China Babies Adoption Research

China Babies Adoption Research is an expert in performing research on the early life of your adopted child / baby from China.

Our Chinese staff knows the customs of China very well, are familiar with and in some cases work in the China Adoption System.

If you have adopted, or are in the process of adopting a baby from China, China Babies Adoption Research can help you.

You can find more information about our organization and services at www.china-babies.com.



China-Babies Research

So cute, dont you just want to hug her?

Ok, this has got to be one of the cutest things ever!!!!







China-Babies Research

Wittle Baby Pic Update Launches!

We are excited to tell you that our new Wittle Baby Pic Update has just launched!

For more information please follow this link: Wittle Baby Pic Update

Remember, the first five people who contact us for this service we will be doing free of charge, after that the normal fee will apply so dont delay!






China-Babies Research

5 Baby Pictures ASAP!!!

Dear adoptive parent, we are excited to tell you about a new service we will be offering soon.

While our Update and History Reports are continuing to grow in reputation and demand, we have noticed that there are alot of Mommies out there who really would like a quick simple update on their baby in the form of pictures without having to wait for a full research report.

So we have come up with what we think is a great idea:

The Wittle Baby Pic Update.

This is a simple no frills package of 5 current pictures of your baby.

Thats it in a nutshell. The simplicity of this will allow us to process these packages much faster than our traditional reports, and while they do not include the thoroughly detailed research we conduct in our normal reports, they will give you the visual peace of mind that your baby is doing "ok".

How do I get started you might ask?

At the moment you cant get started yet because we are still putting together the pieces of this package and need to set up all our website info etc. to support this program as well as get our staff geared up to handle the demand for this.

BUT, I wanted to get this out to you all so you knew what we had planned and to watch for it as it gets going.

I am thinking we will do the first 5 requests for this free of charge, so who ever replies first (do not try and sign up for this yet, we will set up a sign up link and email you about it when its up if you are subscribed to our newsletter!), but only so we can pilot what the final product will look like and get the system working cleanly. After that we will likely offer this service at around $125.00.

Stay tuned and watch your email for notice of when this service goes live!

Subscribe to our newsletter here!





China-Babies Research

Half the Sky Earthquake Update - May 26-28

Dear Friends,

First, an update on the airlift to remote Aba Prefecture. No less than 40 uniformed soldiers arrived at the Chengdu CWI yesterday to load two big trucks with emergency goods for the 1,000 stranded children of Aba. We’re waiting now for confirmation of the air drop.

This week HTS also erected a giant BigTop at the Chengdu CWI to aid with intake and shelter for new arrivals.

Ma Lang and Yang Lei, two of our intrepid team members traveled to Leigu, in hard-hit Beichuan, along with some young volunteers from the Jiuzhou Stadium. They knew the situation was dire, as this is the site of one of the “quake lakes” threatening to overflow. But they also knew there were more than 2,000 children of all ages in those villages and they needed help. I am so happy and relieved to tell you that the mission was a huge success!

I have placed photos of raising the big tent, loading relief goods for Aba and delivery of goods to Leigu on our website. Please visit http://www.halfthesky.org/work/earthquake08.php

On Saturday, after we complete delivery of balance of requested relief goods, we will erect a second and even larger BigTop tent in the largest refugee settlement at Dujiangyan City, close to the epicenter of the earthquake. This will become a huge Half the Sky children’s activity center for refugee children of all ages, complete with furnishings, toys, computers, areas for art and dramatic play and reading and quiet talk, everything that a HTS center offers. With your help, this center will serve thousands of children as their lives and homes are rebuilt. And, although we’ve already been busily working and planning, it will mark the official beginning of the second phase of our efforts - addressing the current and longterm emotional needs of the children.

I want to tell you more about the Sichuan Caregiver Training Project that HTS has launched in partnership with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the US-based National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement. Thanks to one of our supporters, we were put in touch with David Schonfeld,director of the NCSCB and perhaps the world’s foremost authority on child bereavement.
Since its inception after 9/11, the NCSCB has counseled and been a resource for governments, schools and organizations, especially those confronted by large numbers of children traumatized by disaster. From hurricanes to wars to school shootings, this organization has a long history and understanding of child trauma, what to expect and how best to respond.

