Images from Ground Zero

It can be easier to process tragedies like the earthquake in China's Sichuan Province if we only look at the hard numbers, rather than seeing the actual destruction.  Authorities estimate that about 50,000 people will have died from the earthquake, and millions of homes have been destroyed.

These powerful images are just a small glimpse of the sorrow that millions of Chinese have been experiencing.  One friend in Beijing told me that the hearts of "every Chinese have been broken" because of the earthquake. 

Many around the world are also grieving alongside those in China who have lost their children, their parents, their siblings, and their friends.  

 Many hopeful signs have emerged in the midst of this tragedy.  I have been inspired by the heroic stories of friends throughout China who are doing everything they can do to help their fellow countrymen. 

In addition to the 110,000 troops who have been deployed into the devastated areas, people have been donating blood, and volunteering their time to help the victims. 

The Chinese government has done an impressive job in its quick response to the earthquake, with Premier Wen Jiabao on the ground in Dujiangyan, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake. 

Several military planes have been used to airlift  food and supplies to the suffering, since many of the roads in the mountainous regions of Sichuan Province have been destroyed. 

According to one Chinese saying from the Tang Dynasty, "It's more difficult to go across the road in Sichuan than to go across the sky," and even now, hundreds of years later, this saying remains true. 

Today another 101 helicopters have been sent out to airlift survivors out of several villages.  They're also sending down food and other medical supplies to those who have lost everything.

It's difficult to imagine the full extent of the damage, and we probably won't know the full cost for quite some time.  It will take years to rebuild the communities that have been shattered, and meeting the most basic needs of survivors will remain a daunting challenge for China's leaders and people. 

Despite the difficult road ahead, hope remains strong.  This tragedy has unified China in a way that not even the Olympics could. 

Together, they will overcome this tragedy, as the rest of the world cheers them on.