主题：【原创】西人对募捐的想法 -- 建筑师

俺的英文文章，供大家替中国人占领道德高地

I am so thankful that China is not the US

At 2:28 Pm May 12, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit southwest Sichuan province of China. The epicenter was in Wenchuan, 154 kilometers from the province capital Chengdu (my family there is Ok, thanks to those friends who asked). The massive quake could be felt through a large part of China, and even as far as Thailand. Around 10 million people in the province were directly affected and so far the casualty estimate is 50,000.

For the last few days, I have been glued to the phone and computer screen. As someone who also followed the aftermath of Katrina, I can only say: I am so thankful that China is not the US. The prime minister was on a plane to the province within 90 minutes. Tens of thousands of soldiers sprung into rescue efforts almost instantly. Though most of the100-kilometer road to the epicenter was totally destroyed and was under constant threat of mudslides and aftershocks, some managed to get in within 24 hours. Once again, the People’s Liberation Army lives up to its name: they are the ones people can count on during time of crisis, even though many soldiers themselves are mere 17 or 18 year old kids. Very few cases of looting have been reported so far. In all major cities, people lined up to donate blood, sometimes being told to come back later because the blood station has filled up all the storage. In Chengdu, thousands of taxi drivers and car owners have organized themselves to ship supplies into the disaster area and ship the wounded out, without anybody paying them a penny or giving them an order. So many ordinary people perform extraordinary deeds in the face of disaster: A 21 year old kindergarten teacher shielded a toddler from tons of falling concrete, saving the kid with her own life; a low level cadre spent 24 hours on a collapsed school coordinating the dig, while his own 78-year old mother was buried under some rumble, presumably dead; an entrepreneur organized a whole fleet of construction equipments for the rescue; an old grandma made 3,000 breads over night to feed the need. Everyone pitched in to help each other.

I don’t know how many times tears welled up in my eyes in the last two days: tears of sadness, tears of sorrow, tears of empathy and many other emotions. This is the China I grew up with; this is the China I once knew so well and have been missing about. Yes, it has been in the retreat in the last twenty years, under the relentless attack of extreme individualism and money worship promoted by the “holy free market” and the “more superior” western civilization. Yet, it springs back into life when the people are in dire need: rich or poor, men or women, old or young, we are all in this together.

Like many other places in the world, China has many challenges: corruption, environmental degradation, growing gap between the rich and the poor, to just name a few. Not to the mention the global triple crisis: resource depletion, peak oil and global warming, which may manifest themselves more severely than average because of the high population density there. I have to admit that while dealing with these topics, sometimes I cannot help feeling a sense of hopelessness, for both China and the world. Now, in this time of great distress and sorrow, seeing the huge natural disaster brings out the best of people in my own city, my own province and my own country, I am being humbled and have a renewed hope for humanity.

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特意找来的。说他一个朋友是南非的紧急救援队的，对这次中国的救灾评价非常高，一定要特意和我说，这次救援行动非常出色，足够改写大灾救援的教科书的了。

听了很自豪。

911的时候，我也没觉得有什么痛心的。不是自己的同胞，感情不一样的。

我们在达拉斯一家相当大的华人超市门口募捐。当天大概募得4000到5000美元善款。但是让我吃惊的是美国白人显示出的难以置信的冷漠。他们中的很多人带着他们的亚裔妻子和混血的孩子，但是只有不到一半的人接受了递过来的宣传材料。相当多的人以视而不见的态度昂然走过。更是只有不到10%的人捐助。态度好的人也不过是告诉我们他们已经捐过了，但是这也是极少数。相反美国黑人却显示了极大的爱心。虽然我们只遇到3，4个，但是所有人都接受了传单，并在离开超市时捐出了善款。还有越南人，印度人和不清楚国籍的东南亚人都表现出了很大的爱心。最为慷慨的是海外的台湾人，可能也是因为慈济是台湾慈善组织的缘故吧。有极少数国人象躲避瘟疫一样躲避递过来的宣传材料，虽然我相信他们一定也通过种种手段帮助了灾区，可是看了依然让人很不是滋味。

最愿意用和善的笑容表明自己是宽容的。