Half the Sky is so fortunate to have the NCSCB’s help as we embark on this journey. There are so many unknowns for all of us - We at HTS have never tried to provide services mid-disaster - and our advisers from the NCSCB have not much experience working in China. Knowing we can rely on each other's expertise, I feel confident that HTS, and other NGOs that we hope will join us in this effort, can have substantial impact, both in these early days and down the road as the long process of recovery unfolds.

During the weekend, I toured hard-hit towns, children’s shelters and orphanages with the MCA, trying to get an overview of the situation. HTS’
director, child development, Ma Lang has, of course, been in Sichuan since May 16 on our behalf and was able to give us a great deal of information and insight. This week, a team of seasoned HTS field supervisors, one from each of our programs, is doing a more detailed assessment under the guidance of Ma Lang: Zhang Yuxia, Yang Lei, Zhou Dan and Anni Wang. They will give us their full report on Sunday, but here’s an excerpt from Anni on the first day of observation. The need for trauma-training for caregivers is immense:

“In the tent school, as I was looking around the room, my eyes caught a little girl who was holding her school bag very tightly. She had one of the saddest faces I have ever seen and it felt like she didn’t want to be in the classroom. She kept holding her bag and looking at the exit behind, as if she were waiting for someone. When the ‘fun activity class’ started again, she still held her bag, but then later put it down and tried to follow the teacher’s instructions. She was one of the shortest children in class but sat in the back row.

“In the ‘fun class’, the teacher kept saying: “if you are happy, smile….
And clapping his hands and he said that a few times walking round the room but the little girl I mentioned didn’t smile. Not even once. I was not sure which of the children in the room were smiling because they were happy or because they were sort of asked to smile. However, I suppose the fun activities will be a distraction (at least for the time being) for children who may have lost a parent or close relative. When I was leaving the room, I waved to the little girl and she sadly waved back.”

On June 2-3, we will host a workshop for all HTS field supervisors, program directors and representatives from the MCA and CAB as well as two expert field advisors who will supervise field work in the next phase.
Leading the workshop on behalf of NCSCB: Robin Gurwitch, PhD - Professor in Dept. of Pediatrics at University of Oklahoma, Program Coordinator for the US National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement; Marleen Wong, PhD - Director of Crisis Counseling and Intervention Services at the Los Angeles Unified School District; and Suh Chen Hsiao, LCSW PPSC - Psychiatric Social Worker, Team Leader at the Los Angeles Unified School District, Specialist in Crisis Intervention.

On June 4-14, with expert advisors - Pi-Nian Chang PhD, pediatric psychologist at the University of Minnesota, Dan Zhang, MD, PhD, psychologist, counselor, Vancouver Community College, worked with survivors of Tangshan earthquake – HTS will commence field trainings for caregivers, coordinated by Sichuan provincial CAB.

Afterwards, Half the Sky will continue to work closely with government and the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement to develop a long-term plan based both on the NCSCB’s extensive experience with the effect on children of similar catastrophic events and also what is learned during the two week period in the field. It is sincerely hoped that, during the next two weeks, many, many children will be reunited with, if not their parents, surviving family members. For those children who, sadly, cannot be reunited, Half the Sky will continue to assist as best as it can to help mitigate the long-term effects of this disaster.

Half the Sky is a small organization. We are limited by our charter to serving orphaned children. We hope that other child-focused NGOs will join us and the government in outreach. There are many thousands of children who have surviving relatives but who are nevertheless traumatized and need help.

Rebecca Chang grew up in an orphanage in China and, with HTS’ Big Sisters Program support, went to university. When she graduated, we offered her an internship in our Beijing office. She has now become a field supervisor in the Big Sisters Program and is helping us now in Sichuan.
She understands the children of this tragedy perhaps better than any of us. She sent us this story:

“The place was so dead when we arrived, everything was still, only wind was blowing. I saw a boy standing in front of the rubble of the school for a long time without a blink. I went up to him and said hi.
I asked: which grade were you in?
He said quietly: Fourth grade.
I squatted and said: Why are you always standing here?
I saw tears coming up in his eyes. He said: My classmates are gone.
Teacher Gao got injured because of me!
I didn’t know what I could say that would make him feel better. I just reached out my hand and held his. His hand was cold, so cold. When I was about to leave, I was trying to hold back my tears and asked: What do you want to do the most now?
He lowered his head and answered in a shaking voice,‘I want to go to school, but my school is not here any more.’”

