Posted on 12/30/2004 9:11:33 AM PST by OESY
Millions of dollars are flowing into the coffers of major disaster relief organizations to help victims of the tsunami that ravaged countries on the Indian Ocean.
A man walked into the Atlanta office of CARE USA, a branch of the international aid organization, and handed the receptionist a check for $10,000. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has allotted $3 million for food, water, shelter and health care, and organizations report that their Web sites are overwhelmed by people seeking to donate electronically.
The money could not come at a better time, aid officials say. Many of the organizations that traditionally swing into action to address emergencies are already working in other parts of the world, like Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan, that are afflicted by crises, and they are stretched thin.
"Just having those three crises happening simultaneously and having them be equally contentious was unique, and now this has upped the ante," said Susan Laarman, a spokeswoman for Mercy Corps. "We're up to the task, but it is certainly an unusual time in history."
While the challenges of this disaster are typical of any emergency, in this case they are multiplied over several countries and regions, many of which were destitute.
"When you have a catastrophe like this in places that are already suffering from poverty, they are disproportionately worse off," said Ahuma Adodoadji, director of emergency and humanitarian assistance at CARE USA.
The first shipments of international aid have started arriving across the region, officials said.
An eight-member team from Doctors Without Borders landed in Aceh Province in Indonesia on Wednesday and set up a tent to provide primary health care services, supported by two planeloads of supplies, including water and sanitation support and installation systems.
"Things are really drastic there," said Catrine Schulte-Hillen, program director of the organization's United States operations. "There are no buildings standing."
Conditions imposed by the disaster will limit the group's response initially. For instance, the team would like to use a helicopter to try to get a better read on the extent of the devastation in areas outside of Banda Aceh, but obtaining gasoline is virtually impossible, Ms. Schulte-Hillen said.
Save the Children was one of the only organizations to have a staff in Indonesia's Aceh region when the tsunami hit, a situation that has been both a blessing and a curse. The organization's finance assistant, Suka Mardiah, and her baby were killed, two staff members are missing and two others are missing family members.
Jailani, the organization's driver, was swept out to sea and presumed dead until he walked into the office this morning, after swimming back to shore. "
At the same time we're sending in large quantities of baby foods and medical supplies for general relief efforts, we're also sending in food packages for our staff who have lost everything they owned," said Rudy von Bernuth, vice president for humanitarian programs at Save the Children USA.
Mercy Corps said some of the plastic sheeting it intended for use as temporary shelter in Aceh would have to be used for makeshift body bags. The emergency stage of the crisis there is expected to last a year.
The airport there can accommodate mid-size planes, Mr. von Bernuth said, but it is backed up because of the demand from relief organizations trying to get supplies and medicine into the area, as is another, larger airport. Customs clearance is still iffy, and transportation and accommodation for arriving relief workers is hard to come by. Communications are almost nonexistent.
In Sri Lanka, Mercy Corps estimates that one million or more people are homeless, and delivery is complicated because most supplies will have to be delivered through Colombo, which had the country's only significant airport. The wave uprooted mines that were buried during Sri Lanka's civil war, and aid officials are scurrying to alert people to stay away from them.
The United Nations World Food Program had stock there, and more was coming in on trucks, Mr. von Bernuth said, and some wells have been dug and temporary shelters erected.
Coordinating groups have been set up in Sri Lanka and India to ensure that organizations and government agencies do not duplicate efforts and that the work they are doing addresses the existing needs. The large relief agencies are accustomed to working together, and in some cases the United Nations is designated as the coordinator, Mr. Adodoadji said.
Relief agencies have asked the public to contribute money because shipping goods from the United States to the disaster areas is complicated and expensive.
Ms. Laarman of Mercy Corps said the organization was stunned to have raised $1.5 million in less than four days, outpacing the previous record of $600,000 over the same time period for Kosovo. Yesterday the organization collected more over the Internet than it ever has, $556,000 compared with $96,000 a year ago for the earthquake that struck Bam, Iran.
Organizations are concerned, however, that the huge groundswell of philanthropy directed to this crisis will divert assistance from other sites of catastrophe. "Darfur is still a huge challenge, an emergency situation with serious security concerns," Ms. Schulte-Hillen said. "In the Republic of Congo, we're seeing massive displacement with new outbreaks of war. The support for this new crisis is great, but I hope we will not forget other ongoing emergencies."
We're spending $200 billion or more, and 2,000 American lives, to free Iraq; I don't call that stingy.
Unbelievable that you guys always seem to find excuses...
Let's leave Muslims vs. Cristians and Iraq BS aside for once and think about the 120.000 or so deaths and people affected...
To be bold... if you think you have paid enough because your goverment spend $87 bln for tanks and bombs in Iraq.. then just don't give anything alright.
And how big is the check from the NY Slimes and France going to be?
Only a person who would think that love means not noticing the hostility of people we have helped, are helping and will help again would post like this.
We all know that we will, over time, give billions of aid to affected countries. But somehow this doesn't float teezle's boat. Teezle wants us to be SO thundersturck, so overwhelmed with pity and horror that we compulsively and thoughtlessly squander aid all over the affected area without consideration that there may be others in the future who will also need aid. Teezle is wrapped up in our failure to live up to an inhuman and foolish idea of sacrifice that doesn't necessarily help, but it's such a beautiful gesture ...
Yo teezle! How much are you giving, or is your gift the criticism of others, just as liberals would rather complain about how little others give than actually do a little heavy lifting in the giving department themselves.
