posted
Eljay was paying attention, class. Full marks to her! Buddhism at 70%, Hinduism at 14%, Islam at 7% and Christianity at 7%.
[off-topic] I hate those stupid rants about Muslims. Yes, I'm married to one, but even if I wasn't, I'd still be pissed off. If the Muslims really wanted to kill all the Christians - think about this - it wouldn't be that hard. There are what, 1.3 or 1.5 BILLION Muslims in the world. There are enough of them, they could do it. But the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of them live alongside everyone else in peace and harmony. It's the bad small fractions that give them a bad name. Same as for Buddhists (Pol Pot) or Christians (Waco, Texas), to give just two examples. [/off-topic]
What I find sad is that the earthquake/tsunami/disaster situation are now off the front pages in some places. When 9/11 hit the US, how long was it the front page news? But because this is a far-off place, the attention is already fading. The disaster is far from over. Epidemics will be hitting soon because of lack of fresh water and the dead bodies. They can't get them buried fast enough. Thousands more can still die from this if we don't provide relief fast enough.
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But I heard on the radio yesterday, it was the one year anniversery of the earthquake in Bam (sp?) Iran, and huge numbers of people are still living in tents and most of the promised foreign aid never materialized. So yeah, I'm sure this will be the same.
posted
Arrrrgh. People are just insane, ignorant, and very, very small sometimes.
I had this thought when reading this thread that it would be a wonderful opportunity to show the world that we are not just this big aggressor nation that likes to show off its military might and engage in pre-emptive warfare.
I know we (Americans) spend a lot every year on humanitarian aid, but in times like this it is important that the country get behind the effort to relieve the suffering quickly. We are capable of mobilizing like no other country on earth. And, I'm sure, whatever we do, it will be appreciated. But wouldn't it be nice if every person in this country saw this human tragedy and said to themself "we're rich, we can help..."
Oh well...I'm not really expressing this well, but the thought that someone would check to see what religion the people are first is appalling. The idea that someone would not even BOTHER checking and just assume that they are "enemy Muslims" is beyond appalling. I wish I had the nerve to yell at people or thwack them over the head. Ugh!
Fahim works with three Indians, all of whom either live along the east coast of India or who have relatives that live along the east coast. They're all fine as well, but they've said that the body count in India is 15,000, not the report 4 or 5 thousand. The death tolls are still behind the times, but to what extent?
quote: Some of the country's 200 islands cannot be contacted.
Male is protected by a special artificial barrier and yet it's flooded and destroyed. The other islands have no protection - there are thousands of these islands with thousands of people, including tourists, and there's no form of communication to even let them know what is happening. We fear there may be thousands dead, including fishermen and divers.
Somalia - that's Africa - is thought to have hundreds dead. It's officially affected at least 2 continents.
There are many isolated villages that have not yet been reached. The extent of the dead is still not known. It could still rise sharply.
And that's before the epidemics hit.
Another aspect of this is the economic one. Many of the people who live along the coast in Sri Lanka are fishers. Their boats are destroyed, many of them are killed, and the local economy is destroyed. Sri Lanka is already a third world country, still not quite recovering from 2 decades of civil war that killed 65,000 people. The economy here is not great. And it just took another beating.
Similar situations exist in India, Thailand, the Maldives, and other places affected.
This morning, I head over to the church to help package and distribute food and clothing and other items.
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quote: I guess I wonder how much of the death toll is the actual disaster, and how much due to the society there.
That sounded really bad to me. I'm sure that some could justify 9/11 the same way. "Well, the murder rate the US is really high anyway. I wonder how many of the deaths were do to the society there?"
You know what I mean?
quote:We are capable of mobilizing like no other country on earth.
Bob, we don't mobilize nearly as well in reality as we do in the movies. I mean, it took us over 2 to years to make it to Europe in force and how long have we been in Iraq and we're still not prepared for that.
quid, I was really upset yesterday that there was virtually no coverage of it on TV during the day, but today, they are really covering it (not like they did 9/11, but there is a lot more coverage) and now that they have video of it, it will garner more attention. Pictures mean money here. The more film there is of death, pain and suffering, the more aid the US will send. Sad, but true.
I think if people really want to contribute, they should be e-mailing their Senators and Representatives and telling them we do to more. If they know we care, they'll care.