If you would like to donate to Half the Sky’s Children’s Earthquake Fund you can do so by calling Half the Sky (+1-510-525-3377) or visit our
website:
http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund


If you would like a Canadian tax receipt, please donate at
http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s86248

If you would like a Hong Kong tax receipt, please call Half the Sky - Asia
(+852-2520-5266) or donate online at
https://www.paydollar.com/b2c2/eng/charity/payInfo.jsp?charityId=4947

If you’d like to view previous earthquake journal entries:
http://www.halfthesky.org/journal/

Thank you!

with love,

Jenny

Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org





China-Babies Research

Half the Sky Update on Earthquake

Dear Friends,

I want first to give you an update on our efforts to get food and shelter to the 1,000 orphaned and displaced children in Aba. The roads are now closed. We asked our colleagues at the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) to see if we can possibly bring the desperately-needed goods in by helicopter. A couple of hours ago, moments after the latest giant aftershock, we got good news – a helicopter for Aba tomorrow! More soon -

Yesterday morning, when I arrived in Chengdu, I was invited by MCA to visit some of the hardest-hit sites. We visited Dujiangyan – very close to the epicenter. It was a painful day (I’ve put a few photos on our website http://www.halfthesky.org/work/earthquake08.php - some just too sad to write about) but I was also heartened to see both how quickly the government has come in and tried to take care of the basics - building thousands of temporary shelters and schools – and how the people have come together to help each other. A sign in one of the tent cities reads, “The earthquake has destroyed our homes but it can’t break our spirit.”

Today we visited Mianyang Zitong CWI. A 6.4 aftershock struck moments before we arrived at the orphanage. All of the children were rushed outside and, in what’s become routine now, they all sat calmly in little chairs. There were 8 new arrivals – all of them had lost their parents.
It seems they are not brought to the orphanages until officials are fairly certain that they will not be claimed by extended family. One little boy told us in a matter-of-fact way that both his parents were killed. Ma Lang, HTS’ director of child development, after days assisting the displaced children staying at the Jiuzhou stadium observed, “From the volunteers’ and counselors’ perspectives, the children’s most common signs of being traumatized included insomnia, nightmares, tearfulness, indifference, and refusing to eat. In the first few days, the volunteers in the stadium’s 'inner circle (a holding place for separated children) had to search bathrooms and corridors for children who hid there and refused to eat. The volunteers told me it was heartbreaking to see the children’s eyes and persuade them that they should eat.”

We visited the “inner circle” at Jiuzhou stadium today. Almost all of the children who had not yet been identified by family members had been transferred to children’s shelters. The Mianyang Civil Affairs director told us that many, many children had been reunited – if not with their parents, then with extended families. One of our colleagues at the MCA told us that of the 200 children who’d been brought to shelter at the Chengdu Medical College, only 18 had not been reunited with extended family. Today we met a girl who has become famous in China because she was interviewed on television by Wen JiaBao. It was believed her parents had died. He tried to comfort her. Soon after, her parents were located.
Although they haven’t yet been able to get to Mianyang to pick her up, today we met one happy little girl. The media has been making much of the idea of thousands of orphans. Our friends at MCA are not certain this is true and, to be honest, the situation is still too fluid to pin down the numbers. There are certainly many, many children with uncertain status.
And they are traumatized and very much need consistent, caring support.

Provincial CAB (Civil Affairs Bureau) has begun the process of sending displaced children to structurally-sound colleges, military bases, welfare institutions, and other facilities. In less-stable areas, where there are fears of flooding and environmental issues, children housed in some temporary facilities are being transferred, yet again. Almost every orphanage has been advised that they should prepare for new arrivals. We met a few sad little faces yesterday at the Chengdu CWI; they are told to expect at least 100 more. The director at Zitong CWI told me the same thing. And so did the director at Guiyang CWI in Guizhou! The truth is, I believe, nobody yet knows.

These past days, the MCA has been working to draft recommendations for the care of displaced and orphaned children. I believe they will release an official statement soon. After two days traveling with MCA officials, one thing is clear - government is extremely concerned that every effort be made to reunite children with surviving relatives before adoption by non-relatives of orphaned children is even considered.

