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."
And yet Egelund and, what's worse, the New York Times started this particular fight by suggesting the US response was miserly and inadequate.
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.
Absolutely. Blame the UN and the liberals. Egelund, who is now backpedalling so hard it's amazing he doesn't burst a blood vessel, clearly doesn't understand that free people don't delegate their charity to a bunch of politicians and bureaucrats.
Amazing! I'm sure they were glad to see him, and he was glad to be seen!!
EVen in the face of such overwhelming tragedy the bureaucracy still gets in the way. They should waive all customs requirements for emergency aid immediately!!
No. It won't help influence those who have decided that we are the Great Satan. We can never be redeemed in their eyes because we are not Muslim, and we don't plan to convert to Islam, therefore we are the infidel.
I thougt that a good place to help meet their committment, and to get help to these people. Web site is jammed, so I used the phone.
"and I wonder, do all Muslims consider us infidels? I mean, even now, could people try and put all the bullshit aside?"
In a word: NO
30 killed in Iraq blast
| BAGHDAD, Dec 29: At least 30 people were killed in Baghdad on Tuesday night when guerillas detonated three-quarters of a ton of explosives in a house that police were raiding, flattening neighbourin... (photo: Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images) Dawn
Defence Elections Iraq Mideast Photos
30 killed in Iraq blast
| BAGHDAD, Dec 29: At least 30 people were killed in Baghdad on Tuesday night when guerillas detonated three-quarters of a ton of explosives in a house that police were raiding, flattening neighbourin... (photo: Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images) Dawn
Defence Elections Iraq Mideast Photos
Mortar Attack Hits Baghdad Oil Refinery
By VOA News
30 December 2004
Iraqi insurgents hit the country's infrastructure late Thursday, carrying out a mortar attack on Baghdad's main oil refinery.
The attack ignited a fire at the Dura refinery, which feeds a power plant that provides electricity to the capital and surrounding areas. The facility has been a regular target of insurgent attacks, contributing to fuel shortages in the Iraqi capital.
Earlier Thursday, officials in Lebanon confirmed that two Lebanese businessmen have been kidnapped from their home in Baghdad.
On Wednesday, the U.S. military said one soldier was killed during a firefight with insurgents in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Rebels detonated a car bomb outside a U.S. outpost and opened fire on arriving soldiers. At least 25 of the attackers were killed.
Violence in Mosul has intensified following a November offensive against insurgents in Fallujah, as some militants fled to the northern city.
The insurgent group that claimed responsibility for last week's attack on a U.S. base in Mosul that killed 22 people has renewed its threat to kill anyone who takes part in next month's election.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.
They called us cheap and that totally teed me off... we pay 1/5 of the cost of the UN -- they are sitting on millions of dollars that they haven't sent into Sudan, etc... remember oil for food dollars that belong to the people of Iraq??? Well, let the UN do their job for a change...
Actually, I think this has Colin Powell p.o.ed, too... I think I heard him say today that we would co-ordinate the relief with Australia, India, Japan, etc., and IF the UN wanted to join in with us we'd accept their donations of help... in other words, if we have to be the world policemen, caretaker, etc., why pay a red cent to the UN and how dare the UN or anyone else criticize us..
and, YES, how much is Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, etc., sending?
I understand Canada is sending $40 million -- good -- they don't have a military to send. We may be sending "only" $35 million -- for now -- but we're sending aircraft carriers, C-130's filled with supplies, and the marines with heavy equipment. It takes a little time for them to arrive, these aircraft carriers don't have wings and the airports over there can't handle all the heavy aircraft right now. So, if some of us are ticked off, so be-it. It's about time we got mad and quit letting people walk all over us while we turn the other cheek!
That doesn't make us any less generous than the next guy. I'm just starting to fall into the growing gategory of people saying close the borders and pull back out world support and become more isolationistic -- then see how the rest of the world likes it.
They also stated that after everyone else has come and gone they will still be there until no longer required, not just until the cameras leave.
I thougt that a good place to help meet their committment, ...
Outstanding! I think they are very good and I believe they have a really good ratio (unlike, koff koff, the gummint or the UN) of money spent on actually helping the needy to money spent on bureaucrats.
I suppose that we'll just have to disagree.
I think that the Bush Administration is correct to focus its attention to militant Mohammedans that comprise a small minority in SE Asia. Your comments suggest that all Muslims should be targeted. The "kill them all and let God sort them out" approach is neither necessary nor morally defensible.
Actually, the comment about "the last 50 years or so" had absolutely nothing to do with Israel. Rather, this comment describes the period following the independence of Malaysia from the British in the mid-1950s. Since then there has been a small militant minority of Thai Mohammedans that favored separation from the officially Buddhist Kingdom of Thailand. Southern Thailand is majority Muslim and is therefore more culturally similar to Malaysia. Hostility towards Israel among Thai Muslims is not nearly as intense as it is among the Arabs and Iranians, again with the exception of a relatively small minority of whacked-out Wahhabis.
I'm not trying to persuade you, however. Since your mind is made up, I only offer this as an explanation.
Sounds like a good way to leave it. Have a happy new year.
Happy New Year!
You sound like a fool that wants to believe that if we send a group enough money, they will like us.
You speak like a NYC liberal.....
Teezle...
how much are YOU giving----and could you give more?
Please stop the self-rightous BS, ok?
Whenever the world has a problem---they come crying to the US. Americians have a tenedency to be very generous in time of need--even to those who hate us
check out the posts by nuve9 and teezle
For News reported yesterday that corporate US relief contributions now total 80 million dollars. Imagine what it would be if we weren't so stingy. /sarcasm.
check out the posts by nuve9 and teezleThanks, FAS. What do ya'll think, Viking Kitties ???
nuve9: Posts #6, 8, 27, 29, 36
teezle: Posts #12, 17, 23
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What people are those? Hmmmm?
Nuve9 is a Troll for sure I'm thinking.
I believe teezle could be honestly disagreeing, but I AM giving him some benefit of doubt. Need to check his other posts.
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I think it's time to unleash the hounds, er, Viking Kitties.
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