Comparisons between the American fund raising results for Haitian earthquake relief and the efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the Southeast Asian tsunami are inevitable. Private giving by Americans, individuals, foundations and corporations has always been generous. Our economy is significantly weaker than it was in 2004-2005 and that may be the biggest factor affecting giving to date.

Some of the historical numbers include money raised by churches. Those collections have happened but have not been reported publicly as far as can be determined for the Haiti relief effort.

Here are the current results as recorded on this site. The column titles are links to the articles on that topic.

	HAITI QUAKE	HURRICANE KATRINA	INDONESIAN TSUNAMI
Date:	Jan 12, 2010	Aug 29, 2005	Dec 26, 2004
Plus 6 days	$156,044,390
Plus 7 days			$207,882,580
Plus 11 days		$632,783,990	$401,784,551
Plus 13 days	$306,797,596		$456,916,726

This table will be updated as the donations continue for Haitian relief. Obviously there is quite a ways to go to catch up to the levels from Hurricane Katrina or the tsunami.

Indonesia has opened a $5.6 million museum to commemorate the 230,000 people who died in the 2004 Asian tsunami.

The four-level building in hardest-hit Aceh province exhibits photographs of victims, stories of survivors and an electronic simulation of the massive undersea earthquake that triggered the 30-foot-high waves.

It also describes the tremendous outpouring of support from governments, companies and individuals in the aftermath of the Dec. 26, 2004 disaster, which caused death and destruction in a dozen nations.

More than $13 billion was pledged to house and feed survivors and to rebuild devastated coasts.

Fox News

Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link. It’s obsolete, so go here:

LINK

That’s the entire category.

My compilation of private American aid for tsunami relief, the Stingy List, went over a billion dollars. I was less than enthusiastic about the pledges of various governments, and it would seem, for good reason.

BBC Newsnight

Renewed civil war in the north of Sri Lanka has hampered the rebuilding effort there but it is does not explain the performance of governments in meeting their pledges.

According to the UN DAD database Spain promised $60m and delivered less than $1m. France pledged $79m and came up with just over $1m.

When we contacted them they said “all the figures are confirmed, therefore you can be sure they are accurate”.

The Chinese promised even more – $301m – and delivered – just $1m. In the Maldives, Kuwait allocated just under $10m but they have yet to spend a single cent and in Indonesia America promised over $400m and so far has delivered less than $70m.

As pointed out in the article, some of this aid was predicated on a five or even ten year plan, so would not be disbursed as yet. Some of it is entirely dependent upon planning at the national and local levels in the affected nations. But, as others as well as I have pointed out, national governments are good at making aid pledges but lousy at keeping them.

And, as I am a frequent critic of the Red Cross, I have to point this out from the BBC story.

The Red Cross around the world has been given more than $2.2bn. According to their own figures most of that – $1.3bn – is still in the bank.

The Red Cross promised to build 50,000 permanent houses in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. So far only 8,000 have been completed.

The British Red Cross contracted to build over 2,000 houses and have so far completed 16 although another 300 are nearly ready.

Compare all this to the successes of private, mostly religious charities that have been the subject of posts in this category. Sad, truly sad on the part of the Red Cross.

The moral of the story is twofold. Don’t rely on a government to bail you out in a disaster. And, if you donate for disaster relief, pick an organization with people on the ground in the affected region 24/7.

Sunday Times: Tsunami survivors given the lash

Disaster donations help Islamic vigilante force impose punishments on women

As the man who managed the Stingy List, I can say without fear that this story is tripe, balderdash, hooey.

Readers of this blog have known for years that sharia is a growing menace in Indonesia. The formerly august Sunday Times of London conflates the growth of sharia with the donations for tsunami relief without producing one iota of evidence.

Indeed, buried in the story is the good news. The peace between the rebels and the national government is holding. The first free election in Aceh history was just held successfully. And… a former rebel has been elected Governor. It doesn’t get much better than this.

