Life in General

A slow motion disaster (update)

John Quiggin24 Comments

The floods in Pakistan never produced a dramatic moment like the Boxing Day tsunami. And one flood looks much like another on TV, so it’s hard to comprehend the scale of this disaster. But it is truly one of the worst in recent history, worse even the tsunami in terms of the destruction it has wrought, though not for immediate loss of life. There’s some more information here from Oxfam.

James Farrell ran an election-tipping exercise at Club Troppo, which raised $1150 ($250 from me). I haven’t thought of a gimmick (suggestions appreciated) but I hope we can raise at least as much here. Please give to your favorite charity and record it in the comments box. If you’re shy, email me with the details and I’ll add you to the list as “an anonymous reader”

I’m moving this back up to the top. The disaster is still going on, and help is urgently needed

24 thoughts on “A slow motion disaster (update)”

  1. I’m happy to donate, but I don’t know which is the best charity for something like this. I would be very upset if any of my money ended up in the hands of militant Islamists- even if they spent it all on aid and were merely receiving a PR boost from disbursing it. I’m sure I am not alone in this sentiment, and fear of giving comfort to the enemy is no doubt the reason donations to Pakistan have been so low.

    Does anyone have suggestions?

  2. here we are.

    exactly.

    giving cash to go to some hide-away bank account while untold need is ignored.
    (as gods’ will?)

    i fear we will see more and more on this scale as poor old ecosystems and climate patterns move through natural changes now buttressed by the consequences of generations of revved up industrialisation.

    i suspect the possibility of every body becoming the collateral damage of a “climate event” is rapidly rising.

    such pessimism,if i did know for certain where to send i’m afraid i can’t match $250 but am sure what is forwarded will help.

    as long as it gets there.

    sorry for the gloom but keep thinking of all the money spent on death dealing when the same monies used for life enhancing in preceding years would have us see an ameliorated event and emergency services in place and functioning.

    armies have everything neccessary to meet emergency situations.
    the have doctors,nurses,medicines,mobile hospitals,temporary shelter ,command centers with information gathering,planning and on and on.

    i’ll shut up now.

  4. Agree about MSF. I contributed to them after being prompted by the ABC last week.
    I have seen them in the field, where they were greatly appreciated.

  7. John
    $100 from a lurker, donated to Christian Blind Mission Pakistan Floods Emergency Relief appeal for support for disabled people affected by the floods.

  8. I donated a bit to Oxfam a couple of days ago. Oxfam is one of the more transparent NGOs, and it spends a very small percentage of its total take on admin and a large proportion on field work. Oxfam is also non-denominational, so if you dislike religious advocacy by aid NGOs (some of them do it), Oxfam is a good one to go for. I also donated some to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

  10. Can anyone tell me the best charity to support immediate food needs. I know I posted a link to the best charities… but even then Im not sure…I raised funds once before for Unicef appeal for Iraqi child war victims (at least thats what the photos implied) at a local shopping Mall only to find out later the majority of the funds went into a general “educational” fund.

    I think in a crisis like this – food drops are an essential??? Id like to know thats where my money is going – I know medical care is essential too but ot seems to me many people need the basics to survive. They are on islets waiting for food drops.

  11. I gave $100 to Oxfam this morning. I feel pretty embarrassed stating the amount, but figure that if it prompts someone to give something (or give more), it’s a trivial problem.

  14. $100 to UNICEF. I agree with Warbo that unless a donation is totally huge it is embarrassing to quote a number. I suspect nobody here is likely to miss a few thousand.

  16. @James Farrell
    Its nice you are all donating to Unicef but I wont be. I held a stall at a local Mall when the Iraq war was playing out. It was to raise money for the child victims of that war. We raised a few thousand dollars. Later I found out that of all the money that was raised through UNICEF – it went into their general child “education” fund, not to the victims of war.
    Thats what the “e” stands for in UNICEF.
    Now Im damned sure the Pakistan victims need food right now, not education.
    I hate to do this to people who donated in good faith but there it is. UNICEF wont be getting my donation.

  18. $200 to MSF followed by $100 direct donation via a friend who will get it to local agency in Pakistan

  20. $250 to Oxfam Australia Pakistan Flood Appeal. Thanks for reminding me, John, I’ve been meaning to do that for weeks now.

  21. $500 to CARE for sanitation. The “Donate Now” button is about halfway down the webpage and goes to https page from there.

    BTW, small amounts aren’t something to be embarrassed about as some people here have suggested – it quickly adds up. CARE will take anything you wish to or can afford to contribute.

    It has been a bad year for freak weather events: several of my relatives have had some anxious moments in Wangaratta, Moyhu and Benalla recently.

  22. You can also donate to the Australian Red Cross Pakistan Flood Appeal at any Australia Post outlet.

  23. I read recently that 27,500 km2 of farmland in Sindh was under water,which is about one fifth of the entire area of that province. And of course,this is the southernmost province and the most recently inundated.

    To put this into physical perspective,the flooded area is equivalent to twice the entire area of the Brisbane river catchment.

  24. I gave $100 to Red Cross.

    Typically people donate following an emergency (that’s true for me). But why should you donate to the specific emergency? If you’re prepared to donate then you obviously trust the organisation well enough to assume they’ll spend the funds wisely, so why restrict them to the current problem?

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