do not know the status of the students at the school. TBF will be sending out an appeal to raise funds to support earthquake relief. Please help us in any way that you can. We may set up a separate earthquake fund at RPA as the needs appear to be very significant.

  • Plateau Perspective
    http://www.plateauperspectives.org/
    Note from Plateau Perspectives: "Right now, PP is the only organization that's been welcomed by the FAO to come down to Yushu, so we're trying to coordinate with other folks to get supplies and medical personnel ready to go as soon as the OK is given. We're sending a small team down in a few hours, but hopefully more will be able to head down in the next few days." For more information please visit http://yushuearthquakerelief.com/. This website link seems to carry most complete and update information on present crisis.

  • Rokpa
    Note from Rokpa: From a Rokpa volunteer who has coordinated English teachers for Rokpa medical college Yushu for last 15 yrs: The students in the school in Yushu have all survived the earthquake but one teacher was killed. Three children had broken limbs. The dormitories collapsed and they are all sleeping in tents tonight in the courtyard of the school. The temperatures will be below zero.Their English teacher, Monia is with them and was able to contact Italy. She said they are in good spirits. But they will need food. Other survivers are much less fortunate and need medicine, clothes and tents as well. Nyima Renzin (headmaster) and Buya were in Xining and are on their way, but the main roads are damaged by the quake and landslides so we haven't heard if they arrived. Apparently the airport is damaged. The four graduates in the UK have all been able to contact relatives. Immediate families seem to be okay but some relatives have died. Nangchen and Trindu are relatively unharmed. 100 people in Chunga Lhamo's village are reported dead but she is fine. We are worried about those we cannot reach. 25 monks at Trangu are dead, 5 missing and 50 injured. People are fleeing to the horse festival grounds worried in case the dam gives way at the hydro works. You will be able to see the devastation of the town on various websites. Bodies are being taken to Jyeku Monastery. Official reports say over 400 - another account is 2,000 dead and 10,000 injured. That's almost a quarter of Yushu. An appeal is being set up by ROKPA - you can donate to your local branch immediately but please name it the Yushu Earthquake appeal.

  • Tibet Fund
    www.tibetfund.org
    Note from Tibet Fund: As we offer our prayers for the victims and survivors, The Tibet Fund has established an Emergency Earthquake Relief Fund and is working to ensure that resources reach those most affected by the quake and through channels that will provide meaningful assistance, both in the near term and as people begin to rebuild their community.

  • Tibet Foundation
    http://www.tibet-foundation.org/news/urgent_emergency_appeal
    http://www.justgiving.com/Karma-Hardy1
    Note from Tibet Foundation: We are directly in touch with some local people and local officers, and the Foundation representative in the nearby KandzePrefecture is coordinating our assessment of the situation. Your help is most urgently needed for the Tibetans in the region. Whatever support you can give towards immediate assistance for medicine, clothing and food, and also long-term support for rebuilding schools and health clinics, would be very much appreciated. All funds raised by Tibet Foundation will go immediately to the people in need with no intermediary agencies. Please, we urgently request you to help the Tibetans in Kyekudo affected by this devastating earthquake. We assure you that whatever amount you can offer, however large or small, will go directly to assisting the people in Kyekudo.

  • Columbia University’s Tibet Ecotourism Project, etc

...are working with the consortium.


Kyegudo Earthquake Statistic Update
based on information provided by Qinghai Government)

  • Total known dead: 1,944
  • Total Injured: 12,135
  • Seriously injured: 1,434
  • Missing: 216