Two days after the May 12 earthquake of 8.0 magnitude on the Richter scale jolted Sichuan Province, southwest China, the millionaire Wang Wenzhong headed to the devastated zone to help with relief work.

Owner of a huge leather shop in Beijing, the 50-year-old Wang acknowledged that he has no expertise in disaster relief, but it is "no impediment to helping the needy," he said.

Armed with Wang were 14 villagers and 10 college students from Liangshuming Rural Construction Center, a Beijing-based NGO dedicated to assisting village development.

Time did not allow the team to get logistically prepared. Lessons like first aid were taught on the flight to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan. Relief supplies of 926 sets of cotton-padded clothes, 70 tents, and 2,000 quilts, were transferred by three trucks Wang hired.

They had planned to directly go to Mianyang City, a hardest-hitarea, but the road was blocked and no suitable vehicles were available.

Wang and his team adjusted their plan and advanced to Pengzhou County and Xiang'e Town of Dujiangyan City, where 90 percent of homes destroyed, with 400 deaths and 15,000 survivors. So the team set up a rescue station in the town.

Over the past two weeks, the team helped set up more than 100 tents in Xiang'e. They raised funds, visited victims, distributed goods and comforted the young and the old. They worked on the center's principle that the villagers could rehabilitate their own community with a bit of help.

"We help with the small things, but it requires patience," said Bai Yali, a volunteer. For every meal, each villager is allocated a bow of rice. "We must keep order to prevent chaos or quarrels. People are irritable after the disaster."

Zhou Zhongmin, a retired technician traveling across Sichuan investigating rural education when the earthquake struck, agreed. "Disaster relief doesn't need just big gestures." At a rescue station, Zhou and other volunteers boiled 40 pots of water one day for more than 1,000 victims. "They were desperately thirsty."

Behind them is an expanding network of groups engaging people from all walks of life.

On May 12, eight Beijing-based NGOs initiated the "Small actions plus many people make a big difference" program.

By May 18, Green Earth Volunteers, one of the participating organizations, had raised 46,097 yuan (US$6,585) and bought large quantities of daily necessities, including six boxes of the spicy bean sauce popular in Sichuan cuisine. "These things may seem insignificant, but they are what NGOs are good at," said Wang Yongchen, director of the environmental organization.

She noticed that China's NGOs are adapting to deal with challenges they have seldom experienced before.

On May 13, Roots and Shoots, 1KG, NGOCN, and other NGOs decided to coordinate their quake relief efforts. "We're small NGOs, covering different areas. Only through cooperation can we do things efficiently," said An Zhu, director of 1KG.

Ideas were quickly turned into actions. The next day, the joint office of the May 12 Concerted Action of Civil Organizations was opened in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, to oversee nationwide endeavors.

An Zhu believes this new mode of operation signals a new start for Chinese NGOs. When China was beset by severe snowstorms in last January, some civil organizations in southwest Guizhou Province collaborated to offer help. But collaboration this time involves more structural and logistical complexity, said Zhang Guoyuan, the office director, who comes from an NGO in Panzhihua City, Sichuan.

So far, more than 120 NGOs nationwide have joined the Chengdu networks. With the joint office as the headquarters, the relief work is characterized by systematic arrangements, from baseline surveys, information dissemination, and procurement through to transportation.

Developments are posted on the BBS of www.ngocn.org, and discussions remain heated. Everyday, the joint office sends out goods worth 500,000 RMB (US$71,000), but collaboration turns out to be no easy job. Information sharing between the Chengdu office and participating organizations, for instance, has given rise to some complaints. "More time is needed for smooth cooperation," An said.

Apart from the grassroots organizations, suppliers of funds and resources are also taking a more organized approach to corporate responsibility.

The China Social Entrepreneur Foundation, with a 10-year focus on poverty alleviation, set up a fast-track funding scheme on May 14, under which public-interest organizations can get grants of up to 300,000 yuan (US$42,900) within five working days if their application is successful.

Narada Foundation, another influential private foundation funding public welfare projects, also gave 10 million yuan (US$1.42 million) to fund grassroots civil organizations in quake relief.

The government and civil groups have come to build mutual trust. New Camel's Hump, a Shanghai-based NGO, said the civil affairs bureau has been supportive of its work of goods transportation to Sichuan.

But an NGO observer pointed out that the government has yet to provide more space for the participation of NGOs.

A bulletin issued by the May 12 Concerted Action of Civil Organizations on May 16 said some hardest-hit areas are out of bounds to civil organizations, and the distribution of goods has been a headache.

Meanwhile, there has been some disorder on the part of the civil organizations.

"To some degree, so many people are acting spontaneously," said Liang Xiaoyan, acting director-general of Friends of Nature, a Beijing-based NGO committed to environmental protection.

Li Zhigang, a council member of the Bright China Foundation, believed the participation of civil organizations will be a long-term process. They have roles to play in the four main relief functions of first aid, hardware construction, software construction and ultimately, the improvement of crisis strategies, he said.

Li mentions such 19 areas as medical care, road construction, clean water provision, psychological counseling, orphan placement and enhancement of public awareness. "Every NGO should devote itself to its respective strength, instead of overlapping with others. Otherwise, it will be a waste of resources," Li said.

The earthquake offers an opportunity of growth and a test ground for Chinese NGOs, said Wang Yongchen.

Indeed, civil organizations equipped with professional expertise can complement the government in coping with catastrophes like the May 12 giant quake, said Wang Ming, director of NGO Research Center of Qinghua University.

"A Chinese old saying says, the wealthy contribute money, the physically-strong contribute labor. I hope we can contribute our strength in a highly organized way, as civil organizations are rising to be an important force," said Wang Yongchen.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2008)