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25,000 dead in Indonesia 13,000 dead in Sri Lanka, but government has warned it could reach 20,000 15,000 dead in India 800 dead in Somalia
30,000 missing on Indian islands - Andaman and Nicobar - where the majority of the aftershocks happened 1,000 still missing in Thailand Maldives - thousands unaccounted for Sri Lanka - thousands unaccounted for
It's not getting any better.
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posted
I know what you mean, Noemon. I'm having a really hard time wrapping my brain around the magnitude of this. I think I need to get out a globe and just look at it for a while.
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If Sri Lanka has about 20 million people, and 20,000 of them died...
Percentage-wise, that would be like 400 people in my county died.
Sri Lanka is roughly the size of half of my state of Ohio, which has a population of slightly more than half that of Sri Lanka. That's sort of like if 10,000 people died in Ohio.
And that's not even counting the number of people left without shelter, water, food or what we think of as the basic necessities.
posted
I went to the church to help distribute food and clothing. The packages are being taken to a Buddhist temple where homeless families have been staying.
While I was there, I talked to two women, Visaka and Sandomali, both of whom came from Galle, on the south western coast of Sri Lanka.
Visaka's uncle was swept into the sea, and all her relatives are now homelss. Their houses no longer exist in any form - not even any rubble left to indicate where their homes once were.
Sandomali's aunts and uncles and cousins are all gone. All. The village she grew up in is completely gone.
Everyone I spoke to at church lost someone, whether friend or relative. No one is untouched.
While I was gone, the editor of the magazine I write travel magazines called. He told Fahim about two women, Emma and Julianna, who also work for the magazine. They were down in Galle, and when they saw the tsunami coming, they scrambled onto some rocks. They were there for two days. They're fine now, just dehydrated.
His wife's friend was with her family at a beach. They saw the tsunami coming and ran for their vehicle. His wife's friend was the only one to not reach the vehicle in time. The car was swept away, and her entire family is gone.
Catherine, another writer for the magazine, is married to a Sri Lankan, also from Galle. Her husband went to check on his relatives in Galle, only to find that everyone he knew - all his relatives, friends, neighbors, are all gone. All the property is gone. Everything.
I'm too drained right now to update statistics. All I want to do is go bawl like a baby. I'm tired. And I have lost no one and lost nothing. I can't begin to imagine how everyone else feels.
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posted
I'm just appalled at the rising death toll. It is still front headline news here -- first thing mentioned on the TV and radio. Now they are saying upwards of 40,000 total killed. That is just so horrible it is beyond my comprehension.
I just wish there were something more I could do for those suffering people...
Farmgirl (quid -- I do want to thank you for the earlier link to that animated map gif of the earthquake and resulting shock -- it prompted some very interesting discussion at home as we watched the animation over and over)
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posted
Yeah, I appreciated the animation too. Watched it for quite a while last night while thinking about this.
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posted
This is incomprehensible. Quid, thank you for providing a real life eye on this disaster. I feel so helpless. How can I help? I like Kayla's idea of calling my reps, etc. What else? Where is the best place to send money? Red Cross?
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posted
Red Cross and Oxfam are both heavily involved in the relief efforts in south Asia. Either one would be good to donate to. Both are reputable.
This disaster is being called the costliest disaster ever, and estimates are that damages exceed 1 BILLION dollars.
The Sri Lankan government has said it will likely take this country decades to recover.
News reports seem to be indicating that this will top 60,000 or more BEFORE the epidemics start. Some reports are indicating that we've already reached 60,000 dead, and there are still tens of thousands missing or unaccounted for.
There are 19,000 confirmed dead in Sri Lanka. Not an estimate. Confirmed. Thousands more still unaccounted for. Now a million and a half homeless here.
Elizabeth: That's why I provided that. I WANT you and others to have something to identify with. The more you identify, the more likely you'll help. And I want you to help. Without the generosity of you and others like you, this area of the world will sink even deeper into poverty.
Sri Lanka was doing well - relatively speaking - at having annual per person earnings of $850 US per year, compared to India's $250 and the US at over $30,000. That will drop and the cost of living will increase. It already has since the tsunami. Bottled water has increased 20% in price from two days ago. One example.
Fishing as an industry is virtually wiped out here, and that supported a lot of families, a lot of villages. Fish was also a more affordabe source of protein for most people. Chicken, beef, or mutton - for those who could eat those products - were a luxery, not something they had even every month. But now that there's virtually no fishing industry, what will they be able to afford?
Tourism as an industry will likely be wiped out if the government doesn't make major efforts and go into massive debt to rebuild it quickly. But that will still falter for a while unless people from richer nations decide to visit here despite the destruction.
