Stop Sending Clothes And Goods, says Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS)
MRCS headquarters' warehouse in Jalan Ampang was already full with clothes which were no longer needed by the victims.
"We are now worried that we may end up in a situation where we will have to throw all the clothes away. The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent) has informed us that Sri Lanka and Indonesia are already overflowing with clothes and also food which have no place to go," she said.
Those wishing to contribute or volunteer can call the MRCS at its hotline at 03-4257-8726 or go to MRCS headquarters in Jalan Nipah, off Jalan Ampang.
She said the MRCS was now concentrating its relief effort in Acheh, Indonesia, the worst-hit area in the Dec 26 earthquake and tsunami that have so far killed 150,000 people in 12 countries in south and southeast Asia.
Jayanthy said the Medan airport which was the main air gateway to the region was closed yesterday to relief planes due to congestion and inadequate warehouses to store relief aid.
A second MRCS team left for Medan yesterday to provide more assistance to the first team which had been there since Dec 27.
ICRC Malaysia communications officer Azrul Mohd Khalib said cash donations could go a long way in helping the victims to rebuild their life after the disaster.
He said that people often forgot that the victims also needed help to rebuild their houses, roads and other infrastructure so that life could return to normalcy.
Source: Bernama
"We are now worried that we may end up in a situation where we will have to throw all the clothes away. The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent) has informed us that Sri Lanka and Indonesia are already overflowing with clothes and also food which have no place to go," she said.
Those wishing to contribute or volunteer can call the MRCS at its hotline at 03-4257-8726 or go to MRCS headquarters in Jalan Nipah, off Jalan Ampang.
She said the MRCS was now concentrating its relief effort in Acheh, Indonesia, the worst-hit area in the Dec 26 earthquake and tsunami that have so far killed 150,000 people in 12 countries in south and southeast Asia.
Jayanthy said the Medan airport which was the main air gateway to the region was closed yesterday to relief planes due to congestion and inadequate warehouses to store relief aid.
A second MRCS team left for Medan yesterday to provide more assistance to the first team which had been there since Dec 27.
ICRC Malaysia communications officer Azrul Mohd Khalib said cash donations could go a long way in helping the victims to rebuild their life after the disaster.
He said that people often forgot that the victims also needed help to rebuild their houses, roads and other infrastructure so that life could return to normalcy.
Source: Bernama
Atheistbishop at 3:44:00 pm |
an exemple of "sustainable" relief effort
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
With the Millions collected by Aid Agencies around the world, and comments that you are overflowing with food and clothing, it is very distressing to see video footage of people scrambling to get packets of instant noodles thrown from a helicopter. A few questions spring to mind:
How will they cook instant noodles when there is no safe drinking water?
Why do they have to treat people like animals, throwing food at them?
Why is it that reporters can get everywhere to send us back these reports but aid agencies complain that they cannot get doctors and medicines to the suffering. As I was having dinneer tonight, the telly was showing human beings with broken bones sticking out of their clothes, crying out in pain as they have nothing more than panadol to ease their pain, people having their limbs amputated without anasthetic and having their hands and feet tied to the trolley to stop them lashing out. This is not the dark ages, if the TV crew can get there, why can't the doctors and medicines? With the millions collected, you can purchase these medicines anywhere and get them to the people in need in a day. One week later, it is unforgivable. Are the aid agencies and respective governments in the business of collecting money for themselves or for the needy. It is no point saving money to help people rebuild homes if the die of infections.
Would you like for them to get off the copter and slowly walk the food over to the people in need? Sorry, but the sad reality is that the military person would be mobbed and stampeded. You complain that it takes too long to get anything to them, but at the same time, you want them to take longer to get the food to them, so that they are not being thrown at like 'animals'. Get a grip. If you think you can do it better, GO DO IT! No matter what we do to help, to some people, it will never be good enough.
It's a good thing our President didn't jump off the deep end and just start sending money and clothing and other goods over there to go to waste. You won't hear about this anywhere else because it shows that President Bush's plan of waiting until we knew where we could direct immediate help rather than send things to warehouses to go to waste, was a good one.
PLEASE do NOT get upset or distressed when they ask not to send food or clothing. The people who need the clothing and food WILL need these things very soon AGAIN. They will be working hard to survive and their food and clothes will wear out VERY FAST as they there is little place to cook or eat or wash clothes and dishes. DO NOT JUDGE THIS DILEMMA. DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS. There will be an ongoing need for all of these things. They simply do not have room or warehousing for all of it right now. Be patient. Please do not give up when it is six months later and they continue to ask for help. This will happen frequently over time. The entire place is devastated and it will take a long time for them to recover. They MUST drop or throw the food because it is exactly like a war zone. It is the quickest and most cost effective and safest way to do this. No one believes that the survivors there are "below" anyone. If that were so, they would not be getting the food and supplies they need.
Instead of complaining about what isn't being done or how it is being done (or not done), try to think logically and broadly of the gigantic scope of this disaster. It is HUGE and thousands more will die if help is not immediately available upon a moments notice in whatever fashion or sequence or speed or halt of help that help is delivered or slowed down.
Thank You.
I collected a lot of clothes, food, toys etc. for children and others. I wanted to send it to a friend in Sri Lanka / Beruwela. But I can't get in touch with him.
Is there any way to get the things to Sri Lanka?