Word: reliefs
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When a devastating earthquake hit China's Sichuan province in May 2008, one bright spot in the disaster was the massive outpouring of support from across the country. In the weeks following the magnitude 8.0 quake, millions of Chinese contributed to relief efforts, either in cash donations or volunteer labor. Cars and trucks loaded with clothes, bottled water and instant noodles streamed into the disaster zone, where nearly 90,000 people had been killed and 5 million left homeless. The response was so overwhelming that authorities blocked roads and turned away volunteers because they threatened to overwhelm official rescue work...
...while many observers have said that this outpouring of support represented a turning point for civil society in China, new research suggests the state still dominates aid work. Average Chinese, many with no connection to Sichuan, contributed blood, sweat and cash to relief efforts, and for non-governmental organizations toiling in obscurity, the disaster represented an opportunity to raise cash and build support networks in one of China's most populous provinces. But much of the donations collected over the past year ended up being funneled through local governments, according to a new study conducted by researchers from Beijing...
...month investigation into donations and volunteer work in Sichuan estimated that as much as 80% of the total contributed to relief efforts was eventually dispersed to government accounts. In some cases local governments required volunteer groups to hand over funds, says Deng Guosheng, an associate professor at Tsinghua's School of Public Policy and Management, who headed the research team. But in general the heavy reliance on the state is an indicator of the underdeveloped state of many NGOs in China. "Most NGOs are incapable and desperately in need of money," says Deng. "Some of them couldn't even afford...
...many travelers to Africa, a safari invariably involves a 4x4 or an overland truck. But a camel safari offers a closer way of connecting with the landscape and its people. You don't actually ride the camels - which, after sitting on one for half an hour, was a blessed relief. Rather, they carry the luggage and provisions, with a mixture of grace and grumpiness, while you trek alongside. (See TIME's Global Adviser for exotic, beautiful and interesting getaways...
...could almost hear the sighs of relief in the hushed, thickly carpeted corridors of high-powered media executives on Aug. 6, when News Corp. chairman and managing director Rupert Murdoch announced that he was going to start charging for online news content by July 2010. At last, they exulted, somebody was jumping in and demanding that consumers pay for a product that has been given away for nothing on the Web. And even better, that somebody was not them...