April 20, 2013, was an unforgettable day for the people of Ya’an, Sichuan. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake completely shattered the original tranquility of this peaceful, serene, and beautiful hometown of pandas. The safety of residents was threatened, and property suffered significant losses. In the face of this natural disaster, the resilience of the people of Ya’an moved countless Chinese people. Eight months later, despite the orderly reconstruction efforts supported by various parties, today’s Ya’an still tugs at the heartstrings of hundreds of millions.
On December 19, 2013, Alibaba, in collaboration with One Foundation and caring merchants such as CAMEL, organized a trip to the Ya’an earthquake-stricken area to conduct a return visit and public welfare journey, bringing the most sincere blessings to deeply visit the affected communities.
The unforgettable disaster brought pain but could not take away hope. Immediately after the disaster, rescue operations were swiftly and effectively launched across the country. In response to the urgent shortage of supplies, many enterprises mobilized essential materials and sent them to the disaster zone. On the afternoon of April 20, 2013, CAMEL, as the first outdoor brand to respond to the rescue effort, urgently donated tents, windbreakers, sleeping bags, and other much-needed supplies worth one million yuan to the Ya’an earthquake zone. By evening, upon learning that the disaster situation was worsening, CAMEL Outdoor decided to donate an additional one million yuan worth of relief supplies. A total of two million yuan worth of urgently needed supplies were loaded onto trucks overnight and, under the escort of CAMEL volunteers, were rushed to the disaster area without delay.
After more than half a year of recovery, the lives and work conditions of the affected people remain a concern. This return visit to Ya’an hopes to bring warmth and blessings to the people in the disaster zone during the cold winter. CAMEL will deliver warmth packages to the affected residents through home visits. For the people in the disaster zone, having gone through such a tragic disaster, the process of psychological rebuilding is far more important than the reconstruction of infrastructure such as houses and roads. Prior to this trip, CAMEL launched the “Camel Love on the Move” themed campaign via its official Weibo account, inviting netizens to send their blessings to the people of Ya’an. “Camel Love on the Move” not only allows the affected people to feel love and warmth, encouraging them to be braver and stronger during the rebuilding process, but also calls on more compassionate individuals to pay attention to and send blessings to the disaster zone.
During this return visit to Ya’an, the team will also travel to two rebuilt schools to engage in in-depth interactions with teachers and students. In the post-disaster reconstruction efforts, the restoration of education is of utmost importance, and CAMEL also places great emphasis on the physical and mental growth of children in the disaster zone. During the earthquake relief period, a group of children wrote their thanks in little notebooks and gave them to CAMEL. The children’s simplest expressions of gratitude brought the deepest感动 to Camel. This time, as part of the “Camel Love on the Move” journey to Ya’an, small New Year gifts will also be given to the children in the disaster zone in advance.