Rebuilding houses, families and hope

Words to inspire us all

"We survived. We have arms and legs. And we can overcome even the greatest difficulties."

This slogan, which inspired many residents in the quake zone's reconstruction, can often be seen painted on buildings throughout Qingchuan county, Sichuan province.

Unlike the zealous slogan developed from his words, 48-year-old Shi Guangwu lives a quiet life. The farmer runs a small grocery with his wife, who can't hear or speak, in Qingchuan's Zaoshu village.

"It's lucky none of my family members were lost. When there is life, there is hope," Shi says, quietly, opening a thermos with his left hand while holding it with the remaining part of his right arm.

Shi lost much of the lower part of his right arm to a threshing machine at 15. He had tried all kinds of ways to make a living, such as farmwork, working at construction sites and in mines, selling silver dollars and running a grocery store.

The hard work paid off. The sturdy man turned his two adobe houses into a two-story building equipped with modern electrical appliances in 2006, after two decades of saving.

However, the 2008 earthquake demolished his dream of a happy and quiet life.

In front of the ruins of his house, Shi and his weeping wife realized all was lost. They comforted each other.

"There is no need to fear. We survived. We have arms and legs. And we can overcome even the greatest difficulties," Shi says.

"It's true that our home is destroyed. But we can rebuild."

Shi, who kept encouraging himself and his family with these words, pulled a pot and some food from the rubble and shared it with his neighbors.

He set up a temporary cloth shelter within three days.

As soon as the aftershocks were over, Shi was the first in the village to start constructing a new home.

He had to borrow 40,000 yuan ($6,322) from a rural credit cooperative and 10,000 yuan from his relatives - though some people suggested he wait for government subsidies, given that both he and his wife were disabled.

"The country has much left to do after such a huge disaster. To get new homes, we must act as soon as possible instead of just relying on the government," Shi retorted.

The quake damaged 207 households in Shi's village. One villager was killed. To encourage more people to start rebuilding, the village chief developed Shi's words into a slogan and painted it on a building.

Later, the slogan not only inspired fellow villagers to rebuild their homes but also impressed Premier Wen Jiabao, who paid a visit to the isolated village while inspecting house reconstruction in the quake zone, county information officer Wang Wei says.

Shi volunteered to share his story and ideas with people in other villages to encourage those who delayed rebuilding.

By October 2009, reconstruction of all 60,000 rural households in Qingchuan was completed with the help of government subsidies.

The government offered a subsidy of 16,000 yuan to every rural household with one to three people, and households with more members were given more.

Shi's family moved into their spacious new home on Oct 1, 2008. Shi's life has improved after moving. He bought a small truck for his 24-year-old son to provide transport services. His daughter and daughter-in-law are migrant workers. Shi and his wife reopened their grocery store.

Shi has also taken on a job as a cleaner in the village, which earns him 650 yuan a month.