Panama Earthquake Relief: Chinese Association Sends Truckloads of Supplies as Bakery Owner Gives Away 2,000 Bags of Bread
After a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck southern Panama on October 9, the Chinese association and Chinese merchants in Coclé Province spent days delivering water and food to disaster areas: Luo Weiqiao, a Chinese merchant who has run six bakeries in Penonomé for 20 years, closed his shops to prepare supplies and sent about 2,000 bags of bread to a local hospital.
Xinhua reported on October 11 that the quake's epicentre was about 39 kilometres northwest of Tonosí in Los Santos Province. The Panamanian government declared a state of emergency the following day, and collection centres were set up to gather drinking water, food and other supplies for the hardest-hit provinces.
Members of Panama's resident Chinese community joined the relief effort, coordinating donations and distributing food and daily necessities to affected residents.
Robin Kam, mayor of the district of Penonomé, told Xinhua that the Chinese Association had provided support from the first day of the emergency.
Liu Zhizhen, president of the Chinese Association of Coclé Province, said the association coordinated with local authorities after the quake and had already donated two pickup truckloads of drinking water, biscuits, milk, diapers and other supplies, with further deliveries planned. The supplies were bought by the association or donated voluntarily by members of the Chinese community.
Liu said the association bought supplies according to local needs and delivered them to the affected areas. He added that help also came from individual Chinese merchants and residents, some of whom took goods from their own businesses to hospitals and communities to hand out to neighbours.
Luo Weiqiao, who has lived in Panama for 20 years and runs six bakeries, organised his staff to prepare food, mainly for the Aquilino Tejeira Hospital in Penonomé. On the first day they handed out more than 800 portions of bread; afterwards they closed the shops to gather supplies, assembling about 2,000 bags of bread and between 600 and 700 bottles of mineral water.
"After so many years living here, you grow fond of the place. I already consider myself half Panamanian," Luo said, adding that he would keep helping according to the communities' needs.
Separately, Panama's La Prensa reported on October 16 that the Chinese Embassy in Panama donated supplies to the country's fire service on October 15, including food, daily necessities, tents, flashlights, batteries, blankets and sheets, for the regional stations in Coclé, Herrera, Los Santos and Veraguas. Ambassador Zhang Xiangyan said ambulances, solar panels, tents, food and drinking water had been and would continue to be delivered to the worst-hit areas through local Chinese community channels, with the national civil protection agency Sinaproc, the fire service and several affected communities among the recipients.
Source: Xinhua, La Prensa
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：巴拿马城老城大教堂（资料图）。照片：(WT-shared) Shoestring，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: The cathedral in Panama City's Casco Viejo (file photo). Photo: (WT-shared) Shoestring, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
