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Help the tsunami victims but not the 'development' charities

Amias | 30.12.2004 20:56 | Analysis | Ecology

How can we donate to the tsunami fund without our funds going into the pockets of 'development' charities ?

Seeing the coverage in the mainstream media of the tsunami/quake has certainly tugged at my heart strings
and i want to help . At the same time I am sceptical of many of the large international charities that give tainted
aid to what they call 'developing countries' with the aim of helping them be more like us.

Given that this part of Asia is rife with sweat shop labour , I worry that many displaced people will be pushed to working for money instead of being encouraged to continue working on their own land. Put simply , this is a bad situation because it puts them instantly at the mercy of the financial markets who decide the value of any money they earn, whereas , if they to continue to work their own land they would have incomes with more dependable value and free-er more community based lives.

This is a view shared by most academics who have studied the charitable sector and economic development paradigms and is currently driving the agendas of progressive NGOs. I am not saying do not donate to the mainstream charities if you really want to , i am merely trying to find ways to help people donate money in ways that suit their own beliefs and will help in the ways that

If anyone reading this article knows of good ecologically and ethically sound charities who operate in the area
who are promoting sustainable development based solutions could they please post them as comments to this
article.

The only truly local agency i have found is the indonesian branch of Friends of The Earth.
 http://www.eng.walhi.or.id/kampanye/bencana/quake_tsunami_appeal

Amias
- e-mail: indymedia@amias.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.amias.org.uk

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

IDEP Too

30.12.2004 22:39

IDEP appear to be a good cause too.

 http://www.idepfoundation.org/aceh_need_yourhelp.html

Rich


Agreed...

30.12.2004 23:00

Hi mate,

Yeh Ive been thinking the same thing, not trustin the big guns but really want to be able to help in some way.

The only thing Ive found so far is an article on Indymedia Victoria which said that the International Red Cross are asking specificly for cash donations so they can buy supplies close to the scene therefore helping stimulate the local economies instead of the British economies, which (if true) will be great for places where fishing has been wiped out etc.

Apart from that I found some organisations which shoudl get aid direct to folks in Northern Sri-Lanka (The area is controlled by Tamil rebels so the Government wont get aid out there) Again I cant be 100% certain of the honesty of these groups but any chance to get help to the people that others cant reach must be worth a try? The websites are www.tamilnet.com and www.troonline.org (for yer nearest international TRO office see  http://www.troonline.org/en/?menu=contacts)

If you can get translations Im sure Indymedia Jakarta and others in the area would have better links, but I cant translate unfortunately. Anyone who can, please post more below this comment.

Cheers, Solidarity all.

Ne1


Grassroots Tsunami Relief Funds

30.12.2004 23:28

Melbourne indymedia have a list of grassroots NGOs who you can donate to:

 http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2004/12/85483.php

Alex


Tsunami redevelopment

31.12.2004 12:02

The all-of-a-sudden investment opportunity: valuable Indian Ocean coastal property opened up to global investment and industry -- small property holders and their claims no longer a problem -- thanks to "Tsunami redevelopment"

Smart money goes to reconstruction of Indian Ocean coastal properties -- available for a song -- most already vacated. Vast inflow of funds for reconstruction will make corporate investment all the easier and cheaper. And best of all, no insurgents shooting at you or trying to blow you up -- your investments will be treated as humanitarian development aid.

------------

Was the Indian Ocean tsunami deliberately made to happen my globalist finance to facilitate development in some of the most beautiful property in the world -- without dirt poor undesirables complicating the issue and running down real estate values? {A large number of Muslim undesirables have just been removed -- so rest easy etc.)

How about a Sumatra coffee plantation with an ocean view?

Great hidaways for billionaires -- new stretches of perfectly deserted beaches opened up -- you've worked hard to capture your millions -- now give yourselves the paradise living you have always wanted!!!!


Magnate


Via Campesina grassroots self-help fund

02.01.2005 18:26

Tsunami Relief: Via Campesina

by source: Via Campesina - 02.01.2005 17:40

EMERGENCY: Please donate to Via Campesina Tsunami relief and reconstruction fund

Via Campesina launches initiative to raise funds for self-help by affected communities

Please support fisherfolk and peasant communities in their own relief and reconstruction from the Tsunami disaster

Via Campesina (  http://www.viacampesina.org) - the global alliance of peasant, family farmer, farm worker, indigenous and landless peoples organizations, and other rural movements - calls for solidarity with the millions of people affected by the tsunami disaster and is launching a global fundraising campaign to channel assistance to affected communities of fisherfolk and peasants, for their own relief and reconstruction efforts, through grassroots organizations.
We ask for your donation for direct emergency support to provide basic needs of food, clean drinking water, shelter and health care to affected fisherfolk and peasant families, as well as to help us initiate the long term work of reconstructing our own communities and rebuilding our livelihoods.

