Tsunami Help India

Quake triggers tsunami on Indonesia's Java, at least 5 killed

2006-07-17T16:59:00.000+05:30

A powerful earthquake sent a two-meter (yard) high tsunami crashing
into a beach resort on Indonesia's Java island Monday, killing at least
five people and damaging hotels and houses. Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono confirmed the casualties in a radio broadcast. [Link]

Tsunami & Pichavaram mangroves

2005-02-02T15:42:00.000+05:30

"Pichavaram mangrove wetland, occupying an area of about 1400 ha, is located about 280 km down south of Chennai, in the Cuddalore District. Fishing and farming communities belonging to 17 hamlets utilize the resources of the Pichavaram mangrove wetlands of Cuddalore District. Out of these 17 hamlets, 6 hamlets are under physical coverage of the mangrove wetlands, 5 hamlets are located on or near to the open beach and not protected by mangroves. Remaining 6 hamlets are far away from mangrove forest. There was no damage to 6 hamlets that are physically protected by the mangroves but hamlets located on or near to the beach have been totally devasted."
Read More>>M S S R F - Centre for Research on Sustainable Agricultural & Rural Development

MGR Thitu: Update by Nanda Kishore

2005-01-31T14:55:00.000+05:30

I have been speaking to people in the Killai village trying to gather information about the current situation at MGR Thitu. I got this information from the coordinator of AID India at the KILLAI VILLAGE CAMP (the marriage hall). His name is Mr. Vanjinathan.
The villagers have somehow generated the funds to buy the land which was allocated to them. I hope everyone remembers that they were initially trying to get that money! The government is now working on building houses for these folk, but as usual, the pace is slow. The villagers are still staying in the Killai Marriage hall.
They have a shortage of rice now. Immediate need is for rice. Any suggestions?

Also, the boats and nets part is also at a standstill. The government has promised to give them boats and has already earmarked 2371 crores for this. But the money will take time to reach them. There is also an issue between the FM & the CM because the FM announced that the relief money will be done through the public sector banks! It might take time for the money to reach them.

There is also a problem in trying to get the children back to school. We may remember that their only school (inside the village) which teaches till standard 5 was completely damaged. The education front also needs some help. The details on the kind of help required will be available only by the evening.

But the requirement for nets still remain. They are still maintaining that the requirement for nets will resolve a good lot of their problems. From what I could gather we still have to work on the nets front. And if possible, try and get some rice in the meanwhile. But immediate funding is going to be a problem.
-- by Nanda Kishore

Conversion attempts in the time of grief

2005-01-24T17:18:00.000+05:30

This article: is about conversion attempts by some missionaries of the villagers suffering the aftermath of the Tsunami.
I have heard in my marketing classes that nothing sells as good as sex and religion. And here we have some people trying to sell religion! I am only tempted to believe this story considering that it comes from Shoba Warrier - a journalist of repute. Your views?

Posted by Nanda Kishore Sethuraman

My Future in a Pyre

2005-01-19T15:28:00.000+05:30

My Future in a Pyre: "My Future in a Pyre". An article by Dilip D'Souza. A columnist / blogger (http://dcubed.blogspot.com/ and http://desimediabitch.blogspot.com/ and of course http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/) has written this heart wrenching article in Rediff. Till date I had different opinions about most of the organisations he has mentioned in this article. Mr. D'Souza - I change my opinion. Each one of these organisations that Dilip has mentioned in this article stands for different ideals. A case in point is DYFI, RSS & the various Christian missionaries. But they have all come together when the situation demanded. Irrespective of their organisations' ideals & standpoints, these humans have come together for a common goal. I guess the human in them stood above their organisations which is a triumph by itself.

Chidambaram Trip for Relief – My views

2005-01-18T13:42:00.000+05:30

There are certain points about this trip, which I would have to reiterate. There are certain issues, which I have to highlight. There are my own views, which would be a part of this report. So if there are any repetitions of what Suman / Anita have mentioned in their report, I would request you to just read on and get your own holistic view of the situation.

Sambandam, a fellow customer at the tea stall at B. Mutlur (stands for Bhuvanagiri Mutlur because there is another village called C. Mutlur where C means Chidambaram) reiterated the information we had initially gathered at AID India office in Chennai. As mentioned by Kiruba in his first post, Anu of AID India, was more than forthcoming to help us with information and they are doing a phenomenal job in the coastal regions. The list of villages he mentioned to be worst affected included MGR Thittu, Chinna Vaikkal, Pillamedu, Pazhayar, Thoduvam, Thirumullaivasal, Koozhaiyar, Nayakkarkuppam and the list goes on. These are villages that fall under the Cuddalore District. Sambandam also mentioned that there are villages where no one was spared.

My initial report and the photo essay gave a brief explanation of the Killai village and the fact that we overshot the way to Muzhukkuthurai & MGR Thittu. We decided to get to MGR Thitu because everyone we spoke to mentioned this village’s name and confirmed that this was one of the worst hit. Also, AID India wanted to get more information about the village for them to coordinate as much relief as possible. So we headed in that direction.

Suman had explained about the conversation with the guy in the Ambulance and the way the waves had caused destruction to the farmlands also. A picture is worth a thousand words. I made the mistake. While I took a couple of pictures of the greenery on the way to Killai, I don’t know why I missed a picture of the farmland destructed by the seawater by moving so deep inside! It would have showed the stark difference that the water has made to the land. It would be a long time before the land becomes cultivable and there is absolutely no one who has talked about the water causing destruction to the property of these farmers.

Anyways, I would like to bring to light my conversation with Anbazhagan – the boatman who took us to MGR Thitu and with Ranjith – the son of the MGR Thitu village headman. Anbazhagan gave me a few numbers, which was very disturbing. There were 180 families in that village. (I also got a list of the families from that village and it actually came to 177 to be very precise). The village would have had 750 people of which Anbazhagan mentioned that 64 were dead. Five persons are still missing. There were nearly 60 mechanised fishing boats (read boats and not launches) in that village. None of these boats, I repeat, NONE of these boats are now in useable condition. Using them with repairs can prove equally fatal. Also, the boats were unattended to till date (for obvious reasons). This means that the salt water would have seeped through the engines. These boats have also been lying in the beach / on top of houses / between the bushes and has been exposed to direct sunlight. This has caused the engine parts to rust. Since these fisher folk don’t trust banks for whatever reasons, they also lost money as cash to the waves. They had to choose between grieving for the dead and salvaging lost property. Being humans that they are, they chose to grieve and this has led them to further misery of not being able to salvage their property – whatever is left of it!!!

They now have two boats – one mechanised and the other a little larger and deeper than a catamaran which has to be rowed, which can be used only to get to the village and back. These two are only passenger boats. These two survived because they were at a good distance from the shore. The villagers lease this out to one family on a yearly basis for approximately INR 10000/- (approximately 212USD). The villagers use these boats to commute between the village and the mainland. The villagers pay Rs.2/- (.042 USD) while the visitors / tourists pay around Rs.10/- (22cents) for a round trip.

I would like to take a small digression to explain my take about the fishing boats. By boats, I mean small fibre / wooden boats which are larger than the catamarans and can hold upto a tonne and a half of catch. They are machine propelled equipments and they generally use Maruti / Yamaha engines of a slightly higher capacity to propel the boat into the deep sea. These boats cost approximately INR.60000/- (approximately 1280 USD) and they are then fitted with the engines to propel them. These engines cost around INR.35000/- (approximately 750 USD). In all, a fishing family needs around 2000 USD to start a life and actually be prosperous.

On our way back, I had a chat with Ranjith (son of the MGR Thitu village headman) and a few others (Malaiarasu, Balaiah, Madhiyazhagan) to assess the current situation and their needs. The people from the village are well off. Ranjith has a mobile and that is not the only sign of their prosperity. You may notice in the photo essay the kind of articles that was damaged and the kind of houses they used to live in. Most of them had constructed pucca houses and a few of them had dish antennas. The village has electricity obviously, but what startles is that they used to have satellite phones included to their list of properties since recently. The telecom revolution has actually touched every part of the country and the fact that we could make / receive calls on our mobiles from the village stands guarantee. Every other house had a wet grinder (to make typical South Indian dough / batter), mixer grinder (for dry grinding of spices), Refrigerators, Televisions and all that would constitute a prosperous household even in a city. In fact they would not have suffered the Conditional Access System (CAS) which Chennai suffers from, which means that they would have got all the channels that I don’t get to see now a days including HBO, STAR Movies, Discovery & National Geographic. If I had visited this place earlier, I would have probably felt jealous because they get to live in a beach resort with all the facilities all their lives. I now think different. This just goes to say that the loss to their property is even worse!

The 177 families had around 60 boats. A few people owned these boats, but the rest of the fishermen worked along with them and they shared the catch in whatever proportion they agree upon! They now have lost their land because the government does not want them to stay in that village, because of its proximity to the sea. They have been asked to move to the mainland and a 20 acre land has already been allotted to them. But they have to pay for it. It would cost around 10 lakhs for the villagers to buy that land and they don’t have money. The government has told them that they would be given constructed houses in the allocated land, but they would have to buy the land for availing this. The fishermen are in a fix. Reasons? A. They don’t want to move inland, because as Suman had mentioned, it would become a huge logistics problem for them to haul their catch to the markets. B. Their financial situation does not allow them to buy even the allocated land!

I would like to make a special mention about Mr. Gagandeep Singh Bedi – the collector of Cuddalore. I understand from the villagers and from the relief workers in that area that this man has done a phenomenal job. Everyone confirmed that the INR.1,00,000/- for the deceased was disbursed in less than three days to their families. Of course, the money has not been given yet to the families of the five missing villagers, but I still think that it is an outstanding job done, given the current set of resources. The INR.4,000/- for ALL families and ration (includes 60kg rice, some cereals, kerosene etc) has also been disbursed to all the recognised families. KUDOS to that man for actually making the official machinery work overnight. It requires extraordinary talent and he has just exhibited that!

