Posted on 01/03/2005 9:11:23 AM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
Sangeeta, a mother of three boys, looks down on her eldest son, Dinakaran, seated, and the dog that saved his life, Selvakumar Sunday, Jan. 2, 2005. Sangeeta could only carry two of her boys and had to leave Dinakaran to fend for himself when a tsunami crashed into their village on Dec. 26, 2004. Selvakumar pulled Dinakaran out of the family hut and nipped and nudged him up a hill to safety.
Amazing pics (Post #6) of the elephants clearing debris. These are the elephants that were used in the movie "Alexander" which filmed in Thailand.
In this photo released by the US Navy, Lt. Mark Banks, of Savannah, Ga., tends to a patient who was medically evacuated by U.S. Navy (news - web sites) helicopter to a temporary triage site in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, Monday, Jan. 3, 2005. Medical teams from the USS Abraham Lincoln, Carrier Air Wing Two and the International Organization for Migration set-up a triage site located on Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base, in Banda Aceh, Sumatra. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently operating in the Indian Ocean off the waters of Indonesia and Thailand. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Elizabeth A. Edwards)
Tsunami refugees receive supplies distributed by the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group in Krueng Raya, Indonesia January 3, 2005. Relief workers flew helicopters and cajoled elephants to find and feed survivors and shift the rubble of razed towns Monday, eight days after tsunamis changed the map of Asia. (Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hundreds of millions of dollars in private U.S. donations are pouring in to help victims of Asia's tsunami, from children donating pocket money to big spenders giving seven-figure sums, said aid groups on Monday.
A huge volume of Internet donors crashed the Web sites of charities, including Oxfam America for a while, and callers have been jamming switchboards in an outpouring of generosity unseen by many aid agencies since the 1984 Ethiopia famine.
One of the biggest recipients of private donations is the American Red Cross (news - web sites), which has recorded pledges of about $79 million, spokeswoman Jacki Flowers said.
"The event (tsunami) itself was unprecedented, as has been the response from donors," said Flowers. About half of donations so far came over the Internet, she added.
Millions were left homeless, hungry or threatened by disease following the Dec. 26 tsunami that killed 145,000 from Thailand to Somalia.
Oxfam America has raised more than $12 million in a week, despite the temporary crash of its Web site.
"This is totally unprecedented and could surpass the outpouring of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia," said Oxfam spokesman Nathaniel Raymond.
Charities hope an appeal on Monday by President Bush (news - web sites) for Americans to keep giving will sustain donations.
"I ask every American to contribute as they are able to do so," said Bush, who was initially criticized for not doing enough to help aid victims. The United States government has pledged about $350 million in aid, and officials have said more could eventually be offered.
Bush has emphasized U.S. private giving in seeking to counter criticisms that U.S. government foreign-aid contributions have in the past been relatively small as a share of national wealth.
International donors overall have promised about $2 billion in tsunami disaster assistance, but aid groups rely heavily on private funds in the early days as money promised by governments can take longer to reach victims.
IMAGES OF DESTRUCTION
Mary McClymont, president of the U.S. umbrella aid group InterAction, said private contributions were crucial to a quick delivery of emergency aid.
She said InterAction's 160 members reported a big rise in donations spurred by broadcast images of widespread destruction caused by the giant waves.
"People see these images on TV and they are naturally devastated by what they are seeing and that propels them to give," said McClymont.
The timing of the tsunami -- during the season of holiday giving and before the end of the tax year in the United States where charitable donations are usually deductible -- also boosted contributions.
Among big individual donations, Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock gave $1 million to the Red Cross for tsunami relief.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) said it had raised nearly $15 million so far. Some of the bigger donations came from companies, such as pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's gift of $2 million, and many firms were matching employee contributions.
Among stories of generosity, two young boys in Baltimore donated all their Christmas money to CRS.
"The boys -- a 5-year-old and a 7-year-old -- handed over an envelope with a note that the money was for the people hit by the big waves," said CRS spokeswoman Caroline Brennan.
Save The Children spokeswoman Colleen Sutton said the group's phone donation center, which usually gets 200 calls on a busy day, was getting about 1,500 a day. About $14 million had been donated so far and people were continuing to give.
While impressed by the generosity, aid groups said it was essential that private funding continue for long-term development work. "We hope we can keep the public's eye on this," said InterAction's McClymont.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050103/us_nm/quake_aid_private_dc_5
An Acehnese child looks out of the window of an army tent at a refugee camp in the provincial Indonesian capital Banda Aceh January 3, 2005. Hundreds of millions of dollars in private U.S. donations are pouring in to help victims of Asia's tsunami, from children donating pocket money to big spenders giving seven-figure sums, said aid groups on Monday. Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
An American Navy crewman and a western relief worker help an Acehnese man after he was evacuated from his village on Aceh's west coast by a United States Navy helicopter, at the provincial capital of Banda Aceh's airport January 3, 2005. Relief workers used everything from helicopters to elephants to reach survivors and shift the rubble of wrecked towns eight days after giant waves struck Asia, triggering one of the biggest aid efforts in history. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco
He/she will be of great comfort to them in the coming weeks.
Praise the Lord, all the children in that orphanage were saved!
I love their determination and resourcefulness. Look at the system he engineered to keep his child secure and the dog stable with his head up. Thanks for posting this thread.
Very uplifting, positive thread- thanks. We can get so bogged down in the horror, that we fail to see the good around us.
These photos are a bright spot in this devastation.
I love seeing "USA"on those bags! Thank you for pinging me!
Happy New Year to you and yours! God bless us all!
And God Bless America!
A rescue team makes preparations to save one of the two Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins trapped in a lake in Khao Lak, north of the Thai resort island of Phuket January 4, 2005. Efforts to rescue two rare dolphins in tsunami-devastated southern Thailand hit a snag on Tuesday as fishermen and environmentalists argued over how best to save the mammals swept inland by the giant waves.
Thai military personnel haul a net in while trying to save the two Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins trapped in a lake in Khao Lak, north of the Thai resort island of Phuket January 4, 2005. Efforts to rescue two rare dolphins in tsunami-devastated southern Thailand hit a snag on Tuesday as fishermen and environmentalists argued over how best to save the mammals swept inland by the tsunami.
Thai soldiers and other volunteers pull in a fishing net in an attempt to rescue a humback dolphin from a small lagoon where the Asian tsunamis dumped them nine days earlier near Khao Lak, Thailand, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005. The dolphins, a humpback dolphin and her calf , spotted Monday a kilometer (more than a half mile) from the beach by a man searching for his wife.
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Terrible. I hope he has other family :(
What a beautiful child!
Refreshing to see life is also, about the other creations of Almighty God!
He knows that private donations to organizations directly helping the victims won't likely end up lining the pockets of government officials in the affected countries
We gave to Catholic Relief Services. They are in place in Indonesia and Sri Lanka; have been there for years, so are familiar with the areas and immediate needs of the people affected.
I had read that he has a 5 yr. old brother who also survived. God Bless them both. I keep hoping the parents are alive and had just gotten separated, I don't know that it has ever been confirmed that they are dead.
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