January 2, 2005

It's a full week after the horrible tsunami struck the coastlines of ten countries in South Asia and East Africa that has left over 115,000 dead and hundreds of thousands injured (possibly four times the number dead). Countless people have been left homeless and destitute. Thousands of children have been orphaned and thousands of parents have lost their children. From everything that I've read or seen, the situation in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Southern India is beyond our worst nightmares. Without fresh water typhoid and cholera will push the death toll higher. Without blankets and temporary housing, exposure will cause the healthy to fall ill and the ill to worsen. Shortages of food and fuel exist in all the hardest hit areas. Electrical power-lines, bridges and roads were washed away. Many villages are only accessible by helicopter.

Nations worldwide are scrambling to assist the victims. Among the very first international aid organizations to respond to this monumental crisis was Doctors Without Borders. They have already begun delivering emergency medical care to the hardest hit area of Indonesia, the city of Banda Aceh and other coastal towns and villages. They have already delivered 110 tons of relief materials and have 40 aid workers on site. They have also deployed aid workers and supplies to India and Sri Lanka.

In the past I have supported their work both privately and publicly, withyour help. During the 1998 tour we raised $80,000 over the course of two months to aid hurricane victims in Central America. In the following year Doctors Without Borders was the recipient of The Nobel Prize. They are among the most courageous humanitarians in the world. They do the unimaginable, deliver care in war zones and areas plagued by natural disaster. I've made a donation to their emergency relief fund and include their information here if you feel compelled to do the same.

There are so many organizations offering help now and I urge you to look for one you can support.

It's difficult to imagine what this new year will bring for the survivors of Black Sunday. Let's try to alleviate a small part of their suffering.

Doctors Without Borders
P.O. Box 1856
Merrifield, VA 22116-8056
(888) 392-0392
DoctorsWithoutBorders.org

POST SCRIPT - January 11, 2005
Since I wrote this letter, the death toll has risen to 140,000 and I've read that as many as 5 million people have been left homeless...a staggering catastrophe.

I received an email from Doctors Without Borders thanking me for my contribution and stating that the organization has received "an extraordinary outpouring of support for the people of South Asia" and that, "DWB/MSF estimates that we have received sufficient funds for our currently foreseen emergency response in South Asia."

Other groups that you could consider that are present in the region now are American Friends Committee (afsc.org), CARE (care.org), American Red Cross (redcross.org) World Vision (worldvision.com). For those of you in the UK, I've read that Oxfam (oxfam.org.uk) is active in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand distributing food and water/sanitation facilities. Action Aid (actionaid.org) is the largest charity working in south India.

Thank you for your generosity.

Natalie