By David Ferguson

Katie Targett Adams sings from the heart for Sichuan. [David Ferguson/China.org.cn]

Wednesday June 17 saw the official launch of Day by Day, a song written and recorded in Chinese and English by Scottish singer and harpist Katie Targett Adams on behalf of the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. The song and accompanying video will be available by download from Katie's website in exchange for a contribution to the Shumeng Golden Bridges charity.

Supported and sponsored by Heng An Standard Life insurance company, the song launch took place at the Beijing residence of the British Ambassador to China, Sir William Ehrman. Sir William attended and introduced the event in the company of a substantial audience and an encouraging attendance from the Chinese media.

Britain's Ambassador to China Sir William Ehrman introduces the launch of Day by Day. [David Ferguson/China.org.cn]

With the further support of Heng An, Katie will now travel to Sichuan to spend several days in the area of Huang Ping Xiang village, promoting the song and helping to distribute the proceeds of the charitable donations.

The Shumeng Golden Bridges charity provides care to 126 children who survived the earthquake. Most are of the Qiang ethnic group, which was devastated by the event – around 10 percent of the whole Qiang population was lost in the disaster, including many of its teachers and cultural and religious leaders. With no written language, the Qiang depend on word-of-mouth communication to maintain their culture and traditions. Supported by the Shumeng charity, the Shuren-Ribet School will play an important role in protecting and safeguarding the children in its care and their futures.

Day by Day was conceived back in January this year, following a conversation Katie had with one of her Chinese friends, Richard Yang. "We were talking together about my next visit to China," said Katie. "Richard said: ‘when you come you should try to help in a way that you can; you should write a song for the earthquake to help raise awareness one year on.' That started a train of thought in my mind, and during the night I found it impossible to sleep. I had the song playing in my head and in the middle of the night I got up to write it down and sing it through. That has never happened to me before – the song wouldn't let me get to sleep until I had finished it."

The song tells the story of a boy who finds a tiny plant in the ruins of the earthquake. He rescues it and nurtures it till it becomes a strong fruit tree, and as he grows to adulthood he plants his own orchards to provide fruit for the people of his village.

For the official launch of Day by Day, Katie was joined by a chorus of children from Dulwich College, Shuyin, Beijing. [David Ferguson/China.org.cn]

The next step was to find a sponsor to help with the recording and production of the song, and this came about as a result of a chance encounter during a dance organized by the Caledonian Society of Beijing, a club for expatriate Scots and lovers of the country.