Houston students paint to offer suport to Sichuan

Students at a school in the fourth largest U.S. city of Houston sent hand-made cards to China's earthquake-stricken Sichuan province Wednesday, offering support and condolences to people affected by the disaster.

At a ceremony here, students at Sharpstown International School presented the cards on which they drew pictures of the Chinese and U.S. maps, the giant panda and loving hearts, to a local Chinese radio station, AM1320 U.S. Chinese Channel, which will help send the cards to China.

On the cards the students also wrote words such as "move on, Ya'an," "united we stand," and "we are praying for you," etc.

"Stay strong. We know that you are going to get through this. And hopefully, everything is going to be all right," said Jenny Truong, a student at the school.

"I just want to tell them: do not be scared in face of the quake. We are with you at this moment," said Chen Nan, a Chinese student. "Though we are not in China now, we are closely following what's happening in our homeland. We will try our best to help them," said Chen.

The earthquake really affects millions of people, said another student, Stephanie Diazi. "I hope our messages can put smile on their faces and they know that they are not alone."

"In memory of the hundreds of victims who perished during the earthquake in Sichuan and thousands more affected by this terrible tragedy, let me, on behalf of the faculty and students of Sharptown International School, offer our heartfelt condolences," said Thuy M. Le-Thai, principal of the school.

"Though half of the world away, this terrible earthquake brought us together to reconfirm the bond of friendship that we have with you, with the people of Sichuan. We, the students and staff at SIS share with you your loss," she said.

"We would like to extend our warm embraces to all in Sichuan especially the children of Sichuan. Please keep the faith, hope and believe that together we can build," she said.

Zhang Chuanbing, China's deputy consul general in Houston, thanked the teachers and students for their support to people suffered from the tragic earthquake in Sichuan.

"People from all over the world expressed condolences to China over the disaster in different ways. Among those caring efforts, I would say, what you have done is truly special and it means a lot," said Zhang.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake jolted southwest China's Sichuan province on Saturday. So far nearly 200 people have been confirmed dead and more than 12,000 others injured.

Sharpstown International School, which serves grades 6 to 12, has some 1,000 students.