There are cases where some families have not been recognised and the villagers are actually so united that they distributed the funds and the rations, equally between all the families. I am not really sure if I would have exhibited that kind of magnanimity given the kind of situation. My respects to all those people who shared not just their grief, but what they got as relief material. It takes a lot of strength to do what these people did! Just enough proof that they have the strength to face life despite the situation.

On my way back from the village I promised myself to keep reminding about the public for as long as I can, till as many of these affected victims roll their way back on the track of life. Public memory is very short and Media is a very ugly tribe. They will roll from one scoop to another and we can already see that very few people are talking about these victims. And in due time, there wouldn’t be many or any. No one talks about 1984 revolt (barring a film called Amu); people have forgotten Bhuj; and Kumbakonam is now known only as the temple town and not as the killer town where fire swallowed more than 80 kids. I wanted to do my might by reminding people about this for as long as possible. Life – at the end of it – will move on, but these victims need a hand, a shoulder and a push to get it back on track. It would take a long time for sure.

The villagers are still in the process of negotiating with relief agencies and the government to try and get their lives back on the wheels, but for now, I think that no one has a clue of where to hit the arrow so they get the result. They have at least been able to spell their needs and they are doing that with everyone! The situation is “Whoever gives Whatever – may they be blessed”. Little wonder that the fisher folk from Pillamedu (represented by village headman Govindan) were in tears when this little drop in the form of nets (collected by Anita, Arun & Joshi of Bangalore) fell their way. This sure is a little drop and there is certainly a long way to go.

After getting back to office, I was speaking to one of the volunteer coordinators (Vibha Ravindran) of AID India. She mentioned a view, which I think I have to echo here. “It is now that the relief work would become doubly difficult. With the media not talking as much about the current situation, the task would be Herculean to get funds, volunteers and material to ensure that the livelihood is back for these people.”

At the risk of sounding dramatic / over-reacting, I am making this appeal:

Please do not forget this incident. If you still want to… delay the amnesia by a couple of years at least. It is not a single man task. And it is not only about MGR Thitu. There is much more to be done and it is a long hard way. It would be better if the job were done in a coordinated way. “Bloggers of the world. Unite!”

Nanda Kishore Sethuraman, 18th January 2005.

Photo essay of the trip to MGR Thitu - An affected village

2005-01-17T16:49:00.000+05:30

A few of us from Bangalore and chennai went to Chidambaram and surrounding villages to survey the damage and provide relief material for the affected fisherfolk. This is a picture essay of our trip to that village. Corresponding reports will be provided by myself, Suman, Anita Bora & Kiruba. The reports should be available very soon.

Chidambaram Trip to assess the damage and provide relief

2005-01-17T01:55:00.000+05:30

People who have followed this blog would have known by now that a few bloggers from Bangalore & Chennai were out for the weekend on a field trip to Chidambaram to assess the damage and to provide some relief material. Well, here is the preliminary update. The trip has been completed successfully and it was a mixture of happiness and sorrow. To dramatize this, I can say that we could actually see 'Agony & Ecstacy'. The team comprised of: Anita Bora, Arun, Joshi, Suman & Chitra from Bangalore. The Chennai team had Nanda Kishore, Kiruba Shankar & Shravan (Kiruba's cousin who exhibited phenomenal enthusiasm in making it for the trip and contributing in his own way. All this for a 11th standard school boy.)

Agony
We had visited a few villages near Chidambaram town. The villages are: Killai Relief camp, Muzhukkuthurai & MGR Thittu. We first went past the Killai camp and came back to find out the exact way to Muzhukkuthurai & MGR Thittu. Muzhukkuthurai is part of the main land, while MGR Thittu is a small island off Muzhukkuthurai. Muzhukkuthurai was affected badly because of the sea water entering the land and damaging property that lived closer to the shore. But MGR Thittu was the worst hit, because the water actually crossed MGR Thittu, submerged it entirely and then reached Muzhukkuthurai. Loss of life was pathetic and loss of property and livelihood is not comprehensible. Pictures taken are yet to be uploaded and detailed reports on the same would be put up tomorrow.

Ecstacy
A game of cricket with some of the affected children. Kiruba getting back to his early instincts and exhibiting examples of Darwin's theory by hanging down a tree (upside down). An hour long session with kids aged between 3-7 years where they painted using crayons on drawing sheets, sang tamil rhymes (which we heard for the first time) danced with Chitra Suman and went on an unusual human merry-go-round with Kiruba!!! It was good to see them smile forgetting for a moment that most of these kids had lost someone or the other from their family and were part of the mass burials that was carried out! And finally, it brought a sense of satisfaction when we handed over fishing nets worth Rs.20000/- to the villagers from Pillamedu (village head Mr. Govindan who lost his 19 year old son to the killer wave received it on behalf of his village). The smile in their faces will linger in our minds for a very long time. I promise to show you those smiles by tomorrow (the pictures are yet to be uploaded).

Not to forget the ADVENTURE.
Kiruba's car!!! Man.. what a piece of antique!!! It always fails at the wrong time! It had a flat on 14th night somewhere near Chidambaram and while coming back, some part of the car (most probably the engine as guessed by Suman Kumar) moved from its original position to be found hanging! The car refused to move and we had a terrific hindi movie climax type chase to catch a bus before the toll plaza at Pondicherry! We reached back safely.

Suman would also give his reports very soon and I would put up the pictures by tomorrow. I will also publish my detailed report of the conversations we had with the villagers and the situation in the villages we visited. I am fairly sure that I would go back to those villages in the near future. I am sure everyone who made it to those villages would! Apart from working on the report for AID India (who gave the names of these villages to us) and a report for this blog, I think that there is one more huge task that lies in front of us. NETS, NETS, NETS & BOATS for these villagers. To help them get their life and livelihood back and to achieve it as soon as possible would be the biggest challenge. Achievable, but huge. Hope that it doesn't take too long before they get back their lives, at least for the ones who survived.

E-mail Posting Disabled

2005-01-17T01:12:00.000+05:30

I have disabled the post via e-mail feature on this site due to spamming. Sorry but I had no choice. E-mail me if you want to publish information here.
Facing problems in publishing info? Mail to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

Tsunami Relief Project

2005-01-14T16:59:00.000+05:30

I want to share a unique Tsunami Relief Project:

http://www.reliefproject.org

The Tsunami Relief Project is a collaborative effort between, celebrities, business leaders, authors, and individiual donors. Dozens of well-known business experts and celebrities have agreed to donate one hour of their time in format of teleseminar, webinar, or personal coaching sessions. People who donate via the Tsunami Relief Project will have exclusive access to these events and content. It is a unique way to contrinbute to the effort, while at the same time receiveing something very valuable as a thank you gift.

So far, the list of VIPs includes:

# Mark Victor Hansen co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul and Honorary CoChair of the Disaster Relief Project
# Bill McDermott CEO of SAP America
# Tom Peters author of In Search of Excellence and Famous Management Consultant
# Frank Maguire top leadership expert and Fed-Ex founding Senior Executive
# Ken Blanchard author 'One Minute Manager’ and famous management consultant
# Pat Williams SVP of the NBA Orlando Magic author of 35 books top speakers
# Jay Abraham, one of America's leading sales and marketing strategists
# Ken Kragen, creator of 'We Are the World and Hands Across America'
# Les Brown author of Live Your Dreams, and It’s Not Over Until You Win
# Al and Laura Ries Author of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
# and more

For more info, see http://www.reliefproject.org

Regards,

Mark

Urgent request for help from Library of Life and The IFRC

2005-01-14T08:01:00.000+05:30

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have been deeply touched by your blog’s coverage of the recent tragedy in Asia. The way ‘Tsunami Help India’ has helped to make the outside world aware of the plight of the affected people, is highly commendable.

I am contacting you with a request for your kind help from the Library of Life; a website (www.libraryoflife.org) whose aim is to compile the life stories of millions of people around the world, thereby creating the world’s first universal record of life that lasts forever. The website raises funds for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and in this time of need they have asked us to create a living memorial to all the victims of this tragedy. This will be done through photographs, text, film, sound and scanned documents on the site.

The Library of Life, in association with the IFRC, is inviting all those whose lives have been affected by the tragedy to create a free memorial to commemorate their loved ones, or post their own experiences as a record for all future generations. We have also set up an online ‘Tsunami Book of Condolence’, which we are inviting the public to sign and express their feelings on this terrible disaster.

In order for this great humanitarian project to be successful it is essential that we have as much information and reach as many people as possible. We therefore, kindly request that you give us your assistance by contributing to the Library of Life through posting your experiences and opinions directly on our site, or allowing us to put some information from your site on our own. Furthermore, if you would be prepared to put a message on your blog about us and a link from your blog to our website, that would be wonderful. In return we will happily give you a reciprocated link from our own site to yours, as well as a complementary membership.

Please have a look at our site and contact me at henry.hardy@libraryoflife.org and let me know your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Henry Hardy

www.libraryoflife.org

Henry Hardy

Library of Life

46 Berkeley Square

London W1J 5AT

Tel: 0207 598 4063

Fax: 0207 598 4071

Field Report from AID India

2005-01-13T13:58:00.000+05:30

I got this report from AID India, which has been doing phenomenal work in the unreacheable areas of Tamil Nadu where Tsunami hit the coast. I promise that the perspectives we hold about a lot of things will change if you read this report. Salutations to all the selfless volunteers who hae been doing tremendous work in these villages. The list starts from people who left their jobs (daily wage volunteers) to some software professionals from Bangalore and Chennai who rolled up their sleeves to render service to the affected. The report also gives the current requirements and the modus operandi of the organisation. I just have to add one more line to all those volunteers - "TAKE A BOW, I salute you all."

Info. you can add on your Blog

2005-01-12T14:21:00.000+05:30

"We along with the Akshara Advertising agency has launched a website
aiming at helping children in TN to get back to their school. As you
aware of the fact that, they lost all the things, we tried to help
them with basic School support materials."

