On the earthquake and tsunamis

[annathepiper]

I've been getting caught up. The disaster struck while I was on vacation in Kentucky, so I didn't really get the full impact of what was going on at the time--without Internet access to speak of, I got the news in dribs and drabs. Now that solarbird and I are back, I've been reading various and sundry stories on cnn.com and the BBC News site, trying to bend my brain around the magnitude of what has occurred.

I can barely begin to do so. It's started to gel, looking at the "Viewer discretion is advised" gallery of pictures of the devastation and some of the survivors up on cnn.com. One picture standing out in my brain is the one of the little girl whose head was quite battered on the right side. Her picture's caption reported that she was suffering severe memory loss. And I'm thinking, "Yeah..." Because this is the kind of unbelievably traumatic thing that would make a frightened little girl's memory shut down.

And when I looked at the little 8-frame Flash animation that the BBC site has of what happened, and saw the graph that measured the waves at 10 meters, my brain went, "That's 30 feet..." And now, typing this out, I realize that's wrong. It's 38 feet, 10 inches--in other words, nearly 40 feet. That's almost eight times my own height. Just thinking about that high of a wall of water slamming into a coastline makes me think of disaster movies, cheesy or otherwise. Except this wasn't a movie. It was real.

I read eyewitness accounts reported by the BBC, see descriptions of the blue ocean waters turned brown with debris--and bodies--and I shudder.

Dara says that there are reports of some areas who have been flattened by the tsunamis having the added complication of dozens of crocodiles being washed ashore. And I think, damn. The places are flattened already; these people are homeless. They desperately need food and water. And OH LOOK! CROCODILES! That just feels like an extra special added "fuck you" from the universe.

I watch the death toll rise and rise, and have a very real fear that we're going to see a million dead by the time they make their way through counting the bodies they've got. I fully expect that number to soar past that as many who are presumed dead must inevitably be declared that when they can't find the bodies. And then we'll have the number grow all the more as hunger and disease bulldoze through the survivors.

I see the posts of william_mize and demonhaunted on my Friends list, and feel the echoes of what has happened rippling out to hit me. I'm far, far away from this disaster; no one I know or love was at risk. And yet, I can feel the aftershocks.

I need to make a donation. There are so many agencies putting out the call, though, that I am a little overwhelmed by the options. I've donated to the Red Cross before, but I'm just wondering if there is any argument for donating to any other agency--or whether it hardly matters as long as I donate. Share your thoughts with me on this, people.

And count me thankful for every single of you being all right. To any of you who might have loved ones in the stricken areas... please know that I will have every hope for their safety.

Comments

[eveshka.livejournal.com]

http://www.redcross.or.th/english/donation/moneydonate.php4

This goes directly to the Thai Red Cross. Not the American Red Cross, who might use it in other places, or to cover the expense of getting useless people over there.

That's what I did :)

[annathepiper]

Interesting thought... thanks. (Though the Red Cross has set up a special notation site, I am given to understand, to handle the huge influx of donations they've been getting. And it includes a form to fill out, on which you can specify that you want your money to go to the tsunami aid effort.)

[kent.livejournal.com]

Just because I don't completely trust "Christian relief agencies" (even though I consider myself somewhat of a Christian myself), because they could potentially also evangelize in some way while providing relief, I gave to Doctors Without Borders. The Red Cross would be a good choice, too.

[annathepiper]

Thanks for your recommendations; I hadn't thought specifically of Doctors Without Borders, though I was aware of them. Good to know.

[kent.livejournal.com]

Also, I deserve some of that Red Cross money. A couple times a month, I get a call or a voice mail message from someone who wants to take a CPR class (it's not a typo on a flyer, it's just dyslexic dialers).

[annathepiper]

Heh. I think you're only up for a share of the money if you actually give them CPR training. ;)

[writersweekend.livejournal.com]

here's some semi-comic relief...

When I was in the fourth grade, I read an article in some magazine somewhere that said most relief agencies spend 90 per cent of their budget on administrative salaries. So, I began telling my classmates we shouldn't Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF...

They expelled me from school.

The numbers may be better now, but they still spend a hell of a lot of money on administrivia. PS I worked as a Red Cross volunteer, putting together boxes of stuff to send to Bosnia. They don't get any breaks on postage or shipping from anyone, so every penny counts.

[annathepiper]

*giggles a little* Yowtch about that expulsion! But thanks for the tidbit re: the Red Cross.

Nothing brings it home for me like video

[llachglin.livejournal.com]

There are several at http://jlgolson.blogspot.com/2004/12/tsunami-video.html.

Terrifying.

Re: Nothing brings it home for me like video

[annathepiper]

Watching some of these over Dara's shoulder, I shuddered more than once and had to look away. And that's just on a tiny video playback window on her laptop. Daaaaaaaamn.

[janne.livejournal.com]

I will be donating to Plan (norwegian chapter of Care International), since they seem to be the one with the lowest administration costs over here, and I already give money to them regularly. Doctors without borders is second on the list, depending on what my bank statement looks like next week...

Last somebody talked to my coworker in Phuket, she seemed optimistic about getting home this weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed... And also being somewhat aghast after reading in the paper today that the bars and brothels in Phuket are all open and thriving once more. As one australian bar customer was quoted (paraphrasing): 'Yeah, I heard there was a wave. I think it's all rather exaggerated'.'

Children drown, brothel customers survive -- and to round off the image, they had a bishop on tv speaking of how important God was in all of this. o.O

[annathepiper]

'Yeah, I heard there was a wave. I think it's all rather exaggerated.'

*gape* What a jerk. :P

[cafiorello.livejournal.com]

Don't fret, just pick one and do it. I use Doctors without Borders--they get good ratings and aren't at all religious--but anything with decent ratings will do.

Here are some ratings a geek has compiled:
http://www.benjaminrosenbaum.com/blog/archives/2004_12.html#000151

Cathy

[annathepiper]

Thanks, Cathy! I shall do exactly as you recommend, though I will either do Doctors Without Borders or the Red Cross. Perhaps both--since I've seen several mentions that that area of the world is going to need long-term support. I think I'll do one now and one later when I can give again.