There is no evidence that any donations have been diverted to the religious police. At worst, tens of dollars have been freed up to pay these thugs. Other than a flat statement that local governments are paying them, however, no evidence is produced to support the claim.

Please also note the anonymous quote from the UN official. They’re well known for their honesty, right?

The area that the tsunami devastated is recovering slowly, for similar and for differing reasons.

Indonesia is a struggling democracy. Many of the planning functions we assume are part of a government do not exist or do not operate very well. Indonesian culture also does not operate at a 24/7 Western pace. Indonesia is attempting to comply with Western NGO and UN demands for city planning while dealing with hundreds of thousands of people who just want to move home and go back to work. The fly-in, fly-out NGOs and the UN have their noses out of joint because the Indonesians won’t do exactly what these foreigners want.

Sri Lank is an example of what could have happened in Aceh. The national government has refused to allow much of the aid to reach the rebel-held areas stricken by the tsunami. In non-rebel areas they are working quite well with the fly-ins, having insisted that fishing villages move well inland and making the beaches available for tourism.

Thailand has recovered the best, but the Islamic rebellion has grown in proportion to that recovery, harming the tourist business.

Burma has denied all along that they suffered any damage. The Chinese Communists have an extensive network of companies and even a base or two on that coast.

India has endured multiple claims of corruption concerning its management of the aid on their mainland. In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, because of Indian military interests, the natives are being forced to abandon their homes and life styles.

Region-wide, the UN has stopped aid groups from providing fishing boats to the villages who lost their boats in the tsunami. The UN has determined that the region is over fished and so it is refusing to allow fishermen to have fishing boats.

I cannot stress enough that there are some very effective aid organizations. All of them have people on the ground 24/7, and nearly all of them are religion-based. You cannot provide aid from an office in London, Geneva or Jakarta. You have to be on site.

This story is typical of the attacks launched by the fly-ins and the UN. When the locals want a say in their future, or when they have different ideas, these stories pop up. The election in Aceh means that the “cooperative” government has been forced out and a truly local government elected. The UN and the fly-ins “just can’t work with these people”.

Please note that all the stories here are about women in Aceh. The final exerpt is very important because it is from a study done very recently on life for the women of Aceh. Note that violence against women is not pervasive nor is it related to tsunami aid in any way.

Oxfam:

Mahmulia’s navy blue t-shirt is flecked with yellow and her hair is speckled with brown paint. “This is my second day of painting,” she giggles.
Oxfam is training Mahmulia and 36 other women to paint the new homes being built in their village, Beuring In, which was destroyed by the tsunami.

Before the tsunami, house painting was a male-dominated occupation. Women’s activities tended to center on working in the rice fields or running a street stall. The unprecedented scale of construction work in Beuring In means there’s high demand for skilled painters, which creates paid job opportunities for local women.

Ainy Fauziyah of Oxfam explains: “The women asked if they could paint and we said yes. In this area, they will paint 48 permanent houses built by Oxfam. Each group of two or three painters is paid 350,000 rupiah (US$35) by Oxfam.”

Today, Mahmulia is painting a living room ceiling, and some window and door frames, as a practice run before the project starts for real. Working in small groups, the women will be expected to paint one home a week.

With so many new houses under construction, they are likely to have work for a long time to come. Once the Oxfam homes are completed, Ainy plans to recommend the women to other house building agencies in the area.

For Oxfam, this project is about more than simply creating jobs. It is also about women becoming empowered to improve their lives and their community.

Oxfam:

At the end of August 2006, Oxfam celebrated an important milestone in its program in Aceh. Hundreds of people from the town of Sigli and surrounding villages attended a party marking the handover of Oxfam’s tsunami projects, which helped more than 15,000 survivors.

