Spirit, unity overcome threat of floodwaters

Shelter, kindness

By Tuesday morning, one of the temporary shelters set up in Huarong Vocational Secondary School had accepted around 1,400 villagers. They are living in the students' dormitories while the students are on summer vacation.

The dormitories are equipped with air conditioners, and the displaced villagers are provided daily necessities, free meals and support from volunteers.

Li Junhui, principal of the school, has a hoarse voice after dealing with more than 200 phone calls every day. He has had very little sleep.

He said the school immediately started preparation and coordination work after they were notified by the local government on Saturday that it would be used as a shelter for people made homeless by the floods

All of the school's 200 staff, including teachers, are working as volunteers, while some students and outsiders have also joined the support efforts, he said.

Li said he had experience of a similar situation. When he served as a primary school principal in another township, his school was used as a shelter for flood-affected people, he said.

"The first and most important thing for us is to comfort them, talk with them and answer their questions," he said. "They have lost their homes, and we need to do our best to make sure they live comfortably at our school."

Luo Jiayi, 19, is a college student at the Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology and a native of Huarong. After learning about the flooding, he immediately took a train from Hohhot to Huarong.

The house of his grandfather, who lives in Tuanzhou, was inundated with water. The elderly man suffered a foot fracture while fleeing the floodwaters.

Luo has volunteered to work at the shelter. He does everything from registration, to distribution of items and heavy lifting of items.

"I want to make the greatest effort and do my part," he said. "Many of them (the homeless) are the same age as my grandfather and I often chat with them. After several encounters, they treat me very nicely," he said.