Monday, January 03, 2005
Tsunami Aid
The death toll has risen to 150,000 and it has become more and more impossible to get a grip on the scale of the devastation. There are so many individual stories of heroism and tragedy, so many new developments in which hundreds or thousands of bodies are found, so many different emotional and practical responses that one feels so insignificant and helpless in the face of it all.
I found some perspective this morning in a radio discussion of the relief efforts. It was reported that, for example, for relatively small amounts of money fresh water could be provided for thousands of people for a week. I cannot remember all of the figures but the one that remains in my memory is the cost of £50 to rebuild one house in one particular country. At least when it is put in this way it makes my own contribution seem more significant when put in the context of the resources actually needed. If you want to donate then please click on this link. More information is available here as well.
In the meantime, a huge benefit concert is being planned for the 22nd and 23rd January along the lines of Live Aid. It is intended to hold this mega-gig in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and work is on-going to see if it is a runner. Such an event could raise tens of millions of pounds. We will know in the next few days whether it is possible or not. I know that the Welsh Assembly Government and the Assembly itself will do everything they can to facilitate this.
Footnote: In my previous post on this subject I said "The pictures of bodies and devastation in the broadsheets, and television reports showing wrecked luxurious holiday destinations, do not begin to convey the enormity of this event. I do not have the words nor, it seems, does anybody else." I did not anticipate that this would generate hits on my blog from people searching for "pictures of Tsunami bodies". There are some very sick people are out there.
I found some perspective this morning in a radio discussion of the relief efforts. It was reported that, for example, for relatively small amounts of money fresh water could be provided for thousands of people for a week. I cannot remember all of the figures but the one that remains in my memory is the cost of £50 to rebuild one house in one particular country. At least when it is put in this way it makes my own contribution seem more significant when put in the context of the resources actually needed. If you want to donate then please click on this link. More information is available here as well.
In the meantime, a huge benefit concert is being planned for the 22nd and 23rd January along the lines of Live Aid. It is intended to hold this mega-gig in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and work is on-going to see if it is a runner. Such an event could raise tens of millions of pounds. We will know in the next few days whether it is possible or not. I know that the Welsh Assembly Government and the Assembly itself will do everything they can to facilitate this.
Footnote: In my previous post on this subject I said "The pictures of bodies and devastation in the broadsheets, and television reports showing wrecked luxurious holiday destinations, do not begin to convey the enormity of this event. I do not have the words nor, it seems, does anybody else." I did not anticipate that this would generate hits on my blog from people searching for "pictures of Tsunami bodies". There are some very sick people are out there.