Meanwhile, tent schools are quickly being established wherever children are sheltered. There is a great desire to give the children the comfort of settling into a routine and regular attendance at school is seen as key. I visited a large tent city in Dujiangyan yesterday and the scene at 4:30 pm, with children streaming out of the temporary school toward dozens of waiting parents, was identical to that taking place in Chinese cities and towns every day.

HTS is working hard to complete its emergency relief efforts and turn its attention towards the effort for which it is better equipped – helping orphaned children begin to recover emotionally. By the end of the coming week, with your extraordinary generosity and the help of the amazing crew at Gung-Ho Films, we will have purchased and delivered more than 30 tons of tents, medicines, food and formula, children’s clothing, diapers and other infant supplies. With the helicopter to Aba and the purchase today of an emergency vehicle to transport orphaned and displaced children for 9 counties and one city, we will have answered every urgent request to take care of the children’s basic needs. Now we move on to try to address those needs no less urgent, but more elusive in every way.

Tomorrow (Monday, May 26) Half the Sky will launch its Sichuan Caregivers Training Project. I am thrilled, honored and very, very excited to tell you that HTS will work under the guidance of the foremost child trauma and bereavement specialists in the world, the National Center on School Trauma and Bereavement http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/svc/alpha/s/school-crisis/default.htm.
Based at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, but comprising an international network of child trauma experts, the Center grew from the tragedy of the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11 and has served as a resource during hurricanes, school shootings, airline disasters and wars.

Together with NCSTB and MCA, HTS will hold a two-day planning workshop, June 3-4 in Chengdu. Three experts from the Center will lead the workshop. Attending will be four volunteer pediatric psychologists and psychiatric social workers, HTS team of 15 field supervisors, our program directors and officials from MCA and Sichuan CAB. That will be the start of what will likely be a long-term project to help children orphaned by the disaster to recover and rebuild their lives.

I’ll send along further details of the Caregivers Training Project soon.
It’s almost midnight and I’m exhausted. I’ve had two days on the road through a landscape filled with aching sadness, determination and hope.

More tomorrow!

If you would like to donate to Half the Sky’s Children’s Earthquake Fund you can do so through Global Giving:
http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html

Or directly to Half the Sky. You can donate by calling Half the Sky
(+1-510-525-3377) or on our website:
http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund


Many companies have announced they will match employee gifts for earthquake relief. Please check to see if your company will double your gift!

If you would like a Canadian tax receipt, please donate at
http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s86248

If you would like a Hong Kong tax receipt, please call us at
+852-2520-5266 or online at
https://www.paydollar.com/b2c2/eng/charity/payInfo.jsp?charityId=4947

Thank you!

with love,

Jenny

Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org





China-Babies Research

China puts death toll at 50000

China puts death toll at 50000
Daily Dispatch
May 22 2008 8:46AM


CHINA said yesterday that more than 50000 people were estimated to have died in the devastating earthquake that hit the southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday.

The government’s disaster relief office announced the estimate via state media, following an earlier report of more than 19500 confirmed deaths in Sichuan and at least 300 more in nearby regions.

Troops stepped up efforts to rescue survivors and get vital aid to tens of thousands of people in isolated towns and villages in Sichuan yesterday.

Dozens of extra helicopters and planes were brought in to drop food, clothing and bedding to residents of Sichuan’s worst-hit counties of Beichuan and Wenchuan.

The government said it would allow the first foreign rescue teams, from Japan and Taiwan, into Sichuan and was considering an offer of help from an Australian team.

It also imposed temporary controls on food prices and transportation fares in Sichuan and three neighbouring regions to “stem hoarding and speculation”, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The move followed reports that some food vendors in Sichuan’s Mianyang city, where nearly 20000 people were reported missing in collapsed buildings, were fined for raising prices to more than double pre- quake levels.

Sichuan hospitals had treated more than 64000 people hurt in the quake by yesterday, including about 12600 seriously injured people, Gao Qiang, the deputy minister of health, said.

The Beijing military command said its troops had found 38 survivors with the help of sniffer dogs.

Damage to several dams and rivers has posed new threats to some quake- hit towns and villages.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who flew over Wenchuan in a helicopter on Wednesday, ordered an extra 90 military and civilian helicopters to be used in the relief operations, Xinhua said.

