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Liu Ming has a photograph, which shows her standing among a group of children
attending a new school.
The picture was taken in happier times; today it
evokes nothing but sadness.
Liu, 32, is an employee of CapitaLand, a
Singapore developer, that built a Project Hope school last year in Beichuan
county.
The school was reduced to rubble, burying many
students.
"In June last year, I lived with some of the students for two
weeks. I am willing to adopt some of those who have survived but have lost their
parents," she said.
Liu is not alone in thinking about students buried in
collapsed school buildings. A man surnamed Cai has set up a special website
giving information on how to adopt orphans of the quake, and it is attracting a
lot of attention.
More then 50 people had responded just five hours after
the website was set up, Cai said.
"All expressed hopes of adopting some
of the orphaned children," he said.
The civil affairs division of
Sichuan's provincial government has opened two telephone lines to answer
questions about adoption procedures.
The numbers are: 028 84423064 and
028 84423065.
As of Wednesday, the division had received 28 queries from
companies and individuals across the country.
The Qianan Orphanage in
Tangshan, a city hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake 32 years ago, said it could
accommodate 150 to 200 orphans.
Ye Lu, the director of the welfare
department of the Sichuan civil affairs bureau, said that given the
circumstances, the number of orphans is difficult to assess.
"In
Mianyang, fewer than 10 children were sent to the local orphanage," Ye was
quoted by the Oriental Morning Post as saying.
"As rescue work continues,
we believe the number will not be too large."
Yang Huiyan, the daughter
of an estate tycoon, donated 10 million yuan ($1.04 million) to the Guangdong
Youth Development Foundation toward the support of orphans.
"With no
home, no parents, and no school, how can these poor children live and
study?
"This is an area we can all make a contribution," Yang was quoted by
the property website Focus.cn as saying.
The country's largest insurance
firm, China Insurance, said on Wednesday it will support all children orphaned
by the disaster until they reach 18.
It is still discussing the details
of the scheme and welcomes offers of help from other organizations and
individuals, a press officer said.
Another insurer, Huaxia Life
Insurance, said it will donate at least 1,000 yuan a year to every orphaned
student in Wenchuan until they finish their college education.
TV host
Yang Lan, supported by the All-China Women's Federation, has also set up a fund
for orphans.
(By Hu Yuanyuan)
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