URGENT: SE Asian Flood Disaster - Donate Money

Charzie_2

Hi again,

I'm trying to find a charity that will send all my unwanted household objects & clothes directly to india.

I have been to Phuket & surrounding islands & have also been to india. In my veiw, compared to india, and before the disaster, there wasn't really any poverty in phuket.

However, normal everyday scenes that I saw in india, left me heartbroken & traumatised.
You think you can imagine how bad things are by the pictures on tv, but until you've seen it with your own eyes, you have no idea of the poverty that people live in.

I know the disaster has left most with nothing at all, but people in thailand have savings.

Also it isn't cold enough to kill you at night in thailand, whereby, it is in india!

So does anyone know of any charities that will send my stuff there as I have no more cash to give following my donations.

Bash

I must agree with some of the previous posters, that sending money to many charities from the Western World in an emergency, doesnt ensure that the intended recipients ever get a reasonable proportion, much of it is used up in administration and logistical overheads  ???

Not knocking any charity though, they're all making a  tremendous effort in the wake of a terrible tragedy.

I have some knowledge of the province of  Aceh, Indonesia,  when I visited Sumatra in 2002 as a charity worker.  I know the people in this primitive to our standards region, will need money more than anything else, at this time.   Unless it is airlifted nothing will get into this region by land and sea for weeks if it's donated from the UK.

There are various registered charities in Indonesia with accounts  to whom you can pay money into Indonesian Rupiahs from a UK bank.  Their exchange rate has weakened and your money will go a long way.  A family can eat for less than a pound per day.

I have just been emailed by charity contact whos is in touch with a volunteer colleague near Banda Aceh(provincial capital), she fears there maybe more than 60,000  perished.  At the moment there is an Urgent need for 'Instant foods/drink', medical aid & plastic body bags .

Please Help.

For anyone who wants to send money directly to the worst affected region of the Seaquake Disaster, in Aceh, Indonesia, here is a link for information directly from the area: http://www.airputih.or.id/en/

Please note I am not affiliated with this organisation.
I personally have been rasing money for another charity based in Jakarta, YJIMS, but their website is down at the moment.

If anyone needs further info you can 'pm' me.
Thanks.

marsha8

Well done Martin for your suggestions.I made my donation last week after hearing an appeal on the radio.I donated by phone using an 0870 number which took three & a half minutes.I do hope the cost of these calls is used to help the appeal.

ClarkeEJ

Saw this on Sky News..

You can donate by Text message...

Just send a blank message to 83321

£1.50 goes to the DEC Tsunami Disaster Appeal...

Debbie_Hobdell

Martin,

Thank you for your donation form the Charity Fund to the Tsunami Appeal - I wasn't a member when the Charity discussions were going on, but I think it is excellent use of money.

For those in or reasonably near Bromley (Kent) who don't feel they can give financially, or who don't want to because of fears re how it will be put to use, why not consider donationg to a local charity - Smile International (www.smileinternational.org)?

They are sending out aid tomorrow, but will also be sending further consignments out. Visit their website for a full list of items required, but examples of items they need are:

Painkillers (tablets only - for adults & children)
Dressings
Anti-bacterial hand washes
Diarrhoea tablets
Insect repellants

Tinned & packet food such as soup, dried fruits, & pasta / rice.

Still bottled water

Plastic sacks / bin liners.

Mary Poppins

JPR

Just heard on the news that all the UK's mobile phone companies are allowing texts to 83321 in order to donate £1.50 without any cut going to the networks.

I was wondering what to do with my spare ( & free )Celtic/Rangers SIM card so will start texting.

Andrea

If anyone feels they can't donate at the moment but would like to do something, there's a list of "click to donate" links for various charities that Foxy has posted on this thread

Meljelbel

::) In today's climate it gives me such a feeling of hope and pride that the world can pull and work together at a time of devastation.

My feelings and thoughts go out to all that have been affected in any way during this natural disaster, it is a shame that something as horrific as this has to happen to give us all the wake up call we need.

God bless you all.

hunting_venus

I've been lurking here since just before Christmas, and it's nice that people pull together in times of crisis.

However it's a shame that it takes a crisis. Since the Tsunamis hit there have been more deaths in the rest of the third world through their daily struggle against poverty and hunger that throug this force of nature.

In the spirit of the board - Quick! doate while you can. But afterwards why not think about helping raise the rest of the third world from their struggles? Personally I sponsor a child through World Vision. Everyone has causes that touch themselves in different ways. Consider longer term commitment..

hesjane

Hubby and I donated £50 on line via the DEC.org website.  However, today my son said why didn't we also donate the contents of our 'penny pot'.

You know the sort of thing - a pot/jar that you throw all the 1p, 2p, 5p's that you find clutting up your purse or laying on the bottom of the washing machine drum!!

We thought this was an excellent idea and took the pot down to Sainsburys to change it up in the cash machine - you know the machine where you tip the money it, it makes a lot of noise, rips you off to the tune of 6.7p in the pound to count up your money.  I know if we had counted it up and taken it to the bank we would have had more to donate, but to be honest I wouldn't have had time this week to do it and at least this way I can get the money off straight away.

Well anyway, to our surprise we had £83.76 to collect

I just wonder how many other people have such collections of pennies that they could consider donating.

Hesjane