Disaster Relief Fund for Tsunami Victims
- Thread starter TheBear
- Start date
Here's a little bit about the orphanage my friends and I have been sponsoring located on the beach front just north of Trincomalee on the East coast of Sri Lanka. Miraculously our head paster there was able to feel the earthquake and then observe the ocean receding unusually far. He then took action to gather up the girls and staff at the home and loaded them on the bus we recently purchased for them earlier in the year (praise God) and headed for safety. The rest is as you read below:
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Updates Regarding Status of Grace Care Center
(December 27, 2004, 4:00 p.m. PST) Contact was finally made with Rev. Gnanapragasam at the Care Center very early this morning. All of the children who were at the Care Center when the disaster struck are fine and are back at the property helping to clean-up and rebuild. However, only 30 children are present when the tsunami hit; the remaining 72 were away from the Care Center with relatives on holiday. As of this writing, we do not have a report as to the condition of the other 72 children, but we are making every effort to track them down and will report back as each child is accounted for.
Reports regarding the status of the Alles Garden IDP camp are conflicting: we have received reports that the camp has suffered either severe damage or complete devastation, and another report that at least some of the people in the camp were evacuated before the disaster struck. We are hoping to receive a verified account in the next 24 hours.
We have not been able to make contact with Brenda Barrett or the USAID offices in Sri Lanka, so we have nothing new to report regarding her status.
Many people who have participated in our trips to Sri Lanka will recall Rev. Selvantha, who is the pastor and manager of Herman's Home in Periyaneelavanai (Batticaloa District). Unfortunately, his wife and young child (under a year old) were both killed when the tsunami struck.
VeAhavta is sending a small medical team, led by Dr. Rushdi Abdul-Cader, to Sri Lanka on Wednesday, December 29 to assist with medical needs in Trincomalee. Another team, led by Alissa Sears, will also be departing very soon to help with the relief efforts. Thanks to the efforts of Alissa Sears, our tireless Director of Education and all around amazing person, Direct Relief International of Santa Barbara, California, is donating medical supplies and equipment to VeAhavta for the trip.
Donations have been coming in. To all those who have donated, no matter what the amount, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your generosity will help us save lives and will bring critical relief to our needy neighbors in Sri Lanka during this time of crisis. To help us in our emergency relief efforts, you can donate on-line to our "Sri Lanka Disaster Relief Fund" or mail your donations to VeAhavta. Thank you.
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Updates Regarding Status of Grace Care Center
(December 27, 2004, 4:00 p.m. PST) Contact was finally made with Rev. Gnanapragasam at the Care Center very early this morning. All of the children who were at the Care Center when the disaster struck are fine and are back at the property helping to clean-up and rebuild. However, only 30 children are present when the tsunami hit; the remaining 72 were away from the Care Center with relatives on holiday. As of this writing, we do not have a report as to the condition of the other 72 children, but we are making every effort to track them down and will report back as each child is accounted for.
Reports regarding the status of the Alles Garden IDP camp are conflicting: we have received reports that the camp has suffered either severe damage or complete devastation, and another report that at least some of the people in the camp were evacuated before the disaster struck. We are hoping to receive a verified account in the next 24 hours.
We have not been able to make contact with Brenda Barrett or the USAID offices in Sri Lanka, so we have nothing new to report regarding her status.
Many people who have participated in our trips to Sri Lanka will recall Rev. Selvantha, who is the pastor and manager of Herman's Home in Periyaneelavanai (Batticaloa District). Unfortunately, his wife and young child (under a year old) were both killed when the tsunami struck.
VeAhavta is sending a small medical team, led by Dr. Rushdi Abdul-Cader, to Sri Lanka on Wednesday, December 29 to assist with medical needs in Trincomalee. Another team, led by Alissa Sears, will also be departing very soon to help with the relief efforts. Thanks to the efforts of Alissa Sears, our tireless Director of Education and all around amazing person, Direct Relief International of Santa Barbara, California, is donating medical supplies and equipment to VeAhavta for the trip.
Donations have been coming in. To all those who have donated, no matter what the amount, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your generosity will help us save lives and will bring critical relief to our needy neighbors in Sri Lanka during this time of crisis. To help us in our emergency relief efforts, you can donate on-line to our "Sri Lanka Disaster Relief Fund" or mail your donations to VeAhavta. Thank you.