“It’s always good news when an aid organization is able to handover to its beneficiaries and complete its program,” says Pamela Young, Oxfam program manager. “We worked together with communities to plan activities, carry out training and implement projects. Communities helped to identify the people in greatest need. We also spent a lot of time consulting with male and female community representatives before projects started. And we kept everyone informed as work progressed.”

Two-thirds of Sigli, home to almost 14,000 people, was destroyed by the tsunami. With Oxfam’s support, the community rebuilt more than 90 houses in neighboring villages, constructing nearly 400 toilets and repairing the public health infrastructure. In addition, more than 100 bathing facilities were reopened, 250 wells were repaired, 40 incinerators were installed and a drainage system of more than 1,300 meters was built.

Nearly 400 cash grants were distributed to women and men to open street stalls, to start new businesses trading peanuts or collecting mussels, and to revitalize traditional crafts such as mat-weaving. Oxfam also trained groups of women and local NGOs to develop their business skills and boost their confidence as small-scale entrepreneurs.

Oxfam’s public health promotion team trained water and sanitation committees in three villages and five baraks (temporary barracks), provided advice on simple treatments for diarrhea, and established more than 140 hygiene clubs to educate children through puppet shows, sport and art. The health team also distributed bed nets and sprayed against mosquitoes to combat the threat of malaria and dengue fever.

The community of Sigli has now taken over responsibility for the various activities. Members of the Oxfam-trained water and sanitation committee have teamed up with public health authorities to organize community health awareness projects.

Noni Delfina, a team leader for the Oxfam livelihood program survived the tsunami but lost her older brother. Noni says she has seen many changes since she joined the program, especially among the women: “When they received the grants, they became more confident. They were happy, not only because of the money, but because it made them free to work and because people cared about them.”

Save the Children

Save the Children has worked in Indonesia’s Aceh province for over 30 years. Since the earthquake and tsunami of December 26, 2004, assistance has been provided to more than 276,000 survivors. The overall budget for the entire tsunami relief program in Aceh is U$156.6 million. Save the Children’s Aceh Program focuses on six sectors: Child Protection, Education, Livelihoods, Health, Food Security and Infrastructure, Construction and Engineering. The program’s objective is: “To support Acehnese children and their families to achieve safe, healthy and productive lives and to restore and strengthen communities in a manner that respects local culture.”

World Vision

Cut Laila Sinina has a warm welcoming smile for visitors. And, today, the 44-year-old has good reason to smile. After losing her parents and everything she owned in the December 2004 tsunami that ravaged Indonesia’s Aceh province, she is starting to rebuild her life, one stitch at a time.

Prior to the tsunami, Mother Cut (pronounced Choot), as she is known throughout the village, her husband Teuku Maimun, an agricultural supervisor, and their two young children lived in a large 10 bedroom house. They were the surrogate family of 34 students from remote villages who attended the local high school and boarded in their home. Her large brood fondly called her Mother Cut.

Fortunately, all but two of the students were on holidays back in their home villages when the tsunami struck. Although, she managed to save her children, she could not save her aged parents who were too old to flee from the oncoming sea. The boarders have not come back and her family recently moved into a two bedroom house constructed by World Vision.

“Even though it’s small, I am content,” Mother Cut says. “Before this, I had nothing.”

The lounge room is now crammed with sewing equipment as Mother Cut has channeled her energy into reforming the village sewing cooperative whose work was famous throughout the province prior to the tsunami. With the help of World Vision’s economic recovery program, the cooperative received 14 new sewing machines, an over locker and an embroidery machine in June 2005. Their first major contract was to sew hundreds of school uniforms for World Vision which donated them to local school children. With the profits, the cooperative was able to buy raw materials and now, it seems, they are keeping their village clothed.

Mother Chut can cut and sew three garments a day and manages to make a profit of USD$8 a day from this work. She is also training other tailors including teenage girls in the intricate art of Acehnese embroidery which involves placing gold thread into intricate designs and stitching it in place.

