Newsletter No. 418

4 No. 418, 19.5.2013 一些中大人，一座無止橋 A Bridge Not Too Far 這 是一座坐落在群山深處的橋樑；它所跨越的麻沿 河，是絕大部分香港人不曾聽過其名字的河；麻沿 河流經的甘肅省隴南市徽縣黨政村，是絕大部分香港人 無法在地圖上指出其所在的中國農村。不過，一群來自 中文大學建築學院和賽馬會公共衞生及基層醫療學院的 師生，由建築學院 吳恩融 教授帶領，聯同北京大學、西安 交通大學、史丹福大學及牛津大學的義工，在4月30日至 5月7日來到這個小農村，修建香港中文大學金禧無止橋。 黨政村村民散居麻沿河兩岸，渡河靠的是一條搖搖欲墜 的簡陋木橋。村內唯一學校黨政學校，每天都有學生須渡 河上學。每年汛期水漲，木橋都會被大水沖掉。 為了方便村民能安全渡河，來自五所大學的師生就在4月 30日來此，修建永久便橋。在逗留黨政村的八天裏，義工 分為施工組、後勤組和民生組。除了修橋外，還到學校教 導學生健康衞生知識，又到村內和附近的市集為村民做健 康檢查，派發救災包和推廣防災知識。 5月4日中午，有幾名生力軍來到村子幫忙建橋，包括無止 橋慈善基金義務秘書 紀文鳳 、該基金行政總幹事 周嘉旺 、 捐建此橋的 陳瑞球 家族代表 羅德偉 、中大CCOUC災害與 人道救援研究所所長 陳英凝 ，還有一人吳恩融教授親切 地稱呼他為K.S.，此人早在 20 05年已參與修建第一條 無止橋，是吳教授的老戰友， 他就是香港特區政府環境局 局長 黃錦星 。這是黃局長第 三次親身到農村參與建橋， 他說：「這條橋是為慶祝中大 五十周年校慶而建，所以來打 打氣。」 5月5日大夥才剛吃過早餐， 中大校長 沈祖堯 和中大全球 衞生中心主任 葛菲雪 教授也 來到了村子，與黃錦星局長 一同走到河中搬石頭，填入 用作橋墩的網箱。早有經驗 的黃局長駕輕就熟，第一次 拿起工具收緊網箱的沈校長 則笑說：「一點也不難，跟做 手術差不多。」 經過一周頂着烈日、冒着風雨 的努力，香港中文大學金禧 無止橋終於竣工，並在5月7日 舉行開幕典禮。 慶祝中大金禧的無止橋，建在距離香港一千六百公里遠的 隴南小農村，這是甚麼樣的因緣？義工臨走前的晚上，村 裏的小孩遞上紀念冊要義工寫下留言。有義工寫下：「或 許有一天你會走出這山中小村，來到中文大學來唸書。」 連接此岸與彼岸，不就是橋的功能嗎？ T his is a bridge located in a remote mountainous area in Northwest China. It spans Mayan River, unheard of for most Hong Kong people. It flows through Dangzheng Village, a small and remote village in Hui County, Longnan City, Gansu Province. From 30 April to 7 May, CUHK volunteers from the School of Architecture and the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care went to Dangzheng Village with their counterparts from Peking University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Stanford University and Oxford University to build a bridge for villagers. Initiated by Prof. Edward Ng from the School of Architecture, this bridge building project is named the ‘CUHK Golden Jubilee Wu Zhi Qiao’ to celebrate the University’s 50th anniversary. The villagers of Dangzheng Village live on the banks of Mayan River. Some of their children have to cross the river every day to go to school. The log bridge they used was shaky and was washed away by heavy river flow during the rainy season. check-ups for the villagers, sent disaster supply kits to the villagers and promoted disaster preparedness among them. At noon on 4 May, several new members arrived at Dangzheng Village to join the volunteers. They included Ms. Leonie Ki , honorary secretary of the Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation; Ms. Sharon Chow , chief executive officer of the foundation; Mr. Felix Lo , representative of Dr. Chan Sui-kau and his family who sponsored this bridge building project; Prof. Emily Chan , director of the Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response. One of the new comers was Professor Ng’s old friend who took part in the first Wu Zhi Qiao project in 2005. He was Mr. Wong Kam-sing , the current Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR. Mr. Wong said, ‘This bridge is built to commemorate CUHK’s 50th anniversary. So I’m here to show my support.’ On the morning of 5 May shortly after breakfast, Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung , CUHK Vice-Chancellor, and Prof. Sian Griffiths , director of the Centre for Global Health, CUHK, also arrived at the village. Together with Mr. Wong Kam- sing, they put rocks into the gabions that were used as piers of the bridge. Mr. Wong was no stranger to the task. Making gabion piers with hooks and wire for the first time, Professor Sung joked, ‘It’s not difficult at all, just like performing surgery.’ After toiling under the scorching sun and in the intermittent rain for a week, the volunteers finished building the bridge which was officially opened on 7 May. It is a fascinating fate that the bridge commemorating the golden jubilee of CUHK was built in a small village located 1,600 km from Hong Kong. On the last evening, the local children asked the volunteers to write farewell messages. One wrote: ‘Perhaps there will be a day when you’ll leave this village for studies at CUHK.’ Connecting places and people—isn’t that what a bridge is for? The volunteers from the five universities arrived at the village on 30 April to build a permanent footbridge for the villagers. They were divided into the construction team, the logistics team and the community services team. In addition to building a bridge, they taught health- related knowledge at a local school, did simple physical 右起：無止橋慈善基金義務秘書紀文鳳女士、環境局局長黃錦星先生及沈祖堯校長合力搬石建橋 From right: Ms. Leonie Ki, honorary secretary of the Wu Zhi Qiao Charitable Foundation; Mr. Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for the Environment, HKSAR; and Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, CUHK Vice-Chancellor