This programme is titled as Help a Children get back to School.

You can view the website at http://www.e-akshara.com/tsunamiaid/

Any queries let me know
--
Narain [http://www.360in.com] -

Three year old awaits her parents

2005-01-11T17:14:00.000+05:30

Newindpress.com - Coastal Calamity: "Tsunami tragedy: Three-year-old awaits her parents". I have been browsing on this subject for quite some time now in all media and I am finding this report only in this site. I thought it would help to spread the word around. Hope this helps! The girl is still in Nagapattinam and she claims to be from Bangalore.
Posted by Nanda Kishore Sethuraman

Indonesia restricts Aceh aid work

2005-01-11T16:19:00.000+05:30

Indonesia's army is to restrict relief workers from reaching remoter parts of the tsunami-hit province of Aceh. BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Indonesia restricts Aceh aid work
-Suman

'Now there's a bigger flood of aid'

2005-01-11T14:06:00.000+05:30

'Now there's a bigger flood of aid': "'Now there's a bigger flood of aid'". It is really remarkable how the common man has risen to the occasion to ensure that his brethern is taken care of. And as Amit asks, how long will this be sustained. That is something which remains to be seen. There are programmes worked by various organisations and individuals (Vivek Oberoi leading as an example) where specific villages have been adopted and provided for. Dr. Shilpa Govardhan in her earlier report in this same blog mentioned that the fishermen now need their livelihood back and not just the next meal. Many are of the same opinion and there are, I am sure, many working towards it. For now, it is good to see and hear that there is a human in every human and (s)he has to be saluted. KUDOS

Posted by Nanda Kishore Sethuraman

Some Solace?

2005-01-10T17:22:00.000+05:30

11 tribals rescued from A & N Island after 15 days: "11 tribals rescued from A & N Island after 15 days". Should they be called HEROES? For some 11 tribals were rescued after 15 days after the killer waves hit this part of the world. We train our body and mind to be survivors of the concrete jungle but 'out there' the game is different. It needed the guts and pure survival instincts of a man living with the nature than a man who tries to conquer it. KUDOS to those survivors.

You are needed now

2005-01-10T13:18:00.000+05:30

When all is "normal" again, and millions of people are back to scrambling for food and jobs and drinking water in sub-human conditions, will we still care? Asks Amit on his India Uncut blog.

The relief effort has barely started. We need more hands now, more than ever. For the TV channels and the press, the story is stale, but for millions of others it is a nightmare that'll haunt them forever. Sending money or food is only emergency-response. If we need to get the victims back on track and help them move on, we need help from professionals from every imaginable domain. Now is the time to double-up and explore how technology can be used to speed-up rehab. Surprisingly no one is talking about post-traumatic stress (not just of the victims but also of the relief workers). If you are a psychiatrist tell us how to handle it.
It could be a solar-powered rice cooker, or a fiber-glass boat, or an economically viable water purifier; It could be anything. Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you do, just think for a moment: 'How can I help?'. And trust me, there are a million ways you can.

Facing problems in publishing info? Mail to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

Is Velupillai Prabhakaran alive?

2005-01-10T12:18:00.000+05:30

Newindpress.com - Coastal Calamity: "LTTE chief Prabhakaran among those missing or dead by tsunami?" This may well be the worst time to conduct politics, but the Sri Lankan Radio made a statement which it subsequently retracted yesterday! Sounded a little far fetched, but could it be true? But Prabhakaran has also not appeared in public since the incident. Very unlikely of him considering that he is very close to his subjects! Anyone from Sri Lanka who can throw more light on this?

This is ugly: Caste raises its ugly hood in relief camps

2005-01-09T10:31:00.000+05:30

NewIndPress Story
The Tsunami did not discern upper caste or lower caste. Disgusting!
(Thanks Shankar for the link)

Facing problems in publishing info? Mail to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

Looking for his family

2005-01-07T23:38:00.000+05:30

Boy
Originally uploaded by simba295.

Hello All, I got this picture on my e-mail. This boy about two years is missing his parents because of the Tsunami. Noone knows where he is from. If anyone can identify this kid (about 2 years) please get in touch with the numbers: 076-249400-4 ext. 1336, 1339 or e- mail : info@phuket-inter-hospital.co.th. Please link this to as many 'missing' sites as possible. Thanks - Nanda Kishore Sethuraman

Kottivakkam beach in Chennai

2005-01-07T15:56:00.000+05:30

DSC02525
Originally uploaded by simba295.

I had been to the beach on Sunday last and saw activity. People are coming back to the beach. But it looked like they were cautious! Check these images.
Nanda

Important

2005-01-07T09:35:00.000+05:30

People when you send an e-mail to sumank.tsunami[at]blogget[dot]com
1) It is published on this site
2) I can't see you e-mail ids, so I can't reply

So, please write to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com if you want to talk to me. And, send a mail (from a web based mail, do not use Outlook or Lotus Notes or some e-mail client) to sumank.tsunami[at]blogget[dot]com to publish information on this site.
I got this today (for this site)

Hi Sumank, We (me and the people in Cc) would like to volunteer our service for the relief operations. I saw your blog today and thought of asking about it. We would be able to do this service tommorow and the day after i.e 8th and 9th of this month. If you are in need of volunteers please write back to us. Awaiting your reply.
-Raghavan

Raghavan write to my personal id. I can't see your mail ids.

A phone call saved an entire village

2005-01-07T01:06:00.000+05:30

The Hindu : Front Page : A phone call saved an entire village: "CHENNAI, DEC. 31. Fortunately, in the midst of the many heartrending stories of death and loss, chronicles of courage and miraculous survival are surfacing everyday: the latest being the tale of four coastal villages in the Union Territory of Pondicherry, which escaped obliteration thanks to quick thinking and sheer luck. A story that we should not miss! This is a live example of the sheer grit & tenacity of humans to survive. More so, an example of simple presence of mind"
Nanda Kishore Sethuraman, Chennai

Nakul Dhawan of Art of Living Writes

2005-01-06T10:34:00.000+05:30

Nakul Dhawan, another AOL teacher writes:
A lot of food, clothes and other material has reached a lot of places. But the people are in a state where it does not matter what we give them. They'll take anything just because it is being given freely.... without realising if they need it or not. That's why we are seeing clothes all over the place in these areas. Also, there is tension over the issue of who got how much among them. Once the distribution starts, there is no order, no rule to be honoured.

In this situation, what Art of Living gives them directly affects the state of their mind. I was myself surprised at the response we got after a half hour session of bhastrika and meditation..... despite the language barrier (we had a translator, that's why we need people who know tamil). They themselves said they were feeling calmer and at peace. An emotional loss cannot be compensated by any amount of material given to them. A few ladies who had lost family members and were going around collecting whatever was being distributed because they didn't know what else to do. We gathered a few of them alongwith some men and started. Later others joined when they learnt a "prayer" session was going on. One lady was sitting completely
expressionless, holding her head. She did not even do anything properly.
But when so many people meditate in one place, it changes the atmosphere, which in turn affects individuals in that place. She softened up when we started speaking to her. A few cried as they told their stories and became emotionally lighter.
This has to be done alongwith the material support being provided, which is also very important. Art of Living has been recognised as THE organization to provide trauma relief. All we need to do is be available.... just being channels for Grace to flow through. We don't even know What we are carrying. But we have been empowered to shower It wherever we go. Let It reach everyone.
Facing problems in publishing info? Mail to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

Tsunami Relief Aid

2005-01-06T01:58:00.000+05:30

I am writing to ask you to post a link on your Web site to our Tsunami Relief page (www.uscommittee.org/tsunami.html).
Because natural disasters are reproductive health disasters, the United States Committee for United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is supporting Earthquake and Tsunami Relief especially in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.
UNFPA is providing life-saving medicines and supplies to enable pregnant women to deliver safely. UNFPA is also providing emergency obstetric care and establishing temporary health facilities.
Indonesia: 100,000+ people living in temporary shelters/camps. UNFPA has so far provided 4,500 hygiene kits and 604 different types of reproductive health kits. Undertaking urgent joint assessment on reproductive health needs with Ministry of Health.

The Maldives: 1/3 of population now reliant on relief for essential food and water. Health infrastructure/services severely disrupted, some completely destroyed. UNFPA has deployed basic reproductive health kits such as clean delivery supplies, blood transfusion equipment, oral/injectable contraceptives, and drugs.

Sri Lanka: 876,883 people displaced. UNFPA distributing basic reproductive health kits such as clean delivery supplies, blood transfusion equipment, hospital supplies, oral/injectable contraceptives, and drugs. In addition, 25,000 personal hygiene packs for women and girls.

But we have so very much more to do. A link on your Web site will help us raise the necessary resources -- to come to the aid of hundreds of thousands of people in desperate need.
Thank you for your consideration.

An update from Art of Living Volunteers on ground.

2005-01-05T17:27:00.000+05:30

A rather long post, I would appreciate if you can post this on your blog. I understand your blog may have more footprints than mine and I want this to reach out to whosoever is interested. These have been extracted out of AOL group mails.

Tapan Vaidya - a software professional working at Intel in Bangalore and a Art of Living teacher was doing seva (voluntary work) in Cuddalore. He came back yetserday and this is what he has to say:

What can I do for Tsunami victims?
----------------------------------
This thought troubled me for few days last week, until Friday, when I decided to go to Cuddalore with a group of volunteers and some relief material. Thinking there
is no better way to start the New Year than to be doing seva (service) where it is required the most.