The cooperative recently applied for a license to export their garments and embroidery to other provinces and she hopes its members will be able to increase their profits by sending consignments to Indonesia’s third largest city, Medan, a 12 hour drive from their village. “Once we get this license, it will also serve as security if we want to loan money from the (government) department of industry to expand our business in the future,” she enthuses.

When Mother Cut was a young girl she started a Bachelor of Education majoring in English at one of the provincial capital’s most prestigious universities. Alas, after completing half the degree, she was suddenly plagued by inexplicable migraines and forced to discontinue her studies.

Upon returning to her village of Suak Timah, 230 kilometres southeast of the capital of Banda Aceh, she became interested in the local women’s cooperative and learned the intricate art of embroidery from her grandmother. The entrepreneurial Mother Cut soon found herself taking on a leadership role and touring exhibitions of their handicrafts throughout the province.

Prior to the tsunami, Mother Cut’s cooperative of 40 members from three villages exported their work to Malaysia. Sadly, 15 of their members did not survive that day. She now leads a 19 member cooperative, all from the village of Suak Timah.

The members hope that, one day soon, they will be able to export their work abroad again. Meanwhile, a portion of the small profits they make is being carefully put away for their children’s education.

World Vision: Still Standing Tall [pdf file] – Addressing Gender Issues in Banda Aceh

Despite this evidence presented in the national commissionÂ’s
report, at community level, people still strongly deny that domestic
violence is an occurrence that affects them and their families17.
Communities are reluctant to acknowledge and, as a consequence,
tackle violence. The only type of violence they have expressed a
willingness to discuss, albeit with a high degree of hesitation, is
that which they suffered as a result of the armed conflict. Between
2001 and 2005 more than 14,000 of the conflicts victims were
women18. Sadly, despite the conflict coming to an end, women
continue to fall victim to abuses within their communities.

Within traditional Acehnese culture there is a tendency to blame
women for any social wrongs, a factor which significantly contributes
to the communities denial of gender based violence19. Often when
a woman suffers some violent act the victim is accused of inciting
the violence, a tendency particularly prevalent with regard to cases
of sexual abuse. For example, in a recent incident, five people
raped a young high school student. Instead of portraying the young
woman as a victim of this violent act the local media presented
the woman as almost complicit in the commission of the crime20.
The media reported the facts of the case in a way which implied
the young woman had induced the men to perform the crime.
Sadly, this case is not an anomaly. In fact, there have been several
other cases where the perpetrators of such crimes have not been
condemned, yet the victim has been forced to suffer high moral
sanctions and social exclusion. [snip]

It is important to note that the women in Banda Aceh enjoy a
relatively unrestricted life in comparison to the lives of women in
some Middle East Islamic countries22. They are able to attend to
school and to study in universities; they can drive cars with many
even riding motorcycles. In Banda Aceh women are able to move
freely through the city and to be employed in a trade of their
choosing. Acehnese women have always been an important part of
the labour force being involved in employment activities that range
from working in the rice fields through to business, working as
government officials or in administration roles.

Nevertheless, the cultural codes of the province still impose upon
women a series of mandatory cultural norms which they must follow
and which can prevent their participation in civil life. These include
the compulsory use of a head-cover and clothing which covers arms,
neck and ears. In addition to a variety of other rules, women are
expected to conduct themselves in a morally irreproachable way.
Any breach of these regulations can result in a series of moral and
legal sanctions that range from insults in public through to admonitions,
fines, imprisonment and even flogging. According to the 2005 Annual
Report of the National Commission on Violence Against Women,
eight women were flogged in Aceh accused of indecency or immoral
acts23. In the city, the Wilayatul Hisbah – Islamic police- are entrusted
with supervising the fulfillment of these procedures. During the
armed conflict women faced violence the hope was that the peaceprocess
would bring an end to this. Some local NGOs have, however,
expressed concern that women are suffering from what they have
coined a “transference of violence”24. By this they mean that the
physical violence previously exercised by the groups involved in the
armed conflict, has been transferred into a psychological violence
being exercised by the Islamic police.

