Simply enjoying playing table tennis |
7/29/2008
Liu Chanjuan, the Asia Pacific Officer Manager, now based in the Chinese capital city of Beijing, recently visited Sichuan Province in southern China; the area that was devastated by the earthquake on Monday 12th May 2008 and has seen the death toll rise to sixty-nine thousand.
Members of the Chinese national team made financial donations as did Korea’s Ryu Seung Min. Furthermore the ITTF Development Programme was quick to support.
Fifteen table tennis tables, that were used at the Evergrande Real Estate World Championships in February 2008, were donated whilst the manufacturer, Double Fish, kindly gave three hundred rackets and six hundred balls.
Assistance
The Chinese Table Tennis Association and Sichuan Sports Administration helped with several logistical aspects of the trip which proved a testing time for the intrepid Liu Chanjun.
She contracted pneumonia during the last few days of the visit and needed to be treated before her return; thankfully, she made a fast and full recovery.
Liu Chanjun’s Diary
In the middle of July, I spent three busy days with a heavy heart in the quake area of Sichuan Province.
Two months has passed by since it happened, yet there was still abundant evidence of the severity of this disaster. What is worth pondering over is the resolute determination for life to continue in such desperate times.
My first destination was Pingwu County, in the north west of Sichuan Province.
Soon after the coach pulled up at the toll-gate, I saw tents lining both sides of the road; tears came to my eyes at this sight.
The feeling of desolation was immediate; the stunning visual impact was totally different from the horrible pictures seen on television or the internet.
Wherever I went, scars of the disaster and suffering were to be seen, broken bridges, collapsed mountain roads and damaged houses.
Many sections of the highway were blocked by fallen trees or stones, so we had to make some detours.
It took us six hours, normally four to reach the local primary school.
The conditions for living and studying for these children were rough and terrible, but what contrasted sharply was their positive and optimistic attitude towards life.
I handed out the rackets and balls, they tried to play against each other moving round the table; it was fun. This gave me a sense of relief, the innocence of children was touching and overwhelming in the face of disaster.
I set out from Mianyang the next day, the worst hit area, Beichuan. The scene was even more chilling there, there was dust everywhere.
After two hours coach and a motorcycle ride, we arrived at Sun Shine Primary School in Qushan Town, only two kilometers away from Beichuan County.
It was 3 p.m. and time for the afternoon classes. The children were watching and listening carefully to their teachers in tents, which served as their temporary classrooms.
Courses offered for this period include literature and language, mathematics, art, music and Physical Education classes.
According to the volunteers, there were usually many mechanical diggers around the tents which were soon covered with thick dust and turned gradually from white to yellow.
Such a terrible environment, however, could not keep the children from the search for knowledge.
The disaster had inevitably changed the course of their lives and on the other hand made them more mature and grateful than their peers in other towns.
Maybe in these little hearts, the best way to repay is as simple as “study hard and make progress every day”.
Coincidentally, the second class that afternoon was physical education, and was just the occasion for our donated tables and rackets.
The Physical Education teacher then organized the children to play table tennis. It pulled the strings of my heart to see this scene again: on such a flattened campus, these donations were the only sport equipment for the children.
On our way back our accommodation, we passed by the hardest hit school, Beichuan Middle School.
At the school gate, special police staff told us, on that horrible afternoon, the five-storey main classroom building collapsed into a three-storey one in a split second and most of the students on the first and second floors died.
Facing the ruins, we could do nothing but recite that familiar sentence “May all the deceased rest in peace and all the healthy keep moving forward!”
Visiting Shifang County held a special meaning; I was touched and encouraged during the entire journey.
The strong minded victims, the devoted soldiers and the caring volunteers impressed immensely. We firmly believe with deep prayer, this land will, in the near future, demonstrate new vigour and livelihood!
At last, I sincerely hope the donation from the ITTF Development Programme and Asia-Pacific Office will be a ray of sunshine in a cloudy day and arouse the inner persistent spirit of reconstruction.
Also, I must express my heartfelt gratitude toward the wide support from Double Fish, the Chinese Table Tennis Association, Sichuan Sports Bureau and the local table tennis association.
The devastation in Sichuan Province. .
Photo by Liu Chanjuan
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