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MichaelFJF
Well-Known Member
Just be careful. There are already hundreds of scam artists out there collecting money that will never get where it needs to go. My advice is stick with the big boys when you donate. M
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I understand your concern, but your posting this directly after my post for VeAhavta is really upsetting. You have no call to draw people away from any organization just because it is smaller and newer. How about taking a little bit of time to research our organisation a little before making such an issue of disuading people away from one of the most beautiful organizations I have ever had the priviledge of being a part of. You have know idea of how much your are missing and misleading others by that suggestion in respect to our organisation. No idea.MichaelFJF said:
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This might be considered a credible source that the work of this small organisation is not the work of one of the "many scam artists" that exist on the Internet:
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SLO men feel ripples of deadly Sri Lankan waves
Carol Roberts
The Tribune
Two San Luis Obispo men with close ties to Sri Lanka waited anxiously Monday for word about 70 orphans and 400 refugee families missing since a tsunami hit the area Sunday morning.
Attorney Eric Parkinson is the founder and president of VeAhavta, an organization that sponsors an orphanage, a day-care center and a mobile health-care project based in Kinniya in the district of Trincomalee. He has been traveling there for several years to help.
Dr. Rushdi Abdul Cader is chief medical officer for the mobile clinic. He has been working with U.S. and Sri Lankan doctors to reach outlying areas not covered by the Red Cross.
Parkinson talked by phone Sunday with the priest who runs the orphanage, as well as half a dozen others for orphans of the 20-year-old ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. The priest was in Batticaloa, a coastal town about five hours from Kinniya, when the tsunami hit.
"He said he had been picking up bodies and loading them on to trucks all day for identification," Parkinson said. "He'd picked up bodies before, after bomb attacks from war. But he was very shaken Sunday, more than I've ever heard."
Abdul Cader was trying to clear his emergency room shifts Monday at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center and Twin Cities Community Hospital to get to Sri Lanka. Up until the disaster, he received daily e-mail about every patient in Sri Lanka.
"I'm hoping to get out of here within 48 hours," he said late Monday.
Thirty of the orphans at the center in Kinniya apparently got away safely on a bus, just moments before the center's buildings were destroyed.
"Thankfully, we bought the bus a few months ago," Parkinson said. "The tide started going out and it looked strange. Someone at the orphanage had the wherewithal to realize something bad was happening, got everyone loaded on to the bus and it left."
About 70 more orphans, away for the holidays with relatives, were still among the missing. Nearly 400 families -- refugees of the civil war who live at a nearby center -- also hadn't been found. Their children came to the orphanage for day care, Parkinson said. "I heard that the camp was wiped out."
Parkinson's voice choked with emotion Monday morning as he talked about losing his friends, the Rev. Selvantha, and the priest's wife and daughter in the village of Periyaneelacanai. Selvantha -- whom Parkinson always called "Selvan" -- was in charge of several orphanages and helped Parkinson find funding for the one in Trincomalee.
"The last thing I remember is giving him a hug and seeing his smiling face," said Parkinson.
Abdul Cader worried about travel once he gets back to Sri Lanka. His usual route involved a ferry that probably wouldn't be operating now. Traveling a longer route by land will be dangerous, he said. Hundreds of land mines planted at the side of the roads by rebels have probably floated across and been covered with sand.
Abdul Cader said working just one shift in San Luis Obispo County enables him to finance a month's worth of care for patients at the mobile clinic. He urges people to give to VeAhavta, the sponsoring group that involves Muslims, Jews and Christians.
"Our focus is on bringing different ethnic and religious groups together," he said. "Our whole program is to try and heal the wounds that came out of ethnic strife in Sri Lanka. The money goes directly to those in need. Now with the tsunami, the need is much greater."
Though Abdul Cader may soon leave his pediatrician wife, Nisha, and three children behind to help the sick and wounded, he said the best way for others to help is by sending money for emergency relief.
"The cost of one ticket to Sri Lanka," he said, "can literally feed hundreds."
Carol Roberts can be reached at (805) 781-7936 or croberts@thetribunenews.com.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/10513428.htm
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SLO men feel ripples of deadly Sri Lankan waves
Carol Roberts
The Tribune
Two San Luis Obispo men with close ties to Sri Lanka waited anxiously Monday for word about 70 orphans and 400 refugee families missing since a tsunami hit the area Sunday morning.
