Tsunami (continued)

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Tsunami (continued)

When I posted my first thoughts on this tragedy, it was based on hearing about the tragedy from a mountain biking guide and reading a few posts on Jeff Jarvis' blog.

It was nice to have my head in the sand for the past week and a half, but since coming out of the bush yesterday and arriving back in NYC today, I have come to realize the maginitude of this disaster.

A few have commented on the callousness of my remark in that post that I was "glad to be missing this disaster". And it sure feels pretty callous reading it now recognizing what has transpired.

I still feel blessed to have missed the endless replays of videotape that must have been on the airwaves non-stop for the past week. I don't need to see that kind of horror to be properly shocked.

The Gotham Gal and I discussed what we can personally do about it today. Surely we can give money, but to whom and how? And what about the reports that many outfits are turning away money at this point?

We've got a week of catching up to do and apparently much is already being done. Any thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

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Posted January 4, 2005 in Random Posts

Comments

For what it's worth, we gave to Doctors Without Borders and MercyCorps and if I were doing it at this point, I'd probably not earmark it for south Asia (which I did) just to give the charities more flexibility. I heard a BBC report today from a Tamil saying that money is not the problem even there, for there are many expat Tamils, for example. And India is not taking outside aid (for security concerns, it seems, though that's odd). I think the thing to do is pick a charity that is doing good work all the time.

Posted by: Jeff Jarvis | Jan 4, 2005 7:38:48 PM

India has refused aid from the UN [though I believe individuals can still donate] because it's self sufficient. It's not arrogance or a show of strength...just that it doesn't need aid right now. Remember, few weeks ago Washington Post called India the fourth largest economy in the world. And last year, for the first time, India actually gave aid to the IMF.

Infact, even in this tragedy India has emerged as one of the largest donors despite being a victim nation. The Indian PM announced a comprehensive relief package [10 times the amount GWB announced initially] the same day of the disaster and even deployed ships and troops to Sri Lanka the very day.

Yes, it does not allow foreign aid workers in Nicobar [an affected island in Indian territory] because it has a substantial presence of the Air Force in the area. But then, we have always refused tourists from entering the island well before the tragedy.

On where to give aid, I believe there's a demand for physicians particularly psyciatrists and counsellors as surviving victims are racked with guilt. Over one third of those died were children. Some have predicted a threat of suicides in the coming days. Aid to any local organisations working in this area would be of great help.

Posted by: Manu Sharma | Jan 5, 2005 10:59:23 AM

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Posted by: humor | Sep 29, 2005 11:23:38 AM

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Posted by: humor | Sep 29, 2005 11:24:19 AM

Posted by: Astuce | Dec 13, 2005 8:54:17 AM

Posted by: ad aware | Jan 13, 2006 12:41:29 PM

A VC

Musings of a VC in NYC