Rescue & Aid
Stars at CCTV gala raise aid for disaster zone
By Liu Wei and Wang Shanshan in Beijing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-22 06:58
 |
Large Medium Small |
Shi Keping, 52, a farmer in Jintan, Jiangsu province, who called in to donate 100 yuan, said: "My family is not rich but our lives are happy. We want to help survivors in Yushu rebuild their homes."
Some donors also gave instructions on how their money should be used. Zheng Yuanjie, founder and author of children's magazine King of the Fairies, gave 1 million yuan but insisted the money be spent on new school buildings.
|
 |
|
One of the scenes from the China Central Television telethon on Tuesday night depicts how rescue teams have helped save people in the Qinghai disaster zone. DING LIN / XINHUA |
More than 100 entertainment stars performed at the gala and made donations, including singer Yu Junjian.
"I was among the earliest to give to Project Hope in 1989. At the time I gave anonymously but gradually I found that to use stardom to encourage more people, especially fans and those in hesitation, is not a bad thing," he said.
TV actress Song Chunli, star of An Suan, or Conspiracy, added: "I think people need to be encouraged to do charity work. Everyone should be able to get involved."
Heartbreaking stories
CCTV was not the first to host a telethon for victims in Yushu.
Broadcasters based in Hunan and Qinghai provinces joined to present a similar gala on Monday, with stars of the small and big screens answering the hotlines. The event raised 600 million yuan, said organizers.
One of the hosts, Sally Wu, a news anchor for Phoenix TV, said backstage that she told some of the survivors scheduled to appear not to rehearse their stories because she did not want them to recall the trauma.
"But on the stage I had to ask them to tell the stories," she said. "The more people hear their stories, the more they will want to help them."
Besides making donations, many people have also been doing volunteer charity work in the Yushu disaster zone. Among them are Hollywood kungfu stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li, who both arrived with trucks of clothes, quilts and other supplies.
The CCTV telethon also remembered Wong Fuk Wing, 46, a Hong Kong volunteer at an orphanage in Yushu who was killed in the earthquake.
Wong helped evacuate children when the building began to collapse but went back in after hearing three children - aged 15, 9 and 6 - and three teachers were trapped inside. He helped all six to safety before an aftershock razed the orphanage, burying him in the rubble.
The three children who were saved by Wong are still wearing the clothes they wore on the day of the disaster. They are following the Tibetan tradition of wearing the same clothes for 49 days when a family member dies.
(China Daily 04/22/2010 page5)
