In Times of Tragedy

Over the past week and a half, I have followed the news on the internet about the earthquake in Sichuan.  Even though I am thousands of miles away, I feel devastated and in shock after seeing the pictures / videos of the earthquake scenes, learning the magnitude of its damage and especially about the fact that so many children lost their lives in this tragedy. As a mother, I can or I should say can't, imagine how despairing those parents feel after losing their only child. I have never been a person who is good at expressing my emotions with words and there are so much emotions going on inside of me after the earthquake that I just don't know what to say.

In this time of tragedy, I am in awe of the fragility and resilience of human life. I am amazed by how strong willpower and an optimistic mind-set can make a difference between life and death. I admire those soldiers and volunteers who risked their lives to save others.

I was also touched by the love I saw in times of danger among family members, between mothers and their children, husbands and wives, teachers and students, and friends ...and I was even more touched and inspired by the compassion and the support the rest of the Chinese people showed to the earthquake victims including the two children below.

Olivia and Evan,
Mom could not stop my tears after reading the following story about the donation made by two handicapped children in China to the recent earthquake and I want to share it with you.

I know neither of you have seen / exposed to the lives of those unfortunate to date. In fact, you probably have only seen a few handicapped people in your lives and none of them looked "as bad as" the two children in these pictures.  I don't mean to scare you with their deformed bodies but I want to let you know that they may have deformed bodies, but both of them have the heart of gold!

They both beg for money to barely make a living because of their severe disabilities and they have all the reasons not to donate any money as they themselves need help as well. Yet they chose to do so and they were so generous! Forty "yuan" is not enough to buy a pizza from the Pizza Hut in China, but it is a lot for them and can support them for many days. When you see the picture of that girl "crawling" away, how can you not moved by the unselfishness and the love of her heart!

Mom just wants to let you two know by sharing this story that there are people in this world who would think about helping others even though they themselves have a hard time to make a living. I hope and I believe that both of you will grow up appreciating the life you have with a loving heart of helping others.

残疾乞讨女孩为地震灾区捐款45元

安徽蚌埠志愿者为灾区募捐时遇见的感人的一幕，中午的时候一个下半身完全残疾，仅仅依靠一个手撑着艰难爬行，靠整天在蚌埠步行街乞讨来勉强度日的善良女孩。在志愿者募捐现场为灾区捐献了45元。

她来的时候是选择中午的，因为这是捐款人最少的时候，当时志愿者们刚吃过饭，她先在募捐处对面张望了一会，然后一步步的向募捐处爬来，一共捐了45块钱。她没有说一句话，只是很认真的把钱放入了捐款箱中，在她的脸上志愿者们看到了募捐所遇到最美丽的笑容，是那种完全由内心自豪而发出来的。捐完善款的残疾女孩一点点的爬出了大家的视线。

令世人动容 广州残疾乞讨者两度捐款倾尽所有(图)

南方网5月20日报道 他，是一名身患残疾、无法直立行走的乞讨者；他，来到捐款箱前，把仅有的30多元全部放了进去。他的举动被热心路人用相机记录下来放到网上，迅速成为近两日各大论坛的热帖。

昨日下午，记者与一名不愿透露姓名的知情街坊取得联系。经对方确认，照片中的场景正是上周五下午发生在广州越秀区华乐街支援抗震救灾募捐活动现场的一幕。

该知情街坊回忆，上周五下午将近5点，他和两名同事经过环市东路世贸大厦东面的露天广场，远远看见一名乞讨者蹒跚“走”到捐款箱前。

“在场的工作人员和路人都以为他只是路过。当他说出‘我要捐款’时，所有人都愣住了。”知情街坊的同事老谢说，当时这名乞讨者从碗里掏出几个硬币，让站在旁边的阿SIR(警察)帮忙投入捐款箱，但阿SIR知道这钱的分量，坚持让他亲手捐。

感动之余,工作人员赶紧把捐款箱放到残疾乞讨者的面前

工作人员见状，赶紧把捐款箱拿到地上，摆在他的面前。他将硬币一个一个放进箱子后，又抬头向工作人员说了句“我还有钱”，便从衣兜里掏出一些纸币往箱子里塞。老谢粗略算了一下，大约有三四十块。这位残疾人表示，他是从露天电视得知灾情后赶过来捐款的。

这一过程被热心路人用相机全程记录下来，并以“一个身残心不残的捐款者，令世人动容”为主题发上网络，引起了许多网友的极大关注。大家纷纷回帖，不少人更直言自己是含着泪看完组照的。

“没想到，两天后他又来捐款了！”据知情街坊透露，前日下午3时许该名捐款者第二次来到捐赠现场，把身上的近10元零钱全部投入捐款箱。他表示，自己虽然患有小儿麻痹症，但也想为四川灾区出一分力。