And this is one thing my sister has talked about. One of the best things you can do to help this part of the world - other than donating money or goods - is to vacation here. Contribute to the local economy. That will help this area recover, too, in a big way. And you will gain the experience of a lifetime.
Side note: when the editor of the travel magazine called, he mentioned to Fahim that the magazine may go belly-up simply because there may no longer be any tourism industry to support. If it does continue, the focus of the magazine will have to change, at least for the next few months. The issue that's schedule to come out in a few days focused on one seaside town with great appeal to tourists, but that village no longer exists. And what do we do now with that issue? Destroy it and cancel it? Issue it anyway with an apology? It's damned tactless to just issue it as is - it makes a mockery of all the dead from those villages.
Richard was supposed to go on a trip to do hotel reviews for the next issues. That trip is now cancelled because those hotels are no longer there. They've been wiped out. So if the magazine goes forward, the articles have to be reshuffled. Well, if the magazine goes forward, the articles have to change anyway - the ones that have already been written are no longer appropriate for this country.
So yes, support tourism in these affected areas, but at the same time, give us some time to recover from this hell that we're going through.
And please, continue to pray for the people here. Not just for a few days, but for the months to come. The suffering doesn't stop just because it's no longer in the news, although it hasn't yet reached that point.
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quote: And what do we do now with that issue? Destroy it and cancel it? Issue it anyway with an apology? It's damned tactless to just issue it as is - it makes a mockery of all the dead from those villages.
What about rewriting it a bit, or writing a preface to it, and issuing it as a memorial to the villages.
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posted
It's already been printed. It's sitting in boxes to be distributed.
There has been talk of putting a sticker saying "proceeds go to charity", but the magazine is just over its first year and still isn't making a profit, so what proceeds?
Yeah, a tribute might be a good idea. I'll suggest it to the editor. He asked for me to call him back, but I was not up to it today.
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posted
I would never have guessed that the death toll would reach past 20,000... insane.
And BC, I agree that we need to do SOMETHING about that island falling into the Atlantic. Either build your massive sea-wall, or build supports for the piece of land falling in, or try and help it slip in very very slowly.
posted
There's been plenty of coverage here, both radio and tv.
I too cannot fathom those numbers. I live in a town with 2,400 residents. Many towns the size of mine were wiped out. I can't imagine.
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posted
Going with what was posted earlier: I know that when Turkey had an earthquake in 1999, there were U.S. Navy ship's there providing fresh water. I could see this happening again.
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quote:I would never have guessed that the death toll would reach past 20,000... insane
And now closing in on 50,000. It's just so many people. It is insane to think about. And yet...There was an earthquake in China on July 28, 1976 that killed over 600,000 people. Another Chinese quake, back in 1556, is estimated to have killed 830,000. This is not to minimize the current disaster in any way, understand, but just to say that these sort of mind-boggling disasters have happened before and, sadly, will happen again.
The thing that has bothered me in some reports (especially ones on the local news) is that there has been a tone, if not actual words, suggesting that the relatively few Westerners that were lost were more important than the tens of thousands of individuals native to those nations affected who have been killed, injured, and left without homes and ways to make a living.
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My mother travels all around the world -- from the comfort of her Lazy-Boy recliner and her World Atlas on her map
So she was looking at a map of Sri Lanka she has and asked me what major city there you live in or near -- Columbo? Kandy?
Anyway, I didn't see where you have ever mentioned what city in Sri Lanka you live in, so I thought I would ask you. It appears the whole island isn't that far across from coast to coast...
posted
When I was at the church yestereday, I spoke to our district president for a bit. He's an educated man, a doctor, and has kept himself as updated on the information as he could. But he can't afford a computer, so he's been relying on the newspapers and television accounts. In the conversation we had, I told him what I knew, which was a lot more than he knew - simply because I was getting information off the internet, which isn't as old as the television or newspaper accounts.
Sometime today or tomorrow, humanitarian aid people from the church will arrive to help out. He's asked me to compile information about Sri Lanka - what's happening where, what areas need the most help, that sort of thing. The church only has so much money to spend, so they can't go everywhere and they can't fix everything. So that's going to be one role I play in this, gathering information.
And as we talked, I mentioned some of the problems to him. For example, the Battacaloa district is very badly hit. But getting transport there is almost impossible. Not enough trucks. Not enough petrol. Bridges washed out. Trains swept off the railroad tracks (killing thousands right there). And it's on the opposite side of the country where we have no church members, so we have no local contacts.