Make a secure on-line credit card donation now by clicking on:
 https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=4589
[SEE BELOW IF YOU PREFER TO GIVE BY MAIL OR BY WIRE TRANSFER]

The relief philosophy of Via Campesina is that our communities should participate actively and be the key actors in the re-construction process, and that our fisherfolk and peasant organizations should play a key mobilizing and supporting role.Via Campesina wants to give our communities and organizations the political support they need in this process, and to help get the funds we need for reconstruction. The funds raised in this campaign will be used to strengthen local communities as the key actors in this process.

The success of local, self-organized, civil society disaster relief efforts in previous disasters in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, contrasted with government inefficiency and top-down, demobilizing programs, has often marked a key stage in the empowerment and growth of large, popular, grassroots, civil society social movements by which previously marginalized people take control of their own lives. Let us work together at this time, and let us do so in ways that help build self-sufficiency, grassroots organization, and peoples power for the future.

In addition to the millions who have been displaced or affected, many tens of thousands have lost their homes and fishing equipment or farming tools. Fisherfolk have lost their boats, and the land of peasant families has been contaminated, their crops destroyed and
their farm animals lost.Your donation will help us get back on our feet.

Examples of actions already underway:

- In Indonesia, the National Federation of Indonesian Peasant Organizations (FSPI), a member of Via Campesina, together with a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has created a civil society relief team that is now working in Aceh (with an estimated 25,000 dead and many times more missing and/or homeless) and in North Sumatra (5,000 dead) provinces to distribute supplies, and to carry out search and rescue missions for missing people. The situation in dramatic, and at the moment (30 Dec) there is no direct communication with many areas.

- In Sri Lanka, perhaps the country worst hit by the tsunamis, the National Organization of Fisherfolk (NAFSO) has sent 5 teams to affected areas for relief work and help communities start the task of reconstruction. They have organized fact finding missions and are now defining how to cope with the urgent relief needs while communities plan and begin to carry the medium term work of rehabilitation.

Make a secure on-line credit card donation now by clicking on:
 https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=4589 or
SEE BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO GIVE BY MAIL OR BY WIRE TRANSFER.

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO GIVE BY MAIL OR BY WIRE TRANSFER

1. If you are in Europe, you can deposit funds in the following account:

Account number: 3035 0022 4202 2005 5606
Beneficiary: Via Campesina-Honduras
IBAN code: ES23 3035 0022 4202 2005 5606
BIC/SWIFT code: CLPEES2M
Bank: Caja Laboral
Bank address:Calle 8 de enero, Guernika, Pais Basco (Basque Country)
Tel: +34 94 625 0098
Fax: +34 94 625 6662

Please send an email alerting us of your donation to: nico.verhagen at t-online.de

2.If you are in the United States (and/or have US dollar denominated checks or money orders), and want to donate by mail:

Please make your check out to "Via Campesina/CENSA" and mail it to:

CENSA/Via Campesina
2288 Fulton Street, suite 103
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA

3. If you want to make a bank wire transfer for the relief campaign, you can wire funds to:
NOTE: the funds must be transferred to the First Union Bank in the USA, where the Banco Grupo El Ahorro Hondureño (BGA) has an account. In the communication with the transfer you have to put in the data of the final beneficiary.

a. Data of the final Beneficiary Bank
- Bank: Banco Grupo El Ahorro Hondureño (BGA)
- Name of Beneficiary: Pedro Rafael Alegria, Maria Concepción
Betanco, Via Campesina
- Account Number at BGA: 107 108 6292
- Telephone: ( 504 ) 235-9915 and 239-4679
- Country and City: Honduras, Tegucigalpa M.D.C.

b. Data of the Bank in the USA
- Bank: First Union Bank (now called Wachovia)
- ABA Code 026005092
- Swift Code B/C: PNBP US 3N NYC
- Account Number: 2000192001436
- Name: Banco Grupo El Ahorro Hondureño (BGA)
Please send an email alerting us of your donation to:
viacampesina at multivisionhn.net

4. If you want to make a bank wire transfer for relief specifically in Indonesia, you can wire funds to:
Bank: Standard Chartered Bank
Swift Bank Code: SCB LIDJ XAXXX
Address of Bank: Jl. Imam Bonjol No. 17 North Sumatera, Indonesia.
Account number : 047-1-005467-2
Name of Payee : Sintesa (Yayasan Sinar Tani Indonesia)

Please send an email to alert us of your donation to: ilubis at cbn.net.id

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY,
Via Campesina (  http://www.viacampesina.org)

Harry


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