CRI听力: 10-year-old Boy Volunteers in Quake Relief

After the devastating earthquake hit Yushu, many rescue teams were sent to the quake-hit area from all over China. However, as most of the locals speak Tibetan instead of mandarin Chinese, the language barrier has not made rescue efforts easy.



A number of volunteer interpreters have been busy working with the rescue teams. One such volunteer is Tsering danzhou, a 10-year-old Tibetan boy. Yingying has more.


Tsering is translating between a wounded boy and a doctor at a makeshift hospital. The April 14th earthquake destroyed his home. He and his family are now living in a tent on the ground of a sports stadium.

As a bilingual boy, Tsering has been helping at makeshift hospitals since the rescue teams arrived. One of the rescue workers explains how she met him.

"Just as we arrived here, the boy came to us and asked: 'Are you cold? Do you need help?' We didn't ask him to do anything, but he still volunteered to look after our equipment and do some translation work."

Tsering says he likes these doctors and nurses, since they have saved many lives in his village. And all the rescue workers like him, too.

"When I was hungry, they gave me instant noodles to eat. When I was thirsty, they gave me clean water to drink. So I know they love me very much."

Although he lost his home in the quake, Tsering is a strong-minded boy. He has been making every effort to help out at the makeshift hospital. He's proud to wear a red ribbon on his chest.

"It shows that I'm a volunteer."

When asked how he understands the concept of volunteering, Tsering says:

"I'm not sure. For adults, they help people in need. For kids like me, we are unable to offer such help. Perhaps the only thing we can do is to clear up the mess on the ground or to collect firewood for people to use when boiling water."

As he gazes over the scenes of destruction left by the earthquake, Tsering sings a Tibetan folk song with sadness.

For CRI, I'm Yingying.