Mostly what we got from 2 days of survey in the Tsunami affected areas is that there are a lot of well-to-do fishermen in the area, who lived a respectable life, and have lost their houses, occupation, and dear ones. Some of them are still mourning and do not want to go out for help nor want to talk to anyone. Some have the courage to fight the situation, and want to restart earning and continue with their business
but do not have the means. There are some who never wore second-hand clothes or never begged for anything and would not take any help if you are distributing things
out of your vehicle and expect them to come there and take it. And, there are some who were not affected at all but want to use the situation to accumulate as much a possible, and such situations are going to prevail.
Immediate requirement there is a lot of individual counseling from all Tamil speaking people, if you speak Tamil and if you can just reach a few people and talk to them and support them that might bring a big relief to people. We were able to conduct a couple of meditation/Prayer sessions in the places where relief work was going on and a lot of people were relieved of their emotional outburst. Ample food is available, but if you still want to, please send it to relief camps for now, since the affected people do not have houses. There are places where epidemics have spread, and doctors are of a great help here.
Long term requirement in terms of housing, boats for fishermen and Navchetna Shibirs to cope up with the trauma and fear of sea. All of these needs a lot of organized efforts. There are various centers of Art Of Living around the world who have started collecting contributions, If the Volunteers from Tamil Nadu and surrounding states get together and adopt some villages in terms of housing and providing boats too fishermen we would be able to impact a lot. Art of Living has already been identified as the only NGO to provide Trauma relief.
Seva is just being available where the need is, and from what we saw the need is enormous. Let us all coordinate our efforts and work fast on this. We are planning to send a group of volunteers ever week to the affected areas, also there is a huge need of people who can stay there for 15 â 20 days and interact with the locals and get the long term projects of housing, navchetna shibir etc started. Funds of course will be needed in ample here, and we have a big family who is more then willing to support the cause. Let us be useful in whatever little way we can be.
Further to this note above, here are the next steps:
For those who are in Bangalore and would like to do some seva, we're going to send buses every weekend. There's one that will leave this Friday night (from Bangalore) and will come back Monday morning. From our last experience, this team will have 2 doctors, 10 people who can speak Tamil and 10 people who are AOL teachers or have done AOL phase 1 alongwith relief material. Phase 1 fellows/teachers who can speak
Tamil are a bonus.
For now, all those who would like to be on this trip can send their names to me by Thursday 5.00 pm. (nakuldhawan@yahoo.com, 9886452620) I'm in touch with the Bangalore team (Subbu, Jayanagar), who is in touch with IAHV.

Updates from Colachel and Kanyakumari in TN

2005-01-05T14:49:00.000+05:30

Via Sam's blog: Youth With A Mission (YWAM) team has identified one such relief camp in Karungal with about 1,000 people. The thousand people in this camp are from 4 villages; Thotil Padu, Simon Colony, Colachel and Kurunpanai. Karungal is about 6 km inland from colachel. The people who ran the camp exhausted their resources and as a result have handed over the camp to us. (Read More)

Dr.Shilpa Govardhan Reports From Nagapattinam

2005-01-05T13:44:00.000+05:30

Dr.Shilpa, my friend, is volunteering in Nagapattinam and she has this to say about the situation:

OK, this may not be necessary, but I will mention anyway that the death and devastation that is on an awesome scale. Entire villages have been wiped out, without even a trace. So, the media has'nt really exaggerated on that account. But what it fails to do is take into account the sheer tenacity of life, and the relentless determination of the people themselves to get their lives back. If ever there was a genre of people who accept calamity, embrace it even, and then move on, they are these sea folk.
Their concerns are these: the generosity of their neighbors sustains them now, but what of later when the wave of benevolence dies down, and they become simply the forgotten victims of just another natural calamity? And they are a very proud people- the accept the charity only because they have to.
The only thing that they really want is their boats back. To go back to the sea which caused all their sorrow, and collect from her again what they have all their lives.(Their own words by the way- they have a very strong poetic streak in them.)
This is not a simple task, as it seems to be on the surface. Each catamaran (which is their simplest kind of boat) itself costs about 60,000, to say nothing of the larger ones which cost anywhere from 2, 00,000 to 10, 00,000 Indian Rupees. To add to this, the builders of the catamaran are a dying race, and they might possibly not be anyone left who could carry on the job. And each boat that was lost had about 3 to 4 nets in it which again costs about 30 to 40,000 Indian Rupees each.
The economic losses are huge; each family has lost in addition at least 50,000 in cash (They don't believe in banks. They store the money in their homes. And they are quite a financially secure race). Add to this their homes, schools, community halls, clothes, utensils and the amount is staggering. So what they really need now are funds. Donate to a reliable organization whatever you want to. Do not, for heaven’s sake, take it upon yourselves to come and donate to the people themselves. It not only fosters greed, it has led to chaos on an unbelievable scale. If you do want to come down yourself, then contact the village head.
The degree of organization here would put the biggest MNCs to shame. Each family has been given a card, colored according to their proximity to the shore. The head collects all relief material, and only when they have enough for all the people, they start distributing resources, using a checklist!
What would really be appreciated would be volunteers who can spare a week or two of their time, who are willing to work among them to see that they get their due, and to help them improve sanitation to prevent outbreaks. They are beautifully responsive to teaching- if only for a day or two. So, reinforcement is required, but they will tell you themselves what they require and how you may help. One just has to ask.
Volunteering need not be now. There are several NGOs that are planning an intervention of at least one year and they need all the man-power they can get-I know of one called Action Aid in Madras. There are definitely others.
Oh yes, and the government has to be congratulated on its swiftness and efficiency of action. They are most willing to follow suggestions too.

Missing People - Tsinami.

2005-01-04T18:08:00.000+05:30

Could you please let me know the whereabouts of the
following people (from Carnicobar).

1. Sunita Rodrigues wife of late Celson Rodrigues
-Sqdn Leader IAF,Carnicobar (his demise confirmed by
the IAF Delhi on the 27th Dec-04').
2. Rhea Rodrigues - 2 yrs 10 months
3. Lily Rodrigues -65, mother of Celson Rodrigues.

In case of any information, please let me know on
020-26816059 or 09823129735.

Thanks,

Sanjay Braganza (Brother of Sunita Rodrigues).

__________________________________
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to help Tsunami peoples

2005-01-04T14:23:00.000+05:30

hello si we are the students of M.Sc Computer Science & Information Technolgy .We know that 26 th december was a black day for all South Asian Countries.We students wish to help those affected peoples for that we already contribute the money but still we are not satisfied & we wish to do something more inorder to help them but we do not have any proper guideline so will you please tell us more modes by which we can help them so that the peoples can overcome from that incident so kindly mail me on my mail id or you can simply make them availabe on the internet thanking you

we know that what ever we are first we are humans & We are INDIAN so send us main as early as possible

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General Instructions to the Volunteers who are planning to visit the Relief Camps

2005-01-04T13:51:00.000+05:30

General Instructions to the Volunteers who are planning to visit the Relief Camps

DEATILS OF MY SON MISSED IN TSUNAMI

2005-01-04T13:48:00.000+05:30

Dear Sir,
Here i am sending my son details with Photo,
please find him and inform if any details you got
about my son.

Thanking You
Anadhan

________________________________________________________________________
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I'm an editor of Go Aio Directory .....

2005-01-04T03:12:00.000+05:30

HELLO!
My Name is Anna, I am one of the editors of Go Aio! Directory
and I'm searching online to find quality websites to list in
Go Aio! Directory.
I would like you to take five minutes of your time and suggest
your website to our Directory.
To submit your site to Go Aio! Directory
just go to: http://www.goaio.com/dir/how_suggest_site.asp

Merry Cristmas!!! and Happy New Year

THANK YOU
ANNA

NB: I find your email in internet if you like not to receive email from me just foward this email and write (unsubscribe/delete) in the subject. Allowed 24/48 ours to be removed.

financial donation

2005-01-04T01:44:00.000+05:30

hi i would like to contribute some funds to the tsunami relief
operations. could you kindly provide me information regarding this.
thank you
jagdish kanjhan

Want To Volunteer?

2005-01-03T22:23:00.000+05:30

Hi folks, I saw that most of you are looking for opportunities to volunteer.
tsunamihelpneeded.blogspot.com offers information about Tsunami affected areas where help is needed. So, check it out and choose what you want to do. You guys are great. Keep up the good work.
-Suman

Facing problems in publishing info? Mail to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

India Relief Volunteer

2005-01-03T20:31:00.000+05:30

Hello,

My name is Aaron, I'm a 32 year old American currently in Poznan, Poland. I have skills in computers (primarily programming) and teaching English (though I do not speak any asian languages), and of course I am a somewhat fit man who can do any type of physical work. What I don't have is a lot of money or belongings, so I can't contribute financially, just in time and effort. I'm trying to find the best way to help, whether from here or from there. Any information on what I can do, and logistics about travel to India and the surrounding countries, would be greatly appreciated. Also, I need to be back in Poland by mid-February. Thanks for your time.

Aaron Blair
Seward, Alaska, USA
Currently Poznan, Poland

+48 506 83 0042

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2005-01-03T19:15:00.000+05:30

look at thid websites for an exemple of sustainble reliefaction

http://auroville.org/tsunami/crisis.htm
http://auroville.org/tsunami/crisis_2.htm
http://auroville.org/tsunami/crisis_3.htm
http://auroville.org/tsunami/map.jpg
http://auroville.org/tsunami/crisis_2.htm#tsunami

_________________________________________________________________
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Emergency assistance

2005-01-03T18:17:00.000+05:30

Hello

As with everyone else, I am stunned by the magnitude of the tsunami disaster and the devastating affect it has had and continues to have, on the lives of so many.

I am a primary school principal, currently on holidays until 30/1/05. I have a truck and bus licence and have experience in home renovations and building.

I have donated funds to the disaster appeal but would like to assist in other ways.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if my skills, my expertise and my willingness to help, can be of assistance.

Regards
David Dansie
Principal
Bundeena Primary School
school...phone 0011-61-2-95272133 fax 0011-61-2-95230940
While on line please have a look at the Bundeena School web page at
at http://www.bundeena-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/

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Rehabilitation measures: Help required in procuring fishing nets

2005-01-03T15:40:00.000+05:30

As mentioned in my previous post, the villagers are now looking at rehabilitating their lives and leave the scar created by the black Sunday behind.