The decisions of where to go, who to give aid to are thankfully not up to me. I would hate to have that responsibility. But I can help in getting the most accurate information I can.
My second counsellor in the relief society called this morning. She was supposed to teach this Sunday on Setting Goals. That lesson is no longer appropriate for this Sunday. And she's not in any state where she's capable of teaching. She's in too much emotional turmoil. The losses . . . I don't know if she's lost anyone personally, but even if she hasn't, she's still much more connected to the loss here than I am - she's one of them. She'll have lost friends, her co-workers will have lost friends and family, her husband's friends and co-workers will have lost people. Loss is all around her. She's asked me to teach instead. I agreed, but what? I'm in emotional turmoil myself, and at this moment, I can't even think about what these sisters need to hear, or what would comfort them. The Plan of Salvation? Or would that just be rubbing things in? Chances are, I'll just wind up crying in front of them. Heck, we'll probably end up having a blubber fest together.
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posted
Sorry, Farmgirl, I didn't see your question until after I posted.
I live outside of Colombo, east about 10 kilometres inland. If you see a place called Sri Jayawardenapura on the map, which is the political capital, I'm just down the road from that.
The country is small. 240 miles long by 140 miles wide, give or take twenty miles (plus the dimension may have changed given that land mass may have been swallowed up by the ocean.) For the rest of us, that's 380 km by 220 km.
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So glad you are OK, quid. Thank you so much for the additional information. Maybe this Sunday you can conduct a sort of testimony-meeting-style sharing time? After so much loss and terror and upheaval of everything, what they may need most is to share and cry together.
I hope the people remaining can get clean water and medical help....
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posted
In 1988, an earthquake struck Armenia, killing over 20,000 people. Today, according to a couple I know who were mission presidents there, homeless families are still living in the crates that Red Cross supplies came in. Over 15 years later.
My heart goes out to the incomprehensible number of people that this disaster has and will continue to affect. I currently have $30.00 to my name, but I'm going to make a $10.00 donation to the Red Cross. I only wish there was more I could do. Let's all pray for those who were a part of this disaster, and let's pray that we ourselves do not forget in the years to come.
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posted
Beverly - thanks for the idea. It's testimony Sunday anyway, so it might be the perfect thing. I MUST remember to buy a large box of kleenex.
Annie - any amount of donation will be appreciated. If every single American donated only $10, that would be $3 billion, and that could do a lot of good.
Twinky - I'm no hero. I haven't lost anything. I'm not even helping out in any huge way. I'm just using my particular skillset to help in a way that is the most meaningful that I'm capable of. I'm an information junky anyway, and I have strong Google-fu, and I'm collecting that information anyway. Now I'm just passing on what I would have done anyway.
And I'll be passing that information on to here, too. Because why should I suffer along? Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:I haven't lost anything. I'm not even helping out in any huge way. I'm just using my particular skillset to help in a way that is the most meaningful that I'm capable of. I'm an information junky anyway, and I have strong Google-fu, and I'm collecting that information anyway. Now I'm just passing on what I would have done anyway.
That was kind of my point. People help how they can. Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
I was planning on making my donation to Read First as soon as Jan 1 rolled around, but it just got rerouted to a relief agency. Probably the Red Cross.
posted
I would love to come visit. It wold have to be 2006, at the earliest, for me... I already have large chunks of vaction time alloted for 2005 and am not comfortable pre-scheduling more. I like to be able to take time off spur-of-the-moment when I just don't want to go to work.
Anyway, '06 or '07 I could totally do Sri Lanka. Um, I think my passport expires next year, I'll add renewing it to my "to-do" list. Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
We should have it in the dead of winter, northern hemisphere time. Wouldn't that be awesome, to go to tropical paradise for a week in mid winter?
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posted
There are now 22,000 confirmed dead in Sri Lanka, 68,000 confirmed dead total. But there are still tens of thousands of people still missing, so the count can - and probably will - reach over 100,000.
And the epidemics haven't started yet. That can double the body count.
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posted
Laurie -- what about you personally? I mean, I know you and Fahim weren't in the tsunami itself, and your home wasn't destroyed, but what about your supply of food now? Or fresh water? Do you have enough to get yourself by for awhile? Is there anything that you two personally need, or that might get pretty scarce in the coming weeks?
quote: The more you identify, the more likely you'll help. And I want you to help. Without the generosity of you and others like you, this area of the world will sink even deeper into poverty.
