'Dana' storm tragedy
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On the façade of a warehouse in the Guadalhorce industrial estate, which all year round functions as a huge Chinese bazaar, a poster has been hung with a red background, where you can read the word DANA written in Spanish and Chinese and just below it: "We are together. Asociación Chinos Unidos y Comunidad de Chinos".
That sign presides over a forecourt full of pallets already catalogued and packed, ready to leave for their destination. Some will go to Valencia, others to Cártama, Álora and other Malaga towns affected by the 'Dana' storm.
Since last week, the Chinese community across Malaga province, through the association that unites them and in line with their compatriots in other parts of Spain, has mobilised to help the victims of the catastrophe. "We have been listening to what has happened in Valencia, we have seen the images and we have felt it very much. We spoke to the members of the association and informed all our fellow countrymen that we thought something had to be done. We are Chinese, but we have lived here for many years, this is our second home and we don't feel like people from outside, but from here," explained Bingfeng Zhou, a member of the Chinese association and one of the people who is coordinating all the aid that has been arriving since the appeal was launched.
Together with him, the president of the association, Zou Qiongxia, and other members such as Wang Xiaolu and Chen Qun are working to ensure that the aid is as effective as possible, so that the materials that are really needed are sent and that everything reaches those affected as quickly as possible.
The warehouse on the Guadalhorce industrial estate is the collection point for donations set up in the province of Malaga. Others have been set up in Seville, Madrid and Murcia. And from all of them, aid from the Chinese community throughout Spain is being channelled. Those in Murcia, being closer to the tragedy, are the ones who have more weight in all these logistics. They are the ones who are informing people of what is needed at any given moment and who are in charge of buying the necessary products with the money they receive.
The donations are being made in kind: more than 70 pallets of bottled water, cleaning products, masks, wellington boots and nappies have already been collected. And also in money. "There are many Chinese who live a long way from Malaga city and cannot close their businesses to come here, so they have decided to deposit money in an account we have set up. We are giving this money to our members in Murcia so that they can buy what they need and transfer it to Valencia so that the aid arrives as soon as possible," he said.
In total, they have already managed to raise around 80,000 euros, and the most striking thing is that of this, around 7,000 euros of this is money donated by children. Wang Xiaolu has had a lot to do with this. He is the head of the Chinese school in Malaga, the Manuel de Falla school on Avenida Europa, which is given at weekends to the Chinese community in the province so that they can bring their children there and reinforce their own language and culture.
"We told them that we wanted to help and they all opened their piggy banks, some even donated the money they were carrying that day for their sandwiches and were left without breakfast," he explained. They have also been in charge of preparing some drawings that are being sent along with the pallets of products and on which you can read: "Courage Valencia, we are with you", "Lots of strength" and many other messages of support.
"This is not the first time we have organised such a mobilisation; during the pandemic it was even bigger. Back then it was impossible to get masks here, but in China we could, and many people bought them there to donate them here," explained Zhou, who added that when they created the Chinese association it was because "we want to form part of Spanish society. "Many of us were not born here, but many others were, like my children, and except for their features, they feel purely Spanish."
Finally, the association is appealing to the local councils of the Malaga municipalities affected by the tragedy to contact them if they need help, with the aim of channelling shipments as best as possible.
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