In Tibet, over a thousand people have died and many more are injured as a result of the devastating earthquake which struck Yushu county on 14th April. Yushu is in Qinghai province, high on the Tibetan plateau, an impoverished area largely populated by Tibetans. Over 70% of the buildings in the town have been flattened, leaving thousands homeless and shivering in tents overnight in sub-zero conditions. The freezing temperatures and high altitude have hampered search and rescue teams, but hundreds of monks arrived in the worst-affected areas from all over the region to help dig survivors out by hand.
The local infrastructure has been wiped out in an instant. Homes, schools, hospitals, Rokpa’s orphanage, and Thrangu monastery were largely destroyed by the quake, which reached 7.1 on the Richter scale. Photographs reveal a scene of utter devastation.
Elsewhere in the world we have witnessed signs of violence and looting in the chaos that follows such a disaster. By contrast, images from Yushu show Tibetans doing whatever they can to help each other, of monks sifting through rubble with their bare hands, and of people praying for the dead. Let us do whatever we can to help them.
Rigul Trust has responded immediately by sending £ 1,000 to help the relief effort. We have set up an earthquake relief fund, and welcome contributions towards this. Payments can be made in one of the following ways:
By cheque, made out to Rigul Trust, posted to:
Rigul Trust, 13 St.Francis Avenue, Southampton, SO18 5QL, UK.
Please include a note marked EARTHQUAKE APPEAL
By direct bank transfer into our account
Co-operative bank acc no.6528 3969 00 sort code 089299
IBAN GB46 CPBK 0892 9965 2839 69
BIC CPBK GB22
Account name Rigul Trust
Please mark your donation EARTHQUAKE APPEAL
By Paypal to donations@rigultrust.org or Paypal direct from our website www.rigultrust.org.
GIFT AID
If you are a UK taxpayer, please enable us to reclaim tax on your donation. This can be done in the following ways:
Either by posting us the gift aid form HERE at the address above.
Or by sending an email to donations@rigultrust.org giving your name & address, confirming that you are a UK tax payer paying more in tax than we will reclaim from your donation, and that you wish gift aid to apply.