Attorney Eric Parkinson is the founder and president of VeAhavta, an organization that sponsors an orphanage, a day-care center and a mobile health-care project based in Kinniya in the district of Trincomalee. He has been traveling there for several years to help.
Dr. Rushdi Abdul Cader is chief medical officer for the mobile clinic. He has been working with U.S. and Sri Lankan doctors to reach outlying areas not covered by the Red Cross.
Parkinson talked by phone Sunday with the priest who runs the orphanage, as well as half a dozen others for orphans of the 20-year-old ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. The priest was in Batticaloa, a coastal town about five hours from Kinniya, when the tsunami hit.
"He said he had been picking up bodies and loading them on to trucks all day for identification," Parkinson said. "He'd picked up bodies before, after bomb attacks from war. But he was very shaken Sunday, more than I've ever heard."
Abdul Cader was trying to clear his emergency room shifts Monday at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center and Twin Cities Community Hospital to get to Sri Lanka. Up until the disaster, he received daily e-mail about every patient in Sri Lanka.
"I'm hoping to get out of here within 48 hours," he said late Monday.
Thirty of the orphans at the center in Kinniya apparently got away safely on a bus, just moments before the center's buildings were destroyed.
"Thankfully, we bought the bus a few months ago," Parkinson said. "The tide started going out and it looked strange. Someone at the orphanage had the wherewithal to realize something bad was happening, got everyone loaded on to the bus and it left."
About 70 more orphans, away for the holidays with relatives, were still among the missing. Nearly 400 families -- refugees of the civil war who live at a nearby center -- also hadn't been found. Their children came to the orphanage for day care, Parkinson said. "I heard that the camp was wiped out."
Parkinson's voice choked with emotion Monday morning as he talked about losing his friends, the Rev. Selvantha, and the priest's wife and daughter in the village of Periyaneelacanai. Selvantha -- whom Parkinson always called "Selvan" -- was in charge of several orphanages and helped Parkinson find funding for the one in Trincomalee.
"The last thing I remember is giving him a hug and seeing his smiling face," said Parkinson.
Abdul Cader worried about travel once he gets back to Sri Lanka. His usual route involved a ferry that probably wouldn't be operating now. Traveling a longer route by land will be dangerous, he said. Hundreds of land mines planted at the side of the roads by rebels have probably floated across and been covered with sand.
Abdul Cader said working just one shift in San Luis Obispo County enables him to finance a month's worth of care for patients at the mobile clinic. He urges people to give to VeAhavta, the sponsoring group that involves Muslims, Jews and Christians.
"Our focus is on bringing different ethnic and religious groups together," he said. "Our whole program is to try and heal the wounds that came out of ethnic strife in Sri Lanka. The money goes directly to those in need. Now with the tsunami, the need is much greater."
Though Abdul Cader may soon leave his pediatrician wife, Nisha, and three children behind to help the sick and wounded, he said the best way for others to help is by sending money for emergency relief.
"The cost of one ticket to Sri Lanka," he said, "can literally feed hundreds."
Carol Roberts can be reached at (805) 781-7936 or croberts@thetribunenews.com.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/10513428.htm
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starchild
Even the least of these my brethren.
People who work in our Chennai (Madras) office have mobilized and are helping people out there, handling out food, blankets, etc. And our company is going to match employee donations, for the first $50,000.
I am off this week, but stopped in to start pressing people to think about donating to get matching funds. A large percentage of the people who work for our company - even who work in the U.S. - are from India. I think there will be an outpouring of support.
I am off this week, but stopped in to start pressing people to think about donating to get matching funds. A large percentage of the people who work for our company - even who work in the U.S. - are from India. I think there will be an outpouring of support.
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Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
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arnegrim
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It certainly is a recipe for disaster. The years it will take to find all those 're-placed' mines... and the lives it will cost in the meantime... ::shudder::mhatten said:
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That is wonderful news. My friend Eric has been on the phone and answering email all day. I've been working on getting a couple of satellite phone for our team of doctors that are on their way. I just talked with a friend (who is a photo journalist) who went with me on our last trip and he is leaving in about a week. We've still yet to hear news of the rest of our orphans that were away visiting relatives or friends over the holiday, nor have we heard news of our dear friend Brenda Barrett with USAID in Trinco... It's wonderful news to hear and read of so many rising to the occasion to do even more than just giving dollars (making calls, sending emails, visiting offices, etc). Praise G-d for that. This is a very difficult time...starchild said:
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