Railway ministry spokesperson Wang Yongping said 844 freight cars were en route to Sichuan carrying 79700 tents, 828600 boxes of water, 18870 doses of medicine and 351100 overcoats and blankets.

At least 26000 people were believed to be buried in collapsed buildings, while Xinhua said more than 30000 people were missing or out of contact in Sichuan’s city of Shifang alone.

At least 10000 Chinese and foreign tourists were still stranded in two scenic areas close to the epicentre on Wednesday night, reports said.

But the extent of the damage and casualties in Wenchuan, which has a population of 105000, remained unclear. A paramilitary officer who was one of the first outsiders to reach some of the worst affected areas on Tuesday said that several towns were almost razed to the ground.

Heavy rain had initially prevented helicopters from flying emergency aid to Wenchuan. — Sapa-DPA

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=202516





China-Babies Research

Half the Sky Update on Earthquake

Dear Friends,

Today we were starting the process of wrapping up the major portion of our orphanage relief efforts. With your help, we have purchased and delivered or are in the process of delivering huge amounts of medicines and medical supplies, tents, cribs, cots, bedding, baby formula, diapers, kids clothing and shoes, rice, noodles, cooking oil, water, powdered milk, bowls, cups, towels, mosquito repellent and much, much more. As we finalized plans to ship, then bring in engineers to erect two giant tents to house hundreds of newly orphaned children, we got an emergency call from Aba Civil Affairs Bureau.

They are caring for approximately 1,000 orphaned and displaced children, most of whom are 7-12 years old. There are over 100 infants. They’d been placing the children in local shelters but had just received news that 70 more children are on the way. There are no more tents and no more beds for them. Further, they urgently need powdered milk and diapers. And they need foods that don’t require cooking as most of their cooking stoves and supplies have been destroyed. They need so much they can’t even give us an estimate.

The roads to Aba are dangerous but the need is tremendous. We have obtained the necessary road pass and organized a convoy of three trucks.
Our senior preschool field supervisor, Yang Lei, will be leading the effort along with Aba drivers who are familiar with the dangers. It’s a 3 day round-trip and they leave at dawn. I am so thankful our Half the Sky staff are as tough as they are!

Stop presses! -- Just as I finished writing the above, I received the following email. The situation continues to be ever-changing:

“While everyone has done an absolutely incredible job pulling this urgent shipment together, it simply cannot leave tomorrow morning as we've all been pushing for. The road between Chengdu and Aba is simply too dangerous to travel, based on all the information we are able to gather. While it hasn't registered on the news, nearly 200 people have died in the last few days along these roads due to mudslides caused by the early summer rains.
Communications are, of course, sketchy, and we know Yang Lei has her permit to travel the roads, but all reports are now that it's just too dangerous and too unsure to risk take such a risk. The Director of the Aba Institution agrees and the Director of the Chengdu Institution agrees.

“The efforts you've all put in today on behalf of the babies at Aba will not be in vain. We will monitor the road situation very, very closely.
Civil Affairs wants us to get in, we want to go in, and the moment we feel it is safe, we will go in. The good news is we've managed to amass everything on Aba's "needs list" in one day and it's staged at Chengdu SWI and ready to load on trucks. The items that were scheduled to load on the Aba trucks will stay at Chengdu, ready to travel to Aba when conditions allow. THESE ITEMS ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE IN THE COMING DAYS, THEY ARE TO BE KEPT TOGETHER, AND SEPARATE FROM ALL OTHER INVENTORY, AND WILL TRAVEL TO ABA AS SOON AS CONDITIONS ALLOW. This is a very difficult decision for us to make, but we simply can't risk life to save life.”

You can see that the relief effort is not quite over. I will keep you all posted.

Meanwhile, we have spent almost exactly the amount we have raised in donations (just over US$300,000. And we have not yet really begun the second critical phase of our operation in Sichuan: training caregivers and volunteers to care for and address the non-material needs of displaced and newly-orphaned children. There are billions being donated for rebuilding.
But we need help putting young lives back together.