They are looking at nets for Shrimp / Prawn farming. Their nets and boats were completely damaged and they are starting afresh. It feels like they are coins in a game of Snakes & Ladders and they just caught the biggest snake to reach the starting point. They are not ready to be looked at as people who can't fend for themselves and depend on others for their next bread. They want to earn it and they surely will. But it would be humanitarian on our part to help them take their first steps after having hurt themselves.

This is a plea. They need nets. The nets cost Rs.350 (approximately 7 US Dollars) per kg. Each family needs 2 kgs of these nets. These nets are called Mani Valai in Tamil. There are approximately 400 families in the three villages that we visited, which makes it approximately 2400 kgs of this net. The total requirement comes to INR.8,40,000/- (approximately 16800 USD). Whatever we can provide as help would be most welcome by them.

People willing to contribute can please leave a comment for this posting. I promise in the meanwhile, to find means of accepting donations towards this cause.
-Nanda Kishore.S (nandasethuraman[at]gmail[dot]com)

Please Do Not Misuse This Forum

2005-01-02T23:41:00.000+05:30

Hi, this forum is meant to help people post information on the Tsunami disaster; people have been posting about missing folks, and relief work. Do not use this forum to post irrelevant messages, I beg you. We appreciate your sense of humor, but I think this is defnitely not the time to display it. Let us save it for some other occasion. Please, do not misuse this forum... it is so easy for me to stop this e-mail to website feature; but there are a lot of people out there that desperately need all the help they can get. Let them get it. Please - Suman.
Facing problems in publishing info? Mail to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

Volunteer Work

2005-01-02T12:10:00.000+05:30

My name is Justin Hurst and I am 22 years old and a university student. I am
currently taking a break from classes and have some money saved up, thus
able and desiring to do all in my capacity to help rebuild areas affected by
this tremendous disaster, and to assist those in need. Please contact me at
anarchattila@hotmail.com if I can be of service. Thank you.

_________________________________________________________________
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missing person

2005-01-02T05:58:00.000+05:30

Hello, I'm looking for a girl called Tenzin Dolma. Her address is Tibetan Colony Mundgod Distt Karwar Karnataka State. If there's anyone who has information please e-mail me at Darluy2000@yahoo.it. My name is Daniela Crociani from Rome.Thank you very much.

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finding person

2005-01-02T05:38:00.000+05:30

Hello, I'm writing from Italy and I'm looking for a girl called Tenzin Dolma. Her address is Tibetan Colony Mundgod Distt Karwar Karnataka State. If there's anyone who has information about her and her family,please e-mail me at darluy2000@yahoo.it.

Thank you very much Daniela (Rome).

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finding person

2005-01-02T04:54:00.000+05:30

Hello, I'm writing from Italy and I'm looking for a girl from Karnataka. Her name is Tenzin Dolma and her address is Tibetan Colony Mundgod Distt Karwar Karnataka State. If there's anyone who can have information please e-mail me .Thank you wery much.

Daniela (Rome)

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volunteer work

2005-01-02T01:44:00.000+05:30

My name is Erin Webb, i am 27 years old and a qualified teacher. i would like to volunteer for work in any area that has been affected by the tsunami in the indian ocean. i will be happy to take on any role that would help in the rebuilding of the areas affected. please contact me with any helpful information so that i can start to organise what i can do to help.

my email is eawukuk@yahoo.co.uk

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Relief vans at Cudalore & Kaanathur villages (beyond Kalpakkam)

2005-01-02T01:21:00.000+05:30

Two van loads of relief materials left for fishing villages beyond Kalpakkam. (Pictures will be posted tomorrow)

The relief material in the van included:
Provisions (Rice, Dal, Wheat)
Stoves (160 nos)
Bedsheets (250 nos)
Towels (250 nos)
Mats (150 nos)
150 Plates & Tumblers (Glasses) - Given by Gayathri Vinay of Philadelphia after going through www.sumankumar.com
Used Clothes (segregated as men & women's wear)
and assorted stuff (includes donations from people in India & abroad based on inputs from the website

There were relief camps all along the coast (read East Coast Road) and everyone seemed to have enough of clothing. PEOPLE! Please don't give more clothing unless it is meant for Cuddalore / Nagapattinam areas! There is enough clothing to sustain Chennai and surrounding areas! The relief cams were pathetic in condition. It just has plastic sheets tied to the ground and stands like a tent on two poles. It does not serve any purpose other than providing shade. The sea side by the nights are fairly cold and the victims most certainly lacked bedsheets & covered shelters.

There were a lot of relief vans along the string of relief camps, but I figured that most of them were distributing cooked food. The intent is very good, but this does not help the victims sustain. Provide a man with fish, he eats a meal. Teach him to fish, one gives him a livelihood! Please provide the victims with provisions, stoves, and bedcovers. But also think of providing them a livelihood.

I was talking to Venkatesan & Sukumaran of Periyakuppam. They had just come back to the shore with their catch on the day of the reckoning. When the first waves hit the village, people were hurt but they managed to scramble to safety. Safety was a kilometer away from the sea. (One of the images has been taken from the point till where water invaded the town. I couldn't see the sea from there! But the ground is still wet with the sea water. The debris & a tossed catamaran stands as proof!) These fishermen lost their boats & nets along with their catch which was mostly prawns / shrimps. They wouldn't have been talking to me today if they had stayed back to save their belongings. Fortunately, sense prevailed in them to ensure that the loss was restricted to property!

The third village was a complete disaster. When we reached Kaanathur village government school, I was actually feeling cheated because the school in which the 'victims' were hosted was quite dry and seemed far away from the bay. I began suspecting the nodal officer who suggested that we provide these people with the relief material. When I went inside (nearly 2.5kms inside) to the fishing hamlet by the sea (Angalammankuppam) I felt devastated. So was the village. (Check one of the images taken from the 'thinnai' or the verandah of a hut by the sea. The village was so close that the entire hamlet was surrounded by water and was washed away. There was nothing in the hut. Boats have been rammed into the huts by the sea with such brutal force that neither the boats nor the huts could survive. An 'aerial survey' from the top of the only pucca house in that hamlet shows how badly they have been affected. Babu of Angaalammankuppam mentioned that all the villagers have now been evacuated and are hosted at the government school. Little wonder that I initially felt 'cheated', but it is nature that has cheated them out of their livelihood. The bay that they depended upon has cheated them out of their lives.

The villages where the relief aid were distributed included; Periyakuppam, Aalankuppam & Angaalammankuppam. These villages were identified for us by Relief Foundation (An NGO which has now dedicated itself for this cause). We were led to these villages by Mr. Aghoram (a lawyer based in Madhurantakam) and Mr. Rajesh (from Chennai and works closely with Relief Foundation). There were more than 500 families in these three villages.

Losing life is one side of the story. Losing livelihood is another. Down South, in Cuddalore & Nagapattinam areas, people lost both. The villages we visited today didn't lose many lives, but they have most certainly lost their livelihood. (Pictures will be posted tomorrow by Suman). These villages have now been deserted because of various reasons. The villagers are scared of the sea. They don't have their homes, boats, nets & anything worth calling theirs! They are just alive. So is their spirit. No one cried anymore. They want to fight the sea. They want to get back in there. They want boats, nets and they know how to live.

Am collating details on the kind of nets and the costs. Will be providing the information by tomorrow. Will also be giving the nodal point for donating towards the livelihood of these villagers. Do your might and if not GOD or NATURE, these fishermen will surely bless you. AMEN.

Tsunami Help Website

2005-01-01T20:39:00.000+05:30

Umesh, Cayanne, Construction Engineer, Robert
and all those who are offering/seeking help :

Check out http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/

They are organizing relief efforts and have online discussion boards
for "help needed" and 'help offered".

--shankar

Relief Camp

2005-01-01T17:57:00.000+05:30

Dear Suman,
We at RESCUE-FOUNDATION are setting up a Relief Camp in Nagapatnam
District.
Providing food,Medical help,construction of makeshift homes and
distribution of essentials are some of the activities we are involved in.
we are looking for voluteers who are willing to associate irrespective of
his qualifications.We also welcome donations in cash or kind.For further
details log on www.rescue-foundation.org.
regards,
Umesh Kumar

Send SMS To Publish Info On This Site

2005-01-01T16:51:00.000+05:30

Just send an SMS to the gateway phone number +393334774753 with the following basic syntax:

EMAIL sumank.tsunami@blogger.com .subject.your message
Remember to use your full phone number, complete with the international prefix, like +39123456789.
Don't forget to add the dots (.) between the e-mail id and subject; and subject and your message.

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In Search Of Info

2005-01-01T14:49:00.000+05:30

Hello. I'm hoping to find out any information about a
child I've been sponsoring for the last 12 years or so
through the Christian Childrens Fund charity here in
the USA. The child's name is Dhamayanthi Venkatasamy.
She and her family (mother, father, & younger sister)
live in Karnataka, Bangalore, India. Her birthday is
2/8/87. At this time, she's 17 y.o. and studying to
be a Teacher. If there's anyone who can reach people
at the Kingsley Community Center there and find out
about the Venkatasamy family, please email me. My
email is: thirdfloor22@yahoo.com. Any news at all
would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Laura Rozela

Relief volunteer

2005-01-01T10:12:00.000+05:30

Dear Sirs,

I am an experienced Peace Corps Volunteer specializing in community
development, as well as a relief worker in Kosovo. I want to volunteer in
an capacity that I am needed to aid the relief effort in Southeast Asia. I
am available for 6-7 months. Please contact me.

Cayenne Smith
1142 Neil Ct.
Sonoma, Ca,
95476

(707) 996-4920

cayennesmith@hotmail.com

need help....

2005-01-01T07:07:00.000+05:30

Want HELP asap...

