Call for Donation to the “Go Back to School” Fund Initiated by Sina.com and China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation

　　On May 12, 2008, an earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province shocked the world. The 8-magnitude quake hit Wenchuan county all of a sudden and was felt in places including Chongqing, Hunan, Hubei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, Beijing and so on. The quake was devastating with its force twice as that of Tangshan Earthquake in 1976. Up till the morning of the 16th, nearly 20,000 people have died, over 33,600 people have been buried or missing, and more than 500,000 houses collapsed, leaving numerous people homeless in this rarely-seen disaster. These shocking numbers demonstrate that the Chinese people are faced with the test of a major disaster!

　　The disaster destroyed schools ruthlessly as well. Constant news of damaged school buildings made our hearts sink: A six-story teaching building in Juyuan Middle School, Dujianyan City, Sichuan Province collapsed, the school buildings of Shigu Town Central Primary School, Yinghua Town Central Primary and Middle School, Bajiao Town Central Primary School, and Luoshui Town Central Primary School in Deyang City toppled; nearly all of the students and students of Beichuan No. 1 Middle School, Beichuan Middle School, Beichuan Primary School in Mianyang were buried in the rubbles; and buildings in seven schools including Fuxin No. 2 Primary School, Dongqi Middle School, Jiulong Middle School in Mianyang City fell down. In addition, the whole teaching building of Wenhua Town Primary School and the top story of the teaching building of Lirang Town Central Primary School in Liangping County, Chongqing were destroyed; and school buildings in 39 middle and primary schools in 10 counties of Weinan City, Shaanxi Province were damaged. The dream of students in the disaster-striken areas to go back to school seems distant.