Here’s a note from Ma Lang, who was at a “model” relief shelter today talking to newly-orphaned children:
I talked to a junior high school girl. Here is part of our conversation:
Lang: Do you know there are psychologists and counselors there to help people?
Girl: Yes.
Lang: Would you be willing to talk to a psychologist?
Girl: Yes.
Lang: What would you like to talk about with the psychologist?
Girl: Things that make me happy. Like happy stories and movies.
Lang: What do not you want the psychologist to ask?
Girl: [pause] Do not ask me where my families are!
P.S. There is little coordination among the 10 plus counselor groups at the shelter. One main method they chose their “clients” was to look for sad faces. If a child or adult looked sad, the likelihood was that she would be “counseled” by more than one group of counselors. One concern that I had was that the children (and adults) might be traumatized again by the “counseling” process.

And then….

“I met Lei in the “inner circle” at Jiuzhou Stadium. He was a cute and curious second grader who’d lost his parents in the quake. He approached me and asked me what I was doing when I was organizing the pictures I took. We looked at the pictures together, and chatted a little bit. He told me that after the earthquake, there come aftershocks, and then comes the epidemic. He said epidemic means you die if you do not wash hands before and after meal. When I asked him what earthquake is, he said if you talk loud, earthquake happens. I lowered my voice and asked him if our voices were loud. He said, I do not know.”

Half the Sky is finalizing plans to work in consultation with an important international resource for children traumatized by crisis. I want to thank all of you who have worked to help us locate Mandarin-speaking child trauma specialists. I think we are assembling an outstanding team. I will share more details in the next few days. What I hope I can communicate to you all is that our work is really just beginning. We need more help!

If you would like to donate to Half the Sky’s Children’s Earthquake Fund you can do so through Global Giving:
http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html

Or directly to Half the Sky. You can donate by calling Half the Sky
(+1-510-525-3377) or on our website:
http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund


Many companies have announced they will match employee gifts for earthquake relief. Please check to see if your company will double your gift!

If you would like a Canadian tax receipt, please donate at
http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s86248

If you would like a Hong Kong tax receipt, please call us at
+852-2520-5266 or online at
https://www.paydollar.com/b2c2/eng/charity/payInfo.jsp?charityId=4947

Thank you for all you’ve already done for these children – and for what you will do.

with love,
Jenny

Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org





China-Babies Research

Hundreds of Beijing couples clamouring to adopt orphans

SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE
Peter Simpson
May 21, 2008
South China Morning Post

Adoption hotlines in Beijing were in meltdown from calls made by
couples offering to care for Sichuan's quake orphans, officials said
yesterday.

Ever since adoption hotlines were opened last week, "hundreds of
thousands" of Beijing couples had offered homes to children who lost
relatives, said Wu Shixiong, director of the Beijing Civil Affairs
Bureau.

"Hundreds of calls are being taken daily from families wanting to
help by adopting children from Sichuan. It underscores the sense of
unity over the tragedy," Mr Wu said.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs said yesterday that 70 children had so
far been classed as orphans.

Within hours of the quake, Mr Wu's department began working with the
Sichuan Provincial Civil Affairs Bureau, the Ministry of Civil
Affairs and the China Adoption Centre to ensure there was an
efficient adoption process. Three hotlines were set up - one
specifically for people in the capital who want to adopt.

Mr Wu said applicants would receive forms rapidly and the process of
matching orphans with adopted parents would start soon.

There are fears that the adoption process will prove too slow to cope
with the influx of orphans.

Mr Wu would not confirm whether the adoption laws would be changed,
such as the one-child policy, which strictly governs the size of
families in certain regions.

Under adoption rules passed in 1990 by the National People's
Congress, applicants should not have children. If the law remains,
thousands of couples in the capital could be left disappointed in
seeking to expand their single-child families and provide a home for
one of the bereaved young.

Kate Redman of Save the Children - who arrived in Chengdu last night
to assist with the orphan crisis - urged the authorities and
potential adopters to be patient. "Adopting is not to be taken
lightly and plenty of time is needed to consider all the options and
complications," she said.

The priority was to find children's relatives as many would have
extended families, she said.

The deputy chief for the Ministry of Civil Affairs' welfare
department, Li Bo, said the adoption procedure would be activated
only after "basic order" is restored. He said the work to identify
the children and find their families was ongoing. "We will activate
the procedure as soon as the identification is completed."

Although orphans and other child survivors of the quake are at high
risk of psychological trauma and need special care, they have been
treated in relief camps or wards for adults.