On behalf of Visions Voluntary Organisation, we are looking for volunteers and funders for the tsunami victims.
we are in need for medicine, food, funds and cloths.
we are supporting the people who got affected by tsunami all over India and srilanka. As the number of victims getting bigger we are looking for help as soon as possible either by sending medicines or supplying food or even by sending some funds.
For further information please contact us on 00919849357362.
or email us on visionsvoluntaryorganisation@yahoo.co.in

for those who are sending cheques pls send to:

ac/no 1211,

AP State co-operative bnk,

Masab tank,

Hyderabad,

Andhra Pradhesh

India.

thank you for the interest.

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need help..

2005-01-01T03:01:00.000+05:30

Want HELP asap...

On behalf of Visions Voluntary Organisation, we are looking for volunteers and funders for the tsunami victims.
we are in need for medicine, food, funds and cloths.
we are supporting the people who got affected by tsunami all over India and srilanka. As the number of victims getting bigger we are looking for help as soon as possible either by sending us medicines also helping by supplying food or by funding.
For further information please contact us on 00919849357362.
or email us on visionsvoluntaryorganisation@yahoo.co.in

or for those who want to send aid by cheque:

Ac/No: 1211

A.P State Co-operative Bank,

Masabtank

Hyderabad.

AP.

India.

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Construction Equipment Engineer (volunteer)

2005-01-01T01:49:00.000+05:30

Hi Sumank As previously stated I feel duty bound to
offer my skills and services to help in any way they
may be used. I like many people feel that it is only
right to assist in rebuilding your infra-structure so
that relief may be distributed faster and move freely.
I have looked over the internet to find a way to
assist and it appears that only donations and relief
volunteer positions are being posted so hopefully you
may know of other ways that i might assist,
yours sincerely

___________________________________________________________
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Relief Volunteer

2005-01-01T00:44:00.000+05:30

Dear Sirs,

I am a retired business executive with skills in logistic efforts and administration. I am willing to be directly involved in providing relief in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand,Indonesia, or
wherever I am needed.

Please tell me how I can join you in this relief effort. I am available immediately, for up to three months, providing any relief effort required.

Sincerely,
Robert Tabor
Boston, Massachusets, USA
(978) 263-8855

Regards,
Bob Tabor

Fw:

2004-12-31T22:48:00.000+05:30

----- Original Message -----

From: Gunilla o Calle Carlsson

To: Tsunami Help India

Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 5:44 PM

Please send some information about the situation in the fishing villages of Kattupalli Kuppam and Mugathwara outside Ennore.

Gunilla Carlsson

Sweden

2004-12-31T20:31:00.000+05:30

Hello Sumank,

I am feelin very frustrated sitting back here without information on how to render volunteer service. I am willing to participate in any nature of relief work on field or whatever is needed.

Have written to you yesterday. Please send me relevant information.

tahnk you,

Zarine

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Volunteer in India

2004-12-31T13:39:00.000+05:30

I am a 32 year old teacher/choreographer with experience in working in arts for development in Ethiopia. I have no medical experience, but would like to volunteer to help in any way possible.I will be in Chennai on January 3rd, but am also willing to travel where needed in India.

Jo Parkes

joparkesdance@yahoo.com

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Latest Report from Relief Volunteers (Orur Kuppam & Ennore)

2004-12-31T13:37:00.000+05:30

Visit to Orur Kuppam and Ennore

As is evident now, the huts and belongings of the families residing in the coasts were washed away on Sunday. Psychological help and reconstructing their lives is a priority now. Volunteers visited the fishing hamlets and slums beyond Ennore and Orur Kuppam in the coast of Besant Nagar today. Casualties were minimum as they all fled to some shelters closeby. Drinking water and wash water is available scarcely. Milk for children is also scarce. Donors of clothes and material reach upto areas where cars can go and distribute food packets and clothes, in small amounts and more often it reaches persons who can access it. Aged persons and those unable to run and scramble for it, do not get it. Government help has come in as immediate relief Rs 2000/- per family. Food is also provided to all but it is difficult for many to wait in the queue and scramble for it. Survival of the fittest seems to be the slogan as far as the resources can reach.

This has led the vitims to stay in relatives’ homes and cook some food. Government has promised School notebooks and textbooks after the schools reopen. This seems to be the trend in all the places even in the city coastline. Volunteers & NGOs are arranging for 1000 sets of clothes for families and drinking water 2000 packets through Rotary Club of Madras East.

They intend to supply kits consisting of :
Sleeping mat –2
Bedsheets - 2
Plastic Water Kudams- 2
Cooking vessels –2
Plates – 2
Tumblers –2
Pumping Stove –1
Rice 10 kgs
Green Gram Dhal – 5 kgs
Notebooks and stationery items for children @ Rs 750
Rs 2000/- per kit

Things in Demand:
There is a severe short supply of these essential items in Chennai. Personnel to run around for locating the items is also difficult to find. Practically, there is a need to transport this material to remote places where cars cannot reach, so fuel, vehicles, and manpower needs to be taken into account.

Reconstructing their lives needs shelter and livelihood options. They are unwilling to move to a different location as their livelihood depends on the sea. All their children are studying in Govt High schools close by.

They believe help will come subsequently, but are unsure of their future. Any help coming in can be for these direct or indirect costs and expenses.

Long Term Support and assistance

Besides these, there are long term assistance such as building houses and strengthening Noon meal centre buildings to double up as shelters.

Each of it can cost Rs 100,000/-
Each fishing net costs about Rs 25000/-
Boats Rs 100,000/-

Assistance in any form can be sent to:
Relief Foundation

Ph: 24916854 / 20022821

Their online account numbers are:
FCRA No: 075900796
S/B A/c No: 520300381
Bankers:

American Express Bank Ltd,
187, Anna Salai,
Chennai - 600 006

AID India

2004-12-31T10:25:00.000+05:30

Please send relief material to the address given below. We are in desperate need of the following medicines for Nagapattinam & Cuddalore. Vans are leaving very soon.

a. Doxycycline
b. ORS packets
c. Paracetamol
d. Septron
e. Gloves
f. Masks

Any number would help.

AID India
Old No.20, New No.34,
Rathinam Street,
Gopalapuram,
Chennai - 600 086
Ph: 044-2835 0403

urgent

2004-12-31T09:22:00.000+05:30

Words can not described how we feel about India's tragedy.

After the World Trade Center we built www.disasterid.com. The function of the program was to provide a platform for rescue workers to house data regarding found persons / items and for the general public to search said data regarding missing persons.

We put it together with Interpol http://www.interpol.int/Public/DisasterVictim/Default.asp missing persons data points and with some review from DMORT http://www.dmort.org/. We designed the backend database structure with a scaleable 'on the fly' category creation tool; so as different identifying categories are realized, administrators can create categories and sub-categories easily.

We built it out of frustration from 9/11 as a voluntary effort and attempted to give it away. We were not able to get any wide-scale adoption to it during the Trade Center tragedy and the program has just been sitting around since.

We would like to offer the program to India to help in the recovery efforts, but do not know how to proceed. There is no problem in redoing the front page graphics to make it a site not referring to the US images and the like.

If you have any connections on who to get and give the program to, that would fine by us.

Sincerely,

Keith Mullin

Can you tell me if you have located Rita Krishnayia

2004-12-31T08:35:00.000+05:30

Can you tell me if you have located Rita Krishnayia, her husband and her teenage daughter Depa? If you hear anything please let us know. We are her friends and co-workers.

~ Renee

Renee Crabb

Executive Secretary

Senior Care Consultants, Inc.

1413 E. I-30 Suite 7

Garland, Texas 75043

Phone 972/303-9000

Fax 972/303-9700

rcrabb@scc-texas.com

www.scc-texas.com

Privileged/Confidential Information may be contained in this message. If you are not the addressee indicated in this message (or responsible for delivery of the message to such person), you may not copy or deliver this message to anyone. In such case, you should destroy this message, and notify us immediately. If you or your employer does not consent to Internet email messages of this kind, please advise us immediately. Opinions, conclusions and other information expressed in this message are not given or endorsed by my firm or employer unless otherwise indicated by an authorized representative independent of this message.

supplies

2004-12-31T03:01:00.000+05:30

To Whom it may concern,
I would really love to send food, clothing, or
medical aid to any of the countries. Where can I find
information as to what is needed and where to send it?
My contribution may be miniscule, but I would truely
like to help in anyway possible.
Please and thank you.

Melanie Ward

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want to know the whereabouts .............

2004-12-31T00:59:00.000+05:30

I have been anxious to know about my family members
who are in andaman and Nicobar island.

Mr. william kujur.... Fahter
mrs Jacinta .... mother. who are in Katchal

and my brother in
Pawan Suresh Kujur.. in port blair.

please let me know as early as possible. Because i
have not been able to contact them since sunday i.e.
26ht.

hope to hear from you.

Anita.

__________________________________
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need volunteers and funders...

2004-12-31T00:22:00.000+05:30

ON BEHALF OF VISIONS VOLUNTARY ORGANISATION, HYDERABAD.WE ARE ACCEPTING
FUNDS, CLOTHS, FOOD, AND MEDICAL SUPPORT FOR THE PEOPLE WHO HAS GOT EFFECTED
IN TSUNAMI IN ANDHRA PRADHESH A FUND COLLECTION CENTRE HAS BEEN OPENED
THROUGH OUR ORGANISATION WE REQUIRE VOLUNTEERS AS WELL AS FUNDERS.WHOEVER IS
WISHING TO JOIN THE EFFORT WE ARE MAKING PLEASE CONTACT on 00919849357362

ALSO BY EMAIL ANCILA_2004@HOTMAIL.COM

THANKYOU FOR THE HELP.

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How can I help?

2004-12-30T22:50:00.000+05:30

Dear Sumank,

I'm a British citizen based in Bangalore. I've been in the UK for Xmas but am returning to India on 7th January. I would like to know if there is any need for volunteers to help out in any way. Unfortunately I'm not a doctor, I'm simply an English teacher currently working as a call-centre trainer, so cannot offer any expertise, but I have 2 strong arms and am willing to travel anywhere to help out in any way possible. I have already donated money but feel this is simply not enough. Please let me know how I can help.

