There's a concerted effort by members of the UMass campus to generate aid for survivors of the natural disaster in Southeast Asia. You do not need to be a member of the UMass community to help. Please scroll to the end for URLS and contact info for direct donations, or contact one of these folk:
Swati Birla, Department of Public Health
sbirla@schoolph.umass.edu OR sbirla@donahue.umassp.eduÝÝ
Sirisha Naidu, Resource Economics Dept
naidu@resecon.umass.edu
Anu M Sundaram, Polymer Science Department
anu_revathy@yahoo.co.in
Steph Kent, Communication Department
kentcon@sover.net
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Folks,
After the Tsunami disaster we were conversing with grassroots workers engaged in short and long-term relief to make an informed decision for contributing to the effort.Ý This email is to share information with those who are interested in supporting relief work for Tsunami.
There are many organizations ñ international, governmental and local ñ doing relief work in the affected areas.ÝÝ We tried to identify those that have well-established local networks and hence outreach as well as those that would safeguard interests of the affected communities in long-term rehabilitation.Ý There are two sides of the local versus bigger organization funding argument.Ý Bigger organizations may be better equipped to distribute resources as opposed to local groups that may have a regional bias. However international and bigger groups have very little local presence (hence outreach as well as understanding of local context).Ý More over with international agencies the personnel and administrative cost involved is high, resulting in diversion of money rather than using closer resources.Ý Concerns with huger funds like the PM's relief funds are the bureaucracy and a lack of transparency.
For your convenience we are putting together a list of local networks and international organizations that are doing good work at the ground level with their contact information, mode of payment and synopsis of relief work.Ý We can collect checks for the organizations (our contacts are given below) or you can send it directly to the given contact addresses.Ý For those organizations that we collect money follow up email/s will be sent to update total contributors and the areas where they were sent.
REGION -INDIA: LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
Ý
1) NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION: National Fishworkersí NetworkÝ (NFF)
ABOUT: NFF ñ a national level coalition of regional fishing communities including those from the affected areas.Ý NFF has been a part of an alliance that fights for protection of local fishing rights and is fully involved in rescue and relief operations.Ý
AREAS OF WORK: Kanyakumari, India and links with similar groups in Sri Lanka.Ý
FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://iref.homestead.com/NFF.html
http://www.wffp.org/indexcontent.asp?file1=GLsOBALIZATIONANDTHENFFb.htm
CONTACT:Ý ÝÝÝÝ Fr. S Santiago 04651-237297
Fr. Thomas Kocherry at 9447052376
thomas.kocherry@gmail.com
CHECKS PAYABLE TO: We are collecting funds on behalf of the NFF in form of checks or cash. People interested in contributing towards relief activity undertaken by this movement, please contact us for more details.
Ý
2) NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION:Ý South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies
AREAS OF WORK: Kanyakumari and Nagapatinam districts that are the worst affected in Tamil Nadu.Ý
FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.siffs.org/
CONTACT:Ý ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ V.Vivekanandan
South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies
Karamana, Trivandrum-695002
Ph: 0471-2343711, 2343178
email: vivek@siffs.org
CHECKS PAYABLE TO: ìSIFFSî
Ý
3) NAME OF THE ORGANIZATIONS:Ý Environment Support Group (ESG), Community Health Cell, India Together, Association for India's Development (Bangalore Chapter) and Servelots
Ý
ABOUT:Ý The above five organizations have formed a network for coordinating relief activities in various regions.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:Ý AID: http://www.aidindia.org/CMS/
Environment Support Group: http://www.esgindia.org/
Community health cell: http://www.sochara.org/aboutus/overview.htm
CONTACT:Ý ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Environment Support Group
ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ S-3, Rajashree Apartments, 18/57,
ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ 1st Main Road, S. R. K. Gardens,
ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ Jayanagar, Bannerghatta Road,
ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ Bangalore 560041. INDIA
ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ Fax: 91-80-51179912
ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ ÝÝÝ Email: esg@esgindia.org or esg@bgl.vsnl.net.in
CHECKS PAYABLE TO: ìEnvironment Support Groupî.Ý Please clearly mark the back of the check with words "Tsunami Relief Fund".Ý
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION: Doctors Without Borders - MÈdecins Sans FrontiËres (MSF)
FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.msf.org/about/index.cfm
TO DONATE: http://www.msf.org/donations/index.cfm
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Please note: Donations to this organization can be made ONLY online.
Also, from Kishore K. Indukuri, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering
SULEKHA is doing a online collection drive for AID. Every dollar that you contribute will be matched by Sulekha's donor list. They already collected to the tune of $ 5,00,000 dollars now. Please take a look at the website collection page http://www.sulekha.com/aidtsunami/?ref=hplink
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