Background
The toll of the earthquake that shook Sichuan and neighboring provinces on May 12, 2008 is staggering: nearly 70,000 people dead and more than 350,000 injured; 15 million people evacuated from their homes; 400,000 homes and 7,000 schools destroyed, and thousands more badly damaged.
In the days following the quake, Oxfam quickly launched a relief effort that has so far reached nearly 280,000 people in Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi Provinces with essential supplies and services.