Fiona Kimberlin

Fiona Kimberlin can be contacted on: fkimberlin@yahoo.com

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Volunteer

2004-12-30T21:42:00.000+05:30

Hello sumank,

Am a social work professional - want to volunteer for any kind of ground work anywhere.

If u have the time please send me information.

thank you,

zarine

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Great Resource For Pics and Videos

2004-12-30T21:14:00.000+05:30

Geoffrey's waveofdestruction.org
contains probably the most comprehensive collection of multimedia
content on the Tsunami catastrophe. Brilliant work Geoff. So, if you
are looking for pictures or videos, rush to his site.
--
http://sumankumar.com

Relief Hampered due to fresh Tsunami Warnings

2004-12-30T18:04:00.000+05:30

Two truck loads of materials (bedsheets, clothes, provisions, vessels,
stoves etc.) which were collected by us (including some materials
given by people through this blog) could not be distributed today
because of fresh Tsunami warnings. The materials has now been kept in
a safe place to be distributed on Saturday. More than 15 independent
organisations carrying relief materials towards the affected areas
were sent back. People along the coast were getting evacuated. It was
a familiar sight, but only this time, they were more cautious.

Relief camps across the Eastern coast have been evacuated and people
are now moving inland. It remains to see if the warnings are true, but
there are prayers in everyone's lips that this should only be a
rumour.

It has also been reported that the water levels has risen along the
Marina and Srinivasapuram (the fishing hamlet affected most during the
first Tsunami attack) was affected again. It is also understood that
people were actually returning to their homes that they had deserted a
few days back starting yesterday, only to be affected again.

Awaiting more reports from along the coast.

2004-12-30T17:04:00.000+05:30

There are people who want to send material to send aid material to Chennai. Interested people can send the aid material to:

AID India
Old No.20, New No.34, Rathinam Street,
Gopalapuram,
Chennai - 600 086
Ph: 044-2835 0403

Fwd: Please read

2004-12-30T16:44:00.000+05:30

Begin forwarded message:

> (I noticed you are in similar situation....have you found any info
> that would assist me?)
>
> Hello,
>
> I wish to travel to Thailand or India to help out. It would be just
> me coming. But, if you consider allowing me to stay in your home you
> can see all about me, my wife, my life at: www.bartclark.net
>
> I am an American Occupational Therapist who owns a successful medical
> staffing company, so I will pay my own way and pay for someone to
> allow me to sleep on the floor and feed me enough to keep me going.
>
> I can assist various medical procedures, organize, oversee projects,
> or pull the dead out of the swamps, dig ditches, I don't care. If it
> needs done I can do it.
>
>
>
> I cannot stay here and just send money....that I'll do...but I wish to
> come and HELP!
>
> Please contact me if you - or someone you know of, would assist me in
> a place to stay and help me connect with a meaningful way to help once
> I get there.
>
> bartclark@mac.com
>
> 817 917 4471

PUNE, India update: Doctors & Volunteers for Tsunami Relief

2004-12-30T15:55:00.000+05:30

PUNE, India update: Doctors & Volunteers for Tsunami Relief

1. The S.M.Joshi memorial foundation's Arogya Sena is planning to send
a team of medical experts and volunteers to Tamil Nadu and other
affected places to assist in the relief operations. Those wishing to
join the effort may contact Dr Abhijit Vaidya on Pune mobile no.98505
88008 (prefix 0 while dialling from outside Pune).

2. Rotary club of Pune Riverside is sending a team of Rorarians with
relief material for Tamil Nadu, Andamans, Andhra and Kerala. The team
is leaving Pune on 1st Jan.2005. Relief material like packaged food,
vessels, biscuits and blankets can be handed over to them. For details
contact, Rohit Jerajani on Pune Ph.26134686.

3. On behalf of Women's Collective based in Chennai, NGO Maitri is
accepting the following: Rice (in sealed bags of 1 kg.), bed sheets
and funds. A collection centre is being opened at Padale Palace, off
Karve Road, Pune (Ph.25446511).[Contact after 5.00pm : the info I got
once calling them]

For any details regarding material to be sent to local Red Cross
office at M.G.Road,Pune OR contributions to be made, please call me at
Pune cell no.98220 04752 or write in at vmoorthy@rediffmail.com.
Vijaya.

This information is been posted as a blog at http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com

I spoke to Vijaya from the Red Cross Pune and she needs more hands to
be available in Chennai as most agencies are facing problems to
execute the relief. Red Cross is accepting dry packaged food, clothes,
Rubber slippers (chappals). Please contact the MG Road office above
Central Ban or Vijaya's Mobile.

Aid India needs more people there in Chennai. You can contact them at Pune:
Shankar Thiyagarajan
E-mail: tshankar(@)hotmail.com
Prasad Subramanyam
E-mail:psubrama(@)iucaa.ernet.in
www.aidindia.org

Asish

PUNE, India update: Doctors & Volunteers for Tsunami Relief

2004-12-30T15:18:00.000+05:30

Asish, my friend from Pune, sent me this information he saw on Tsunami Help blog:

1. The S.M.Joshi memorial foundation's Arogya Sena is planning to send a team of medical experts and volunteers to Tamil Nadu and other affected places to assist in the relief operations. Those wishing to join the effort may contact Dr Abhijit Vaidya on Pune mobile no.98505 88008 (prefix 0 while dialling from outside Pune).

2. Rotary club of Pune Riverside is sending a team of Rorarians with relief material for Tamil Nadu, Andamans, Andhra and Kerala. The team is leaving Pune on 1st Jan.2005. Relief material like packaged food, vessels, biscuits and blankets can be handed over to them. For details contact, Rohit Jerajani on Pune Ph.26134686.

3. On behalf of Women's Collective based in Chennai, NGO Maitri is accepting the following: Rice (in sealed bags of 1 kg.), bed sheets and funds. A collection centre is being opened at Padale Palace, off Karve Road, Pune (Ph.25446511).

For any details regarding material to be sent to local Red Cross office at M.G.Road,Pune OR contributions to be made, please call me at Pune cell no.98220 04752 or write in at vmoorthy@rediffmail.com.
(Source Tsunami Help blog. Thanks Asish.)

The Red Cross is looking for dry food (non perishables), prepackaged food, Clothes, Rubber slippers (chappals), blankets. Call Vijaya at 98220 04752 to pass on your relief materials.
Facing problems in publishing info? Mail to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

HELP 4 VICTIMS

2004-12-30T14:32:00.000+05:30

Hello sumank

I would like to contribute the clothing and other non perishable stuffs.
I would be appreicicate if you could give a address or phone no in
banglore , who is ready to collect this , to be distributed for the
victims

regards
Abhilash
98804 34544
abhilash.aravind@gmail.com

--
Thanks ,
With best regards

Abhilash K A

Relief Hampered due to fresh Tsunami Warnings

2004-12-30T13:31:00.000+05:30

Two truck loads of materials (bedsheets, clothes, provisions, vessels, stoves etc.) which were collected by us (including some materials given by people through this blog) could not be distributed today because of fresh Tsunami warnings. The materials has now been kept in a safe place to be distributed on Saturday. More than 15 independent organisations carrying relief materials towards the affected areas were sent back. People along the coast were getting evacuated. It was a familiar sight, but only this time, they were more cautious.

Relief camps across the Eastern coast have been evacuated and people are now moving inland. It remains to see if the warnings are true, but there are prayers in everyone's lips that this should only be a rumour.

It has also been reported that the water levels has risen along the Marina and Srinivasapuram (the fishing hamlet affected most during the first Tsunami attack) was affected again. It is also understood that people were actually returning to their homes that they had deserted a few days back starting yesterday, only to be affected again.

Awaiting more reports from along the coast.

High Alert in TN and Kerala Coasts on High Waves

2004-12-30T13:20:00.000+05:30

The Met department sounded off a warning on a possible Tsunami attack on
the coastal TN and Kerala. It triggered a wave of panic among people in
Nagapattinam, the worst hit area in TN. Nanda Kishore, my friend, in
Chennai, was in Kovalam with two vanloads of relief supplies but had to
post-pone distributing aid to tomorrow because of the Tsunami warning.
Nanda told me on phone that choppers announced on PA systems about the
possible Tsunami. Authorities are evacuating people from Kovalam. The sea,
according to Nanda, appears calm now. 'I guess no one wants to take a
chance, over and out!' said Nanda.
Elsewhere, Rajiv Sreenivasan offers a mystical perspective that's so NOT
needed at this hour. He writes,

The devastation by the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, could it be a
caveat from Up There about the atrocities being visited on the Kanchi
Acharya? About adharma gaining ground?
There are mysterious forces out there that are not fully understood by our
oh-so-rational selves. I am reminded of the strange signs and omens that
historians recorded before calamities: for instance the rain of frogs in
Vietnam preceding the cataclysmic war. Or the odd celestial signs that
preceded the death of Julius Caesar.
It is said that the very elements can be affected by the mystical powers
of sages who have acquired superhuman powers through meditation and
sadhana. I think we should all tread carefully, for now we are treading on
things we do not know. href="http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/27rajeev.htm">Link on
Rediff

Rajiv, do you seriously believe all that? If god or any other power had
indeed punished these thousands of innocent people because your fav saint
was arrested, and atrocities were visited on him, then all I have to tell
YOUR god is this: F*** you god.

ITALY - Very important : television service for Italian people in South Est Asia

2004-12-30T10:33:00.000+05:30

Please pass this information cause it can be very important for
italian families worried about their parents in SOUTH - EST ASIA.

Link is also here:
http://namct.com/news/index.php?title=sky_tg_24_italian_television_to_help_ita&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
and
http://www.thepoliticals.com/2004/12/tsunami_sky_tg_.html

IMPORTANT SERVICE FOR ALL THE ITALIAN PEOPLE IN SOUTH - EST ASIA

All Italian people willing to inform their family or testify whatÂs
happening in South-East Asia can send a short message

via sms + 39 335 6946399
or
via email (skytg24@skytv.it)

to Sky Tg 24, the Italian allnews Sky television channel.

