In May 2008, a severe earthquake struck Sichuan Province, devastating many rural communities. Mudslides followed in 2010, undermining some attempts to rebuild. Despite rapid reconstruction efforts by the Chinese central government, many survivors faced uncertainty and substantial challenges. To support rural survivors' efforts to regain livelihoods and hope, social workers launched several asset-building initiatives in the area. The use of asset building as a strategy to address poverty emerged in the United States in the 1990s and spread to Chinese communities in Taiwan and Hong Kong, but there have been only a few efforts to apply the strategy in rural China. This article discusses the conceptual framework of asset building and details asset-building efforts in disaster-stricken rural communities. The article also documents an evolution in the concept of assets and proposes that the concept should be broadened further to include two additional types of assets: social and cultural.

Mode of access: Internet.