We haven't been to the grocery store since it happened. We had enough food at home already.
Despite me being LDS, we don't have a year's supply of food. It's not possible here. Rice, flour, lentils, and such get bugs in them very easily, even when the bags are sealed. Frequently, there are eggs inside the bag and hatch later. But we do have as much as we reasonably can store, and that tends to be about two or three weeks of food. We already know that we have to go grocery shopping BEFORE we run out - just as a matter of protecting ourselves.
We also have water stored as a matter of course. Water outages occur here frequently enough as a part of normal life that we have enough water for probably five or six days stored. Longer if we don't worry about hygiene.
We have plenty of chocolate thanks to Jeniwren (yay Jeni!).
So far, things seem to be fairly close to business as normal. But we live close to a major urban area that didn't suffer major damage, so we're more likely to remain okay.
It's common here for people to have fruit trees in their yards - mangos, papayas, bananas, limes, and so on. And the country's major industry is agriculture, so we ought to be okay. Fish adn seafood will be scarce for a long time.
But in all of this, we are extremely fortunate. Fahim has a decent job - he works for a US domain hosting company, so he's paid in US dollars, and he earns significantly more than other people here. So even when inflation hits and food prices rise, we'll still be able to afford whatever we need. That cannot be said of millions of others here.
I appreciate your concern. I have no idea at this point. No idea.
How about if I just keep y'all updated?
News: there are still 11,290 people missing in Sri Lanka. I suspect it's pretty safe to assume that most of them are dead.
They were also showing footage of a hotel near Galle, at the southern tip of Sri Lanka. Fahim used to live in Galle, and he's been to this particular hotel they were showing on the news that's submerged almost to the roofs. He's lived in a lot of the areas that were worst hit.
Yala National Park is closed - water reached 2 km inland. The family that was in the car that was swept away that I mentioned in an earlier post were in Yala park. The woman who survived was apparently flung from the car and landed in a tree. My earlier statement that she didn't reach the car was erroneous.
And now there are warnings against child abduction on the news, adding that there will be opportunities for adoption. I had no idea that this would be enough of a problem that they have to publicly say, "Don't steal children." It just never ocurred to me.
And now I'm watching footage of people carrying pale pasty bodies out of the water through wreckage on teh beach.
Bridges are washed out. Some roads are completely gone. The railway lines in the south are destroyed - they ran along the beach. It'll likely be years before they're restored.
I spoke to Richard, the magazine editor, today, and he mentioned that this is not, in fact, the first time this has happened to Sri Lanka. When Krakatoa blew up, the ocean receded, and observers on the shore reported seeing old shipwrecks uncovered. That's what happens when a tsunami comes - the sea recedes before it crashes.
I'll have to find references. After Richard mentioned it, I remembered reading it, too. Richard is now considering writing a book about this - he's also a writer. He wants to compile a book of the experiences people here have gone through. All proceeds going to one charity or another. I think it's a great idea. It could help others understand better. But it's also a longer term project.
I am thankful for the outpouring of love and concern that's happening as a result of this disaster. Many people worldwide are donating a lot of money, and this will help considerably. Many governments are sending enourmous amounts of money and supplies, and that will also help tremendously.
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posted
Last night I found this article by National Geographic to be extremely interesting. They also mention that phenomenom about the ocean receding just before the tsunami hits. In fact, they said many beach-goers were lost because they were running out to the newly-uncovered ocean floor, watching the water recede so fast... Kind of like "Oh! Look at all the new pretty shells" -- and had no idea....
posted
There is a charity I saw on tv called Americares.org.(or .com) Sara? It sends medical supplies, and supposedly, 100 doallars' donation will generate 3000 dollars in medical suplies. I seemed like a good place to donate.
When I think of my two week stay in the hospital, and the amount of medical supplies used to make me better, and how comfortable the nurses made me, it feels like where I want my money to go, even if the level of comfort my money might provide is miniscule in comparison.
I am just so unbelievably sad.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Farmgirl, that reminds me of a story we read when I was a kid about the five Chinese brothers. One brother could suck up the ocean, and the people made him do it so they could hang out on the ocean floor. Then he couldn't hold the water anymore, and all the people drowned. I was haunted by that story for years.
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posted
I remember that story. They try to behead one of the brothers, and burn one, and bake one in a pie. I forget how the last one escapes, though.
I can still remember the pictures from it, including the one of the guy holding the sea in his mouth desperately trying to attract everyone's attention.
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