Messages are aired during News television editions so
that can be read by families.

Good luck :)

======================================
Marco Montemagno
http://montemagno.typepad.com
http://www.popolodellarete.it
http://www.thepoliticals.com

E: marco@yakom.it
======================================

'Just made sure nobody saw my tears'

2004-12-30T07:01:00.000+05:30

'Just made sure nobody saw my tears' An article of heroic, relentless & selfless service by a doctor of high esteem. I am sure there are more like this doctor. Some may come to light. Many will remain unsung heroes. Our salutations to every one of them.

Tsunami relief

2004-12-30T02:41:00.000+05:30

Suman,

Asha for Education (www.ashanet.org), a global, zero-overhead non-profit is working to provide relief to parts of Tamil Nadu. You can check the website for more info and also our blog: http://ashatsunamirelief.blogspot.com/

Thanks

Gaurav

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Bozenka and Georg Venediger, search a german family

2004-12-30T01:30:00.000+05:30

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!
I urgently need your help. I am surching for my mother and her husband. They should stay at puttaparthi but my be they went to the coast for further vaccationes. They allways comunicate with me per e-mail or telephone. The telephonelines are dead at the moment and my question is, what is about the internetlines. Are they dead too? I am trying to get an answer to my e-mails since 4 days, but my mother or her husband do not answer. Can you send a test e-mail to me? So I can see, what is going on in Puttaparthi. Their names are Bozenka Venediger (my mother) and Georg Venediger (her husband). Please send me, as soon as possible, an e-mail and tell me wether you know this two persons or not and when do you have seen them the last time at your Internetcafe.
Thank you very much for your help.
Best regards,
Diana Slat

Relief not reaching right people

2004-12-29T22:47:00.000+05:30

Today morning when I rushed to give the blankets and other clothes that my company trust had been collecting, I was directed to Marina beach. They were standing near AIR to distribute them to people of that locality. But I have been witnessing for past couple of days - a lot of relief materials had been given to people in these areas. By being in the heart of city, and very easily accessible, relief has been pouring in easily. Its not just my company, many more voluntary help centres been helping them, apart from Santhome church providing all shelter. While the intentions are all good, I was baffled that the materials did not reach to any other area that might need more.

On the other hand, we are also witnessing the dirty political stunts between DMK and ruling ADMK in this. Am interested in giving baby clothes that should help babies upto 6 months. I prefer them reaching the Andaman or any other neglected backward coastal region. What do I do? I can get them ready tomm. (I do not have contact number right now) -- Guruprasad

Tsunami - IT/BPO companies can make a big difference too...

2004-12-29T19:15:00.000+05:30

Had this suggested to my company - perhaps other IT/BPO companies can help too...
Made an appeal that apart from a day's or more salary contribution from employees, the project managers can come forward to donate a day's billing of their projects towards TSUNAMI relief. That would be a very big amount - can be used to buy medicines and other relief and/or rehabilitation measures.

This billing amount donation is apart from the contributions made by the IT company, emplyee salary and other donations by emplyees in kind.

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Relief Foundation - For Tsunami Victims

2004-12-29T13:37:00.001+05:30

People!

I have been working with Suman on providing updates from Chennai about the tragedy that struck the coast.

Should anyone abroad like to contribute, please do your wire transfers or transfers using any mode to Relief Foundation. Details are given below.

Foreign Contribution FCRA Account details:

FCRA No: 075900796
Name of Account: Relief Foundation
Bankers: American Express Bank Ltd, 187, Anna Salai, Chennai - 6
S/B A/c No: 520300381

Appeal From ESG India, Bangalore

2004-12-29T13:37:00.000+05:30

Appeal From ESG India, Bangalore:

Appeal to assist victims of tsunamis in South India and Sri Lanka:
In response to the tsunamis that swept through the eastern coast of India, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere in South East Asia, and the devastation caused by them, Environment Support Group (ESG), Community Health Cell, India Together, Association for India's Development (Bangalore Chapter) and Servelots are putting together a handy list of ways in which concerned citizens and organisations can contribute in cash and kind.
In addition to suggestions for contributions, ESG is also collecting contact information for government and non-government institutions who are directly involved in relief operations. All this information will be present and continually updated online at Tsunami Relief information: http://www.indiatogether.org/relief/tsunami. Please send any critical information you would like to be listed on this website to editors[at]indiatogether[dot]org to help keep this page current and readily supportive of emergency and relief operations.

We encourage citizens to liberally contribute to the relief of the affected
communities. A list of items immediately required is enclosed. Material
can be dropped off at the ESG office (address given below) or at Servelots,
3354, "Pankaja", KR Road, Bangalore, 560070
tsunami@servelots.com - +91-80-2676-2963. Please call before you come to the office to drop off your contributions. More drop off points will be identified in coming days.
In addition to contributions in kind, ESG will also accept monetary contributions by cheque/DD in favour of 'Environment Support Group' payable at Bangalore. Please clearly mark the back of the cheque with words "Tsunami Relief Fund". Receipts will be issued.
We encourage citizens to come forward to join this effort and to assist people in devastated areas in their time of need. It is extremely critical that we coordinate efforts of organisations and networks from the Bangalore region in collecting relief material and reaching the same to affected areas. In this regard, it would be helpful if we could meet tomorrow (Tuesday 28 December 2004) at St. Joseph's College of Arts and Science, Langford Road, Bangalore at 4.30 pm. Please encourage others to come.
To enable a point source dissemination effort of critical information, a daily newsletter will be sent out with updated information.

LIST OF MATERIAL TO CONTRIBUTE:

FOOD:

Food - dry and ready food is preferable as it takes a long time by road to reach the affected areas and food should not spoil. Biscuits, dal, rice, and grains are also needed. Grains should be ground into flour. Tea, sugar, salt, oil etc, will also be in demand. PLEASE PACK ALL FOOD WITH NEAT LABELS IN ENGLISH (Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam if additionally possible).
Clothes - all types. Especially warm clothes, blankets, durries, chaddar, etc. PLEASE GIVE CLOTHES IN AGE GROUP PACKS OF 0-1; 1-3; 3-7; 7-10; 10-15; 15-18; 18+. KINDLY LABEL THE AGE GROUPS AND WHETHER IT IS FOR GIRLS, BOYS, MEN Or WOMEN. ENSURE ALL BUTTONS ARE SEWED, NO TEARS, AND THAT CLOTHES ARE CLEAN. Sarees and full blouses and lungis are particularly required.
Lamps - Functional torches with cells for the same, kandil (kerosene lamps), and candles and matches packs.
Medicines - we are trying to get a list of the medicines that are most needed, but any good doctor can help such a list to be put together. Meanwhile, friends have suggested that the following medicines will be required.
Pain Relief - Ibuprofane, Asprin, Dclofenac, Paracetamol
Infection Prevention/Antibiotics - Amoxicillin
Injuries Dressing - Cotton, Bandages etc.
Dysentry - Diaorehha - Oral Rehydration kits (ORS), Furazolidone, Metronidizole
Anti-Bacterial - Cotrimoxazole Chloroquine
Carbouys / buckets for fetching water from distance.

This is a quick list, which will be further updated soon.

In solidarity,
Leo F. Saldanha/Environment Support Group; Dinesh/Servelots; Ashwin Mahesh/India Together; Prasanna/Community Health Cell/Association for India's Development (Bangalore Chapter); Subramanya Sastry
Contact Address:
Environment Support Group R
S-3, Rajashree Apartments, 18/57, 1st Main Road, S. R. K. Gardens,
Jayanagar, Bannerghatta Road,
Bangalore 560041. INDIA
Telefax: 91-80-26534364/26531339/26341977
Fax: 91-80-51179912
Email: esg[at]esgindia[dot[org or esg[at]bgl[dot]vsnl[dot]net[dot]in
Web: www.esgindia.org

Facing problems in publishing info? Mail to suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

Bangalore Contributes

2004-12-29T11:56:00.000+05:30

Got this forwarded e-mail from my colleague Manoj:

Dear friends,
The Tsunami news has been a shock to all of us. A small group of volunteers will leave for Cuddalore in Tamilnadu to reach some relief material to the affected people personally on Wednesday, 29th December 2004.
I appeal to all of you to donate blankets, old clothes, aluminum or stainless steel vessels and kerosene stoves by tomorrow, 28th December. You can also extend this drive by sending this message to friends or officials in other companies in Bangalore and making your own collections in your neighborhood.
The time is short but this can be your effort to reach out. If your friends or contacts can arrange for a large collection of more than 10 carton boxes, please call any of these numbers for information so we can arrange for the donations to be collected at their venue though it would be a blessing if you can arrange for the material to reach the address given below.

Contact persons:
Venki - 98867 36109 361degrees@gmail.com
Raja - 98863 92521 rajam@axes-mach01.usa.alcatel.com
Gokul - 98862 18112 gokulb@axes-mach01.usa.alcatel.com
Senthil - 98454 12042 senthilr@axes-mach01.usa.alcatel.com
Amith - 98866 36539 amiths@axes-mach01.usa.alcatel.com

Address to reach donations:

Prakruti Mudrana
No. 51, 9th Main, 29th Cross,
Banashankari 2nd Stage, Near GK Kalyanamantap Landmark - Monotype Bangalore.

Contact Person - Sashi Kumar/ Uvaraj
Phone: 26713894/ 93412 12691 / 94483 71389

Please do not make appeals for cash collections. Only donations in kind will be accepted. We will not be responsible for any cash collections made.

This is my earnest request to all of you to support us in this effort and be a part of the spirit of this season of giving. What is required is much larger but if we can each bring warmth to one family, we have done something.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Regards
Uvaraj .M
Prema Lawrence

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Great Resource For Aid To Victims

2004-12-29T11:13:00.000+05:30

http://www.tsunamivictims.org/
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2004-12-29T10:52:00.000+05:30

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