That's not bold (and it's not what I said either). It's imprecise, stupid, and self-righteous.
How much are YOU giving? Tell us that. What are YOU pledging as a percentage of YOUR income? Tell us that before you crawl all over us?
you can call me whatever you want. pls understand what I am trying to say instead of quickly dismissing me. I don't chat an anti-this-and-that and continue the vicious cycle of fingerpointing. I live here in NY and know very well what happened on 9/11, as I feel like I continue to live in a targeted area. I am trying to see things in a different manner and try my hardest not to stigmatise a whole group of people.
Fine. You can start by not stigmatizing the people who take seriously the expressions and crimes of hostility and contempt which many muslims have made towards us -- while they enjoyed and misused our past aid.
I never stigmatized anyone. I'm just not one to generalize about anything, and I don't believe I was pointing at anyone in this forum, I'm just speaking my mind. You're right, but just b/c I choose to think the way I do, doesn't necessarily make me naive. What is important right now, is that people who need help receive the aid, regardless of where it comes from. Americans always pull out their wallets first in these situations and I truly praise this country for it's will to do so. All this nonsense and going back and forth about "who is donating what?" and "why so stingy?" and "france did this" and look at us!! "we've donated more than you" crap is getting ridiculous.
Including the terrorists in Indonesia who routinely massacre Christians?
And just because the MainStreamMedia doesn't give it much coverage, don't assume that Freepers aren't aware of the activities of the Muslim terrorists in Thailand.
Salvation Army's already there and has been there.
Yes, we are the richest nation. And we are taxed at lower levels than European nations. AND we are the most generous with OUR OWN money!
Does it not occur to you that these FACTS might be inter-related? We have more discretionary income because we aren't taxed as much (though most of us would say it's still too much), and we CHOOSE to give much of that money to charities. Only WE pick the charities -- which competition keeps them efficient and honest.
Instead of criticizing, you could (and should) LEARN from us.
And if you think that's arrogant, re-read your own posts.
Reread your message 8
I still don't think you can stigmatise a whole group of people like that
and the messages to which it was a response and see if you aren't attributing something to MisterRepublican that, gosh, looks a lot like a stigma to me ...
I went to the State Department website to make a donation. They have a list of orgs which pretty much follows the list on this thread. The State Dept listed the Salvation Army, but a link was not provided.
I was replying to his comment:
"If they believe the Koran, they consider us infidels."
-which if he believes, whatever, but I happen to think is a stigma. What are you arguing? I'm not sympathizing with terrorists, all I'm saying is that in a time where some 120,000 people have been killed in a natural disaster, it's not necessary to generalize a whole group who practice the same faith. Not all Muslims are terrorists , even if most terrorists happen to be Muslim.
"Organizations are concerned, however, that the huge groundswell of philanthropy directed to this crisis will divert assistance from other sites of catastrophe. "Darfur is still a huge challenge, an emergency situation with serious security concerns," Ms. Schulte-Hillen said. "In the Republic of Congo, we're seeing massive displacement with new outbreaks of war. The support for this new crisis is great, but I hope we will not forget other ongoing emergencies."
But it's a simple truth! It's all over the Koran and all over the language and writing of Islam. Either your you're in the fold or you're not.
Now how an individual muslim might deal with a kaffir or a giaour, that's a matter with some variation. But no self-respecting follower of Islam would consider me anything but an infidel. I wouldn't want or expect him to.
But then I still think you are reading more into his remarks than is there. I didn't hear anyone say not to give aid to countries affected by the tsunami. What I read was someone pointing out the ironies. But I wasn't looking for someone to put down or, um, stigmatize.
And the suggestion, no matter how veiled, that the US is not a sacrificially giving country is nonsense and offensive. Teezle's dismissive comment about the sacrifice our country is making in Iraq as nothing but "tanks and bombs" flies in the face of reality and is an insult to our dead.
And in general, the ignorant UN thug Egeland and his running dogs (here I am PROUD to stigmatize) seem to think that giving only counts if it is imposed on the people by their government and financed by extortionate taxes. Among the free, giving is what WE do more than what we delegate to politicians and bureaucrats to do in our name eith the money they tax from us -- with taxes which lead the most vocal and pious of our liberal critics to hire accountants so that they won't pay more than they absolutely have to pay.
Do you understand what "most" means?
There certainly is a violent extremist minority of Thai Muslims. It's a very small minority that has flared up from time to time at least the past fifty years or so. But the overwhelming majority of Thai Muslims are as "mai pen lai" as its Buddhists ... and if you don't know what "mai pen lai" means, you haven't been there and really don't know what you're talking about.
WRT Indo Muslims, I haven't lived there, but I've worked with a bunch of them, and the ones I worked with were decent. There's a large number of militant Indo Muslims, but they comprise a small fraction of the nation's 238 million inhabitants. The Indo government's behavior in East Timor and persecution of ethnic Chinese is not good, but that should not prevent humanitarian assistance to tsunami victims.
I'll disagree with you on both points. First, it is not just a "very small minority" and second, you should read some history if you think this is something that has occured only in "the last 50 years or so". (Spell it out. Now what happened just over 50 years ago. Oh, I get it now. 1949 - Israel.)
For your first history lesson, you might read about General Charles "Chinese" Gordon and the defense of Khartoum against the Muslim militants in 1885. Or go back to the battle of Vienna or the Battle of Tours.
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