An indomitable old woman refuses to surrender her possessions to the earthquake.

"My mother is risking her life, we are all risking our lives to do it," an exhausted man called Wang told us, added that if they didn't do it themselves, nobody would.

The buildings have been condemned by the authorities, and are going to be demolished for safety. Ling Jungao, another of the group, told us that there had been recent rumors of thieves dressed as volunteers or policemen stealing from dangerous buildings. He had heard that around twenty people have been arrested for doing this.

"This is a critical time," he told us, "and the government is so busy. It can't keep an eye on everything that is happening. As you can see, we are here taking things from the buildings, but so far no policeman has come to check if we are residents or thieves." He showed us his ID card to prove he was a genuine resident.

Indeed, the police were not far away. Just a couple of hundred meters up the road, a squad was helping people to dismantle temporary shelters, and moving them to better accommodation in relief camps.

Ling was going to move temporarily into the home of relatives in Nongke Village, one of the first country village tourist sites in China. But Wang and his mother were still wondering where to go.

Wang is from Qinghai. He had just bought a home in Dujiangyan, intending to have his mother live with him. The city is one of China's premium tourism spots, and a perfect place for the old to enjoy a peaceful retirement.

After the earthquake he went to the authorities in search for help. But they were too busy with local residents to make any arrangements for him and other outsiders. They will have to wait, and they don't know how long the situation will last.

Other people on the street, and some who were throwing non-breakables from a top-floor balcony, said that they too were receiving no aid.

But none of the group wanted to voice or hear criticism of the authorities. On the contrary, they were proud of their self-reliance. "For the time being we can seek help from our relatives. We won't take a single bottle of water from government. We can take care of ourselves. We're not going to put pressure on our government when it is dealing with people whose needs are so much greater than ours."

Wang and his mother will wait in their temporary tent for approval to move to a more formal relief site. "Right now, a simple thing like a good night's sleep is a luxury for us", he added.

Close to this site is the location of Xin Jian Primary School, a special school for deaf children. Around four hundred children died when the school collapsed, and it is a harrowing place to visit.

Three distraught parents were there, two mothers and a father. All had lost a child in the school, and all were grief-stricken, and angry. They spoke to us about their loss, and demanded answers.

The tears of a bereaved mother - a wound that will never heal

Their children's school was the only building in the area that collapsed, despite the fact that it was surrounded by others that are clearly old and in a poor state of repair. Another part of the school suffered no damage - not even a tile fell off the facade. There are questions to be answered about the quality of the building.

One of our reporters took a piece of fallen masonry the size of a large suitcase and began to hammer it with a brick. In a few seconds other bricks began to fall off as the mortar gave way. In a couple of minutes he could have broken the whole thing to pieces. The parents watched and wept in despair.

We gave what comfort we could to them, by listening and letting them tell their stories. Everyone should do this, whether reporters like us, friends and family, or merely passers-by. It is through talking about their loss that these people will learn to come to terms with it. The pain will never leave them, but one day they will be able to carry on with their lives.

(China.org.cn May 25, 2008)