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#97607 - 05/10/08 12:58 PM
Myanmar
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fostermama
Member
Registered: 04/06/08
Posts: 728
Loc: Podunk
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Do you think a donation to the Myanmar relief effort will actually go to the people of Myanmar, what with the US' "presumptive" invasion scuttlebutt going around, etc.?
_________________________
Diplomacy: The art of saying "nice doggie" until you can find a rock.
-Will Rogers-
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#97614 - 05/10/08 02:30 PM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: fostermama]
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fostermama
Member
Registered: 04/06/08
Posts: 728
Loc: Podunk
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Okay, topic of no interest. Thanks everybody.
_________________________
Diplomacy: The art of saying "nice doggie" until you can find a rock.
-Will Rogers-
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#97619 - 05/10/08 03:30 PM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: fostermama]
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14tonks
Member
Registered: 10/25/01
Posts: 6299
Loc: Only 3rd world country in US
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Ummmm, Saturday and Sunday are low-traffic days around here, so just as with Word questions, no need to get in a huff because your post isn't immediately replied to.
I think you can safely assume, though, that if the agencies providing relief thought it would get delivered to the people in need in a timely manner by the government, they would not all be refusing to drop it off at the doorstep. Experience over the years has shown that generally surprisingly little makes it to the intended destination in crisis areas if distribution in not provided and supervised by the donors. Very often even agencies willing and able to provide their own transportation, temporary facilities, and workers find it extremely difficult or even impossible to get support delivered in the necessary quantities to all affected areas.
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#97634 - 05/10/08 05:56 PM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: 14tonks]
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Phyllis Nilsson
Member
Registered: 05/04/00
Posts: 958
Loc: Toledo, Ohio USA
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When the government comandeered the supplies already sent, it made a lot of people cringe. The government will eat pretty well on what was given the people who are starving.
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#97641 - 05/10/08 08:01 PM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: Phyllis Nilsson]
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whorn
Member
Registered: 01/17/08
Posts: 686
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I feel so terrible for those poor people! I want to try and do something to help, thought about a donation, but realistically I think it would be for naught at this point in time. I keep reading about the situation, and if I find any organization/agency/anybody that is actually getting any help to those pour souls I will donate in a New York minute!
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#97646 - 05/10/08 08:31 PM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: whorn]
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14tonks
Member
Registered: 10/25/01
Posts: 6299
Loc: Only 3rd world country in US
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I share your feelings. It is a terrible tragedy, and the most tragic thing about it is that so much additional unnecessary suffering is being caused by the military dictatorship of the country. Unfortunately, there is not much the bystanders in other countries can do to change that, and equally unfortunately, this is far from the first time that a disaster that started with Mother Nature has been unnecessarily amplified, multiplied, and spread by government policies of denial.
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#97655 - 05/10/08 11:03 PM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: Doug Jones]
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MattsKat
Member
Registered: 11/28/04
Posts: 2609
Loc: Here and Now...USA
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It looks like Doctors Without Borders has people in Myanmar and they're getting supplies in:
May 9, 2008 Emergency Update: Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Activities in Myanmar
* MSF teams are increasing their efforts in some of the worst-affected areas of the Irrawady Delta: Bogaley, Pathien (Bassein), Laputta, and southwest along the Pathien (Bassein) River
* A full charter with 40 tons of supplies is departing from Bordeaux, France, Friday, May 9, 2008 at 4 pm CET. Planes with 160 tons are planned for the coming days
* MSF has 43 international staff and 1,200 national staff throughout the country, 70 staff in southwest delta area with many more on the way. Teams are treating wounded, distributing food, and providing water and relief items
* MSF is continuing its efforts to get increased access for staff and relief material
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/
I wouldn't hesitate to donate to Doctors Without Borders/MSF--it's a legitimate charitable organization. 
_________________________
Those who can laugh at themselves shall never cease to be amused.
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#97657 - 05/10/08 11:23 PM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: MattsKat]
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14tonks
Member
Registered: 10/25/01
Posts: 6299
Loc: Only 3rd world country in US
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I wouldn't hesitate to donate to Doctors Without Borders/MSF--it's a legitimate charitable organization.
I wouldn't hesitate to donate to them either, but it's still a big question how much aid they will actually be allowed to deliver--they are being stymied by the same visa denials and junta foot-dragging about deliveries as all the other international relief organizations.
From that same report from yesterday:
"In total, MSF has 43 international staff and over 1,200 national staff currently working in Myanmar. MSF also awaits the approval of dozens of visa applications for technical support staff and coordinators submitted to various embassies around the world.
A full charter – with 40 tons of medical supplies, plastic sheeting, therapeutic food, and water and sanitation equipment, is flying today at 4pm CET from Europe.
There are four further shipments of supplies ready to be dispatched to Myanmar, totalling 160 tons, including medical supplies, therapeutic food, plastic sheeting and water and sanitation equipment. They are ready to fly from Europe, Dubai and Jakarta. These cargos should leave in the next few days pending authorizations from authorities in Myanmar (Burma). Current in-country supplies are limited and MSF’s activities cannot be sustained indefinitely without international cargo shipments."
Like everyone else who had some in-country presence and supplies when the cyclone hit, MSF is doing the best it can with the personnel and material available while trying to get past the blockade preventing them from bringing in more.
Thanks, Doug, for that link to the fund raising for the Burmese monks. I'd always rather donate to secular than religious organizations, but this may be the best option given the political situation in Burma--at least it may be possible to get money to the monks to buy and distribute what survival supplies are available within the country to those, and there are many, sheltering with them.
The saddest news I've read is that the government forced people out who had sheltered in schools and other polling places in order to conduct their rigged elections on those premises today.
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#97658 - 05/10/08 11:25 PM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: MattsKat]
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whorn
Member
Registered: 01/17/08
Posts: 686
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MattsKat,
Thank you for posting this! I want to help, and did not even think about Doctors Without Borders. Thanks again!
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#97659 - 05/11/08 12:01 AM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: whorn]
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Agnostic
Member
Registered: 06/28/03
Posts: 3122
Loc: Chennai, TN, India
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This is another site where they accept donations.
_________________________
Harry
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Most people would rather die than think; in fact, they do so.--Bertrand Russell
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#97660 - 05/11/08 12:07 AM
Re: Myanmar
[Re: whorn]
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MattsKat
Member
Registered: 11/28/04
Posts: 2609
Loc: Here and Now...USA
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Absolutely welcome! I was going to make an online donation to them anyway for their "Mothers Day" campaign -- (I'm lucky enough to have a mom who believes Mothers Day was invented by Hallmark just to sell more cards) -- but I'll bet she won't mind a donation in her name going to Burma.
ETA: Harry, that's incredibly generous of Google!
Edited by MattsKat (05/11/08 12:08 AM)
_________________________
Those who can laugh at themselves shall never cease to be amused.
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