As the rescue efforts in Southwestern China turn from finding survivors to recovering dead bodies, we still hear stories of merely alive old people who were rescued from the rubbles.  It is relieving and still one can feel gratefulness amidst this tragedy.

To date, there are more than 60,000 that are feared dead and the estimate is dreaded to go higher in the coming days.  Imagine, almost a hundred thousand people dead in just a matter in 3 minutes of 7.9 magnitude of earthquake.

Sichuan province’s governor estimated that it will take 3 full years for them to make a full recovery.  And while this seems long, it is good to see that the communist country has opened up to foreign aid, and even foreign attention.  They kept out foreign media to report on the earthquake that claim 250,000 people 30 years ago and now they have allowed international journalists to the heart of the destruction as to let the world know that the damage is really serious in every sense of the word.

Hopefully, they can still dug out survivors and rebuilt faster.  Thinking of the makeshift tents along the streets full of children makes one feel grateful that we have a concrete roof above our heads.