READY FOR WORK - The Chengdu Youth Hostel became a meeting point for rescue volunteers in the days following the disaster. Here, CEIBS EMBA 2006 student Ren Tao (back row, far left, facing camera) joins 12 other volunteers from around China before starting work on May 18.
CEIBS First Rescue Volunteers
By Echo Zhou
"We just had a landslide in Hongbai County! Because it happened with no warning, the car in front of me crashed into my car while swerving to avoid it!"
FORCES OF NATURE - Making volunteer work extra difficult in Sichuan are harsh weather conditions, aftershocks and landslides. Here, volunteer Wang Weichao (EMBA 2007) poses next to a three-kilometer landslide that delayed his trip to Yingxiu Town.
These were the opening words of CEIBS student Wang Lingjiang (EMBA 2006), a member of the first group of CEIBS students to volunteer in Sichuan, when interviewed over the phone by The LINK on June 30. When asked if he was safe, Wang replied calmly, "It was nothing compared to the landslide I experienced in Yingxiu County. That one stretched for three kilometers."
The formation of the student team began when Wang and classmate Ren Tao (EMBA 2006) left Shanghai for Sichuan on May 15 as soon as they had finished their thesis defense. The pair were determined to help with the rescue of victims, and the delivery of medicine and necessities.
NECESSITIES - CEIBS EMBA 2006 student Wang Lingjiang (at right) distributes candles, sterilized water and other emergency aid items to earthquake victims in Wangpo Rock Villiage, Dujiangyan on May 16.
The two students returned to CEIBS on May 20 to brief President Zhu Xiaoming and several school directors. They shared their first-hand stories and moving photos, then advised on how CEIBS could best assist relief and recovery work in the quake zone. After returning to the quake-hit region, Wang and Ren worked with the CEIBS' Alumni Relation Offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and alumni chapters in Chengdu and Shenzhen to establish a CEIBS Alumni Charity Association. Their first area of focus will be reconstruction. The association will choose sites in Pengzhou, Shifang, Mianzhu or Dengyang to build a new Hope School, a project expected to cost between RMB6 and RMB30 million. In the meantime, the "front team" - Wang and 10 other alumni from the Chengdu Chapter - welcome any volunteer alumni to come and help.
VOLUNTEER BRIEFING - Wang Lingjiang (far left) speaks with the staff members of the Dujiangyan Travel Administration to set a work plan for volunteers. On that day, May 17, volunteers focused on delivering rice to area villagers.
Wang also expressed his resolution to focus his efforts on the reconstruction work during the following two years. As for his own IT company based in Shenzhen, he said: "Money can always be made later, but efforts to help can not."
At present, Ren Tao and Luo Nianci (AMP 2006) are based in Shanghai, coordinating the work of the CEIBS Alumni Charity Association. Any CEIBS alumni interested in reaching the association should contact :
Ren Tao: 1381 668 6506 /rtao.e06sh5@ceibs.edu
Wang Lingjiang: 1332 292 9968 /wlj@hehan.com
Luo Nianci: ericluo@263.net
Ambassador for CEIBS Alumni Charity Association: Katherine Xin
Executive Directors of CEIBS Alumni Charity Association: Prof. Zhou Dongsheng, Deputy Director for EMBA Programme Weldon Lai, and Assistant Directors for EDP: Gordon Gao, Jasmin Tan (BJ), and Pamela Chen (SZ); Alumni Wang Lingjiang, Dong Jianping, Luo Nianci, Ren Tao, Zou Zhiwen, and Feng Haitao.
Other volunteers:
Dong jianping (EMBA 2006)
Hu Yuping (EMBA 1996）
Lin Qitai (EMBA 2002)
Liu Qiang (EMBA 2006)
Wang Weichao (EMBA 2007)
Wang Hongbo(EMBA 2004)
Hu Bin (EMBA 2008)
Xu Lihong (EMBA 2008)
Wan Fang (EMBA 2004)
zhang Hongwei(EMBA 2003)
