 |
| Help: Frank Dunne treks across landslides to deliver quake aid. Peter FOrd |
Quake aid: Neither landslides nor Chinese troops stop this volunteer
Frank Dunne climbs hills and crosses streams to bring aid to remote villages in quake-hit Sichuan Province.
from the June 6, 2008 edition
Page 2 of 3
|
This feature requires a newer version of Macromedia Flash Player and javascript-enabled browser.
|
Reporter Peter Ford discusses the importance of having powerful connections – and the benefits it has brought to postquake relief work.
An hour or so later, after a jolting drive into the mountains past badly damaged villages dotted with makeshift tents, he adopted a more determined attitude. Pulled over by a soldier because of his foreign face, and risking getting separated from the two front cars in the convoy driven by Chinese, he made an executive decision.
He was unable to explain what he was doing (he should have taken those language classes), so he simply slammed his secondhand Isuzu jeep into reverse, turned hard, and roared up the road after his team. "We've got to catch up with the others," he called out in English. "If you want me, come chase me."
It turned out to be a fruitless gambit; a little farther on, the road was more securely blocked by more soldiers who were adamant that foreigners could go no farther.
Dunne knew another way in to Long Zhu though, and after a three-hour detour lurching into the mountains along dirt tracks through one flattened village after another, he reached the last obstacle before the road became completely impassable – a fast-flowing stream. Whooping with excitement he ploughed his four-wheel-drive through the water, climbed up the steep bank, and came to a halt at a house-sized boulder that completely blocked his path.
From there it would be a tough 30-minute climb up and down a hill and through two massive landslides that had piled huge rocks across the narrow valley.
As he unloaded the food, tents, personal hygiene products and medicine he had brought, and that he and fellow volunteers would carry on by hand, Dunne was thinking not only of the people who would receive it, but also of those who had given it and wanted to know where it had gone.
He had one photo taken of himself holding a box of bread, with the baker's name prominently displayed; another showed him in an "Operation Blessing" T-shirt, in a nod to the help that Pat Robertson has given "Heart to Heart"; in a third picture, he was heaving a tent paid for by the American Chamber of Commerce and labeled as such.
"Pictures are important," he explained. "They keep supporters smiling and giving. This is going to be a long effort, and we don't want them tiring easily."
A 30-minute sweaty scramble later, villagers from Long Zhu (meaning "Dragon Bamboo") appeared to help carry the supplies. They greeted Dunne warmly, clasping his hand. "I'm really touched by the way they remembered us and the smiles on their faces," he said. "We seem to be welcome."
A spirit of adventure
The gathering of villagers at the group of tents that now constitutes Long Zhu's center is a long way from Virginia Beach, where Dunne spent much of his life selling computer software, home improvement supplies, and wastewater treatment systems.
RSS feed
){kind=link}