In Mianyang , children without parents were simply left at Jiuzhou
Stadium to live with the 40,000 other victims in soiled tents.

In Chengdu's West China Hospital, the understaffed paediatric
department did not have the resources to counsel children who had
probably been orphaned.

Additional reporting by Chris Zhang, Ng Tze-wei and Fiona Tam in
Beijing





China-Babies Research

Death toll in China earthquake rises to 7,600

China.Earthquake

In this photo distributed by the official Xinhua news agency, rescuers searc...
54 minutes ago

BEIJING — A massive earthquake struck central China on Monday, killing more than 7,600 people and trapping nearly 900 students under the rubble of their school, state media reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan county in Sichuan province after the 7.8-magnitude quake, raising fears the overall death toll could increase sharply.

Xinhua cited the Sichuan provincial government as saying 7,651 people died, but the situation in at least two counties remain unclear.

The earthquake sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai. The temblor was felt as far away as Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand.

Rescuers had recovered at least 50 bodies from the debris of the school building in Juyuan township, about 60 miles from the epicenter. Xinhua did not say if any students had been pulled out alive.

An unknown number of students also were reported buried after buildings collapsed at five other schools in Deyang city in Sichuan, Xinhua reported.

It said its reporters saw buried teenagers struggling to break loose from underneath the rubble of the three-story building in Juyuan "while others were crying out for help."

Two girls were quoted by Xinhua as saying they escaped because they had "run faster than others."

The earthquake hit less than three months before the start of the Beijing Summer Olympics, when China hopes to use to showcase its rise in the world.

Shanghai's main index inched up Monday, but the advance was capped by worries over inflation and potential damage from the earthquake. Analysts said that shares of companies located in the Sichuan region may fall in coming sessions due to the quake.

It struck about 60 miles northwest of Chengdu in the middle of the afternoon when classrooms and office towers were full. There were several smaller aftershocks, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

Calls into the city did not go through as panicked residents quickly overloaded the telephone system. The quake affected telephone and power networks, and even state media appeared to have few details of the disaster.

"In Chengdu, mobile telecommunication convertors have experienced jams and thousands of servers were out of service," said Sha Yuejia, deputy chief executive officer of China Mobile.

Although it was difficult to telephone Chengdu, an Israeli student, Ronen Medzini, sent a text message to The Associated Press saying there were power and water outages there.

"Traffic jams, no running water, power outs, everyone sitting in the streets, patients evacuated from hospitals sitting outside and waiting," he said.

Xinhua said an underground water pipe ruptured near the city's southern railway station, flooding a main thoroughfare. Reporters saw buildings with cracks in their walls but no collapses, Xinhua said.

The earthquake also rattled buildings in Beijing, some 930 miles to the north, less than three months before the Chinese capital was expected to be full of hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors for the Summer Olympics.

Many Beijing office towers were evacuated, including the building housing the media offices for the organizers of the Olympics, which start in August. None of the Olympic venues was damaged.

"I've lived in Taipei and California and I've been through quakes before. This is the most I've ever felt," said James McGregor, a business consultant who was inside the LG Towers in Beijing's business district. "The floor was moving underneath me."

In Fuyang, 660 miles to the east, chandeliers in the lobby of the Buckingham Palace Hotel swayed. "We've never felt anything like this our whole lives," said a hotel employee surnamed Zhu.

Patients at the Fuyang People's No. 1 Hospital were evacuated. An hour after the quake, a half-dozen patients in blue-striped pajamas stood outside the hospital. One was laying on a hospital bed in the parking lot.

Skyscrapers in Shanghai swayed and most office occupants went rushing into the streets.

In the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, 100 miles off the southeastern Chinese coast, buildings swayed when the quake hit. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The quake was felt as far away as the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, where some people hurried out of swaying office buildings and into the streets downtown. A building in the Thai capital of Bangkok also was evacuated after the quake was felt there.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake is considered a major event, capable of causing widespread damage and injuries in populated areas.

The last serious earthquake in China was in 2003, when a 6.8-magnitude quake killed 268 people in Bachu county in the west of Xinjiang.

China's deadliest earthquake in modern history struck the northeastern city of Tangshan on July 28, 1976, killing 240,000 people.





China-Babies Research