May 15, 2008 Basel

Dear friend,

I am writing to ask for your kind help assisting the people from Dujiangyan, one of the areas of the Sichuan province most devastated by the earthquake in China.

Situated near the epicenter, most homes, hospitals, and schools located within Dujiangyan have been leveled to the ground. You can find thorough information about this area at either http://topics.cnn.com/topics/china or http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7402460.stm .

I feel closely connected to Dujiangyan, as the family of my sister-in-law lives there. Over twenty of their neighbours have been killed by the quake, including two of her cousins (brothers). Some of her family members still remain missing. Since my sister-in-law's parents suffered the loss of only one-third of their home, they are now hosting a dozen people and providing food to aid workers. Together with friends and colleagues, my brother and his wife have now spent their third day in Dujiangyan sending water, food, and simple tents (without walls) to the neighborhood and to those still needing aid in the streets. My brother described to me over the phone the devastation that he and his wife witnessed on their journey to Dujiangyan. He spoke of the rubble and the smell of dead bodies, street after street, and of the collapse of the school where underneath the rubble some 900 students remain buried. There is much media coverage, but the need for more hands-on help is desperately needed. The immediate need now in Dujiangyan is for food, shelter, medical and technical help and in the rebuilding of the infrastructure as soon as possible.

With all the catastrophes happening daily in our world, I feel strongly that I must do something. Realizing that I cannot achieve as much on my own as together with you, I ask for your help. No matter how small it might seem, we must join our compassion towards action in the face of a human catastrophe of this scale. It would be very helpful if you could do at least one of the following things:

1. Inform as many organizations and private individuals as possible regarding the desperate and immediate need for supplies to those within the quake-affected region of China.
2. Travel to that region to help in person if possible.
3. Send tents, medicine, technical equipment or money to the aid organizations you rely on which are focusing on aiding the quake hit region. Contact details to these organizations can be found on the internet.
4. If you feel moved to contribute through us, please contact us and know that my husband and I will feel honored to ensure that your money reaches those in need. All donations and distributions will be published continuously on our coming website at http://www.sichuan-aid.org

Thank you very much for your compassion and solidarity!

Hui Koch and Richard Koch

Address: Sevogelstrasse 99, 4052 Basel, Switzerland

info@sichuan-aid.org