I am in Chengdu, China, participating in an earthquake study tour. After a two hour bus ride, we arrived at the Wu Du Village in Hanwang Township to see the earthquake remains. The majority of the town is destroyed and inhabitable. The mainstreet has been abandoned and shells of buildings remain. At the end of the road, the Hanwang Bell Tower stands. The clock hands have stopped when the earthquake struck.
This evening, we had an opportunity to speak to some local and township officials. I was able to send out some tweets. Here is what I wrote on twitter:
* Men Sheng, Asst Mayor Chegndu Municipal Govt and Sec Genl is giving us a private briefing about the China earthquake recovery efforts
* Goals for govt in 2009: permanent housing for residents who lost their houses; resume completely facilities; rebuild roads destroyed
* Residents should be in permanent housing by August; students will be back in permanent school by Sept; full reconstruction in 2 years
* Most important issue is livelihood; collaborative economic cooperatives being developed; farmers pool lands together and become shareholders
* VC in group: need innovative methods for new business besides agriculture; perhaps invite VCs to come and help find solutions; share models
* VC in group: more value added products in taiwan; fish, shrimp and others; I can bring friends and we can help you set up networks to help
I will be attending the Give2Asia philanthropy forum on April 23rd and twittering from the sessions. If you are interested in following me, please visit me at http://twitter.com/asiangiving.
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