Remembering the dead, and the living
Print Edition
Dawa reverentially lights a ghee lamp in her tent at a temporary camp on the China-Nepal border and murmurs a prayer for her elder sister Yangjain who died in Saturday鈥檚 earthquake.
Her mother Sonam, 80, sits motionless except for the prayer beads she runs ceaselessly through her fingers.
About 40 kilometers from the epicenter in Nepal, two days after an 8.1-magnitude earthquake destroyed nearly 95 percent of houses in their village, the family is overwhelmed by grief. When their home was destroyed on Saturday, Yangjain, 42, was hit by falling rubble.
鈥淪he received emergency treatment at a temporary clinic,鈥 Dawa says. 鈥淭he doctors did their best, but three hours after the quake, she was dead.鈥
Despite her grief, Dawa knelt in front of the doctors in gratitude for their efforts.
The quake killed at least 25 in Tibet, mostly in Gyirong, where Dawa鈥檚 camp is, and neighboring county Nyalam, both in Xigaze Prefecture. Yangjain was one of three who died in Sale Village, where 16 others were injured.
Across Xigaze, thousands of buildings were destroyed. Landslides have made it difficult for rescue vehicles and relief supplies to reach the places where they are needed most.
Survivors are crammed into 25 tents, so preventing outbreaks of disease is paramount.
Amid the sorrow came new life. Only 20 hours after the first shocks, two baby boys were born in tents that served as makeshift delivery rooms. 鈥淐ongratulations, all is well,鈥 Dr Migmar Norbu of the Sale Village clinic said as she handed the newborns to their parents.
Dawa retrieved what she could from the wreckage of her home. Now she mutters prayers of peace for her dead sister, for the health of her mother, and asks for better luck for her fellow villagers.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
