Operation Blessing brought a truckload of food and water to remote villages in Sichuan Province.

SICHUAN PROVINCE - As the earth shook beneath his feet, the only thing Yao could think of was finding his son.

He hopped on his motorcycle and sped to the school where his son attended.

To his horror, the school had crumbled in the massive 7.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked the region last Monday.  He scrambled toward the rubble, calling for his son.

"I heard his voice saying, 'I am here. I am here. Help me,'" his father said. "All I could do was move small pieces of rocks, but that could not save his life."

Almost 12 hours later, his son's body was pulled from the rubble. Yao was barely able to recognize him, he said.

Yao's son was only two months away from his final exams. He was ranked second in his class and his family had hopes for him to go on to higher education.

"He was a great kid," his grandfather said. "He would have been a successful person."
Yao was one of many people in the remote village in Shifang that lost a family member during the earthquake.

Homes destroyed in the earthquake have left many without a place to stay. Families are building make-shift tents to live in until rebuilding starts.

"He was my life," he said. "He was everything to me."

More than 20 percent of the houses in Shifang were destroyed. In that village alone, more than 100 people were killed; most of them were students in the school where Yao's son attended.

In most recent counts, the massive earthquake has claimed the lives of nearly 40,000 people, and thousands are still missing. Immediately, OB China workers were on-the-ground assisting victims and providing aid.

OB China purchased 12,000 bottles of water and rented two trucks to take the water to the outlying village where Yao lives. It was a 3-hour trek down treacherous roads to reach the people, who are mainly farmers and get their drinking water from local wells.

During the earthquake, many of the wells were destroyed or polluted, so access to clean water became an immediate need.

"They could not get clean water and they depend on rainwater for cooking and drinking," said one OB China worker. "But it is not the rainy season and therefore they lacked good drinking water."

OBI also visted an additional village where they delivered food, water and tents to 100 people.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

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