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Ex-US President Carter helps build shelters in Sichuan

By Zhang Ao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-11-20 13:28

Former US President Jimmy Carter paid a visit along with his wife Rosalynn Carter to Qionglai, an earthquake-stricken area in Sichuan, on November 19 to help build low-rate apartments to solve the housing problem in the area. The 85-year-old president and 248 volunteers from around the world have joined the project to help locals, who are given a living expense of less than 190 yuan ($30) per month, afford better housing.

Ex-US President Carter helps build shelters in Sichuan

Jimmy Carter and his wife receive a gift from the local government. [chinadaily.com.cn]

"By building physical walls, we are actually breaking down the walls in our mind," said Carter, the 39th American president, as he did shelter-building volunteer work in Qionglai. Thirty years ago, President Carter witnessed and promoted the formal establishment of the Sino-US diplomatic relationship and had a dialogue with his Chinese counterpart Deng Xiaoping. Carter said he chose China's Sichuan as his charity destination as a result of last year's magnitude-8 earthquake, and to enhance friendship between China and the United States.

The low-rate construction public project has been organized by Habitat for Humanity, a well-known international non-governmental public service organization. The activity coincides with the 26th International Volunteer Week, being held from November 15 to 20 across five countries in the Mekong River Basin, including China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Over 140 building blocks will be constructed and more than 50,000 families (10,000 Chinese ones included) will have shelters within five years.

"The 16 blocks of buildings constructed here will be rented out to the local poor people at a price of 2 yuan/m2, much lower than the average market price - 7.8 yuan," Li Jie, director of the project, told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

The 248 volunteers are made up of architectural professionals and public service workers from all walks of life from Britain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Most volunteers have paid their own air fare and accommodation fees, amounting to around $1500. Even though the average temperature in Qionglai dropped to 5 C in recent weeks, the volunteers insisted on finishing their outdoor work on time, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm everyday.

"Of course I feel a little bit tired, but I am happy and satisfied to contribute my own share to China," Yuan Jiatian, a Chinese-American, told China Daily. "I've been doing volunteer work in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces since 2000,” she added. Li said despite the unprofessional team, there will not be any quality problems in construction. "The volunteers are mainly doing basic constructing work such as laying bricks for walls and transporting liquid cement with a go-cart. Complicated and key processes like laying the foundation or binding the iron bars together are left to the professional construction teams. Besides, we have plenty of technicians on the spot to guide the volunteers."

All the buildings will be completed by the end of next year, Li added.