When any of us hear of a calamity such as this devastating tsunami, our first reactions include shock, concern for the victims, compassion for the losses, and desire to help in whatever way we can. As a people, we surely realize our own blessings, and this serves to motivate us to be the most caring and giving nation on earth. Early and often the United States receives unfounded worldwide criticism for "not doing enough" to help those less fortunate. Our government resources are frequently the first and most effective relief in catastrophes, employing our military to render aid immediately in unstable situations. But our largest contributions are from Non-Governmental Organizations supported by private citizens, and include thousands of groups from the Red Cross to local charities and drives. Too often though, we choose to help primarily by our gifts of material, and not necessarily our time. As I followed the unfolding tragedy in Asia, I became concerned about how our help could be directed to the people in most need. There was and is a necessity for immediate relief, and will continue to be dire needs over many months as millions of people struggle to put lives and family back together. Can I do something meaningful now, and help with the long term prospects as well?
While I was considering how I could become actively involved, I found an article in the Monterey, California Herald that talked about an organization in Salinas with a history of making a difference in the lives of those most needy. The group Global Uplift in Salinas had demonstrated its ability to react to a similar crisis after a destructive earthquake in India's Gujarat Province on January 26, 2001 that left 19,727 people dead and over a million homes destroyed or damaged. Global Uplift mobilized volunteers and collected contributions to enable rebuilding 200 homes in the village of Kuran before June, in time to provide shelter for the monsoon season. Hundreds of villages have similar needs now, and the calamity of inaction may be devastating. Recognizing this, Peter Shah and the organization mobilized to identify the specific village of most need and construct temporary shelter by February for 200 houses to be ready before the June monsoons. The government of India has named 29 villages around the hardest hit area of Nagapattinam (with 7,000 dead) in need of rebuilding, and Global Uplift surveyed the damage and selected the island village of Akkaraipettai for reconstruction. This is but a small effort in what is needed throughout the devastation, but it is critical for this village of 7000 that suffered 2700 deaths.
It was prudent of me to check out the credentials of this non-profit organization, Global Uplift, to build my confidence that this was an efficient, well-managed group. It is a travesty for some of the charitable organizations to be so poorly managed that contributions primarily line the pockets of managers and administrative personnel. A place to start for verification of status is www.guidestar.org. Global Uplift is a small group working normally in this community, but they have a top-notch record in the earthquake restoration home-building, and I anticipate similar achievements for the tsunami relief. Peter Shah and the group take pride in using donations only for the victims served, and the group does not have administrative salaries at all. This is the effort that I am getting behind.
Building temporary shelter for displaced families and site plans must be completed urgently. For more permanent needs we are looking at the best options for constructing efficient and substantial housing units in an area with limited resources and infrastructure. Multi-level concrete structures will be built using locally available material and collaborative community resources. I will begin the site plans and construction drawings as soon as more information is available on critical requirements. Needs and feasibility for a medical facility, school, police station and other infrastructure will be determined over the next few months. Please look at this as an opportunity for American citizens to demonstrate our caring in a small but important way. I am looking forward to spending some weeks of June and July during the initial construction stages in India, along with my son Spenser. No doubt, it will be as rewarding to us as it is to the beneficiaries of assistance.
Monitor our pages showing progress at www.computersmiths.com/tsunamirelief/progress.htm and we welcome your support.
Updated January 25
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