Acehnese women do not question the enforcement of the Islamic
dress code but rather accept it as a distinctive part of their culture
and religion with the majority women proud to wear traditional
dress. However, many do complain about the excessive social pressure
and inequity they still suffer. One extreme example of such social
pressure and discrimination is the instance where many community
members and religious leaders actually accused women of causing
the tsunami25. The tsunami was a punishment for the inappropriate
conduct of the women, in particular for those that sometimes do
not use a head-cover or dress in very tight clothes, according to
some community members and religious leaders. [snip]

At present the Aceh bill27 is under debate in the National
Parliament. The bill aims to grant a degree of autonomy to
the province of Aceh as part of the peace process.
Importantly, there is one specific article within this new
law which seeks to establish a quota system whereby at
least 30% of the members of the local political parties
must be women.

This quota is not something new in Indonesian law28. In
2003 the law on elections (Law 12/2003) established that
all the political parties women must nominate 30% of
candidates for the parliamentary elections29. Unfortunately,
this law had a minimal effect in the last national elections
of 2004. Despite the fact that 32% of the candidates were
female, only 11% achieved a seat in the parliament in
contrast to 89% of elected males30.

If the new Aceh bill is approved it has the potential to
instigate some important changes within the local political
local scene. Through generating more spaces for participation
by women there is the potential to also change the political
and legislative agenda of the province.

Sunday Times: Tsunami survivors given the lash

Disaster donations help Islamic vigilante force impose punishments on women

Now, that’s alarming. But here are the paragraphs that support this assertion.

blank space intentional

Here’s what the story really says:

International aid workers and Indonesian women’s organisations are now expressing dismay that the flow of foreign cash for reconstruction has allowed the government to spend scarce money on a new bureaucracy and religious police to enforce puritan laws, such as the compulsory wearing of headscarves.

Some say there are more “sharia police” than regular police on the local government payroll and that many of them are aggressive young men.

The irony is that sharia was first introduced into Aceh as part of a package of measures that ultimately succeeded in making peace in the long-running guerrilla war between the conservative, independence-minded Acehnese and the Indonesian state.

The 2004 tsunami, which killed 170,000 Indonesians, devastated the whole northern coast of Sumatra and shocked both sides in the conflict into reaching a deal after 30 years of fighting that had claimed 15,000 lives. It is, so far, a success story. The separatist guerrillas, known as GAM, have decommissioned most of their weapons and the Indonesian army has withdrawn most of its combat troops.

Last Monday the province held the first democratic elections in its history and early returns suggested that voters had elected as governor Irwandi Yusuf, a former rebel spokesman who escaped from jail after the tsunami.

For international donors, who gave generously to end the nightmare of the tsunami, the next few months will pose hard choices. “Nobody intended our aid to subsidise this,” said one United Nations official.

Here are the facts.

1. Local governments in parts of the devestated region have begun supporting sharia.
2. The religious police are paid by the local governments.
3. No donations are being used for this purpose.
4. The region has held its first democratic election.
5. The governor elected is a former rebel.
6. The peace between the rebels and the national government is holding.
7. Only one person is quoted by name, and one is nameless. Two quotes in total.
8. Only one person is named as having been arrested by the religious police.

There are no facts in this article that support the sub-head. There is no evidence that tsunami donations have been used to advance sharia. Indeed, the only news in the article is very good for Aceh, free elections and the participation of former rebels peacefully in the process.

As I have shown in past posts, the vast majority of complaints about tsunami aid come from the fly-in, fly-out NGO’s and the UN and government functionaries that are forced to live in hotels in Indonesia where the people are “different”. Rather than accept that the locals want a say over the relief efforts, these whiners will say anything to puff their efforts up and dinigrate the locals.

I do not doubt that there is graft and intolerence in the region. Kinda like Louisiana, say. I’d expect far more facts and fewer speculations from the Sunday Times, but it seems intent on earning the prefix “the once, great”.

BBC

Philanthropy is so well established it has spawned its own academic discipline.

New York University has a department of philanthropy. There is also the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

I have even attended a philanthropy workshop in the bowels of Congress, where rich Americans learned how to give their money away and how to make sure it was spent on the right causes.

Whether it is the quest for a legacy, the desire to change the world, the determination not to spoil one’s children or simply the tax code, Americans – wealthy and not so wealthy – are giving their dollars away by the lorry load.

And the rest of the world has a long way to catch up.

The author takes a shot at the United States government by suggesting that private Americans gave more for tsunami relief than our government did. He’s “Yeah, but…” correct. No other government could send a carrier battle group and a whole bunch of Marines to do what they did in those first days. I suggest that the costs of being ready to be able to do that count in part if you do the sums.

He mentions James Smithson, who gave the world the Smithsonian Instutution, Andrew Carnegie who could be aptly called the father of the modern free public library, and modern givers like Bill Gates and Ted Turner. He correctly points out that Americans, private citizens, businesses and groups, give more than anyone else in the world.

People will quibble with the per capita numbers. Those always leave out giving to churches and church related issues. Americans are among the few left in the world who even attend churches much less give to them. And church giving, Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, Catholic Charities, counts for more than just dollars. Those groups put people on the ground where they are needed, not just holding press conferences in London or Bern. That’s the other hand of American giving, the time we give. The Scouts, any sort of organized sports, community theater, firefighting and EMS, all could not exist without volunteers and Americans do just that.

Here’s a bloke who sees a part of America many don’t.

Think Progress e-mails me with a fine example of pork.

The junior Senator from Mississippi seems to have inserted into an aid package a provision that would advance Northrop Grumman up to a half billion dollars towards future contract payments by the government, as an assist in recovering from hurricane damages. They’re insured and are “discussing” the matter with their insurance company. This is just an interest free loan by the taxpayers.

For the non-accountants, the revenue number may be impressive but it does not reflect cash flow. It includes accounts receivable and possibly amortizations of cash received in prior periods but recognized in the current period. Their 4.6% profit in 2005 is modest, to say the least, and again does not reflect cash in hand but just the net of revenues over expenses. Their cash flow statements show a need for some cash. They have about $5 billion in debt on their balance sheet.

It is not unheard of for a vendor and a customer to have a relationship where they provide a little support to eachother in tough times. My objection is the use of my tax dollars. Both Senators from Mississippi are noted for bring home the bacon, but bacon is still pork no matter how you fry it up.

It’s the Brits that have complaints, but I imagine most aid agencies will agree.

Times

Banda Aceh was ground zero in the tsunami of Boxing Day 2004, which claimed more than 200,000 lives across the Indian Ocean. More people died here than anywhere else.

Now two charities that raised unprecedented sums in Britain have fallen victim to rip-offs that ruined their efforts to house the survivors and have forced them to suspend key projects.

Save the Children and Oxfam were both targeted by unscrupulous building contractors who took their money, only to build structures so flimsy that a new wave would wash them away.

Save the Children may have to write off more than £400,000 worth of building contracts. Oxfam, which counts its losses in “tens of thousands of pounds”, has stopped its construction work around Banda Aceh until investigators establish the extent of the abuse.

Go read the article then come back.

A couple of mistakes on the part of the Brits leap out. First, they seem to have made little effort to inspect the projects they funded during the construction. And, secondly, they seem to have been trying to run the projects from London.

You gotta be on site. You gotta get dirty. That’s what prevents a lot of corruption. As well known and respected as Save the Children and Oxfam are, they appear to have just thrown money at Indonesia rather than investing in people working on scene.

Yes, I think this is happening a lot. It’s a mindset in the international aid community that keeps far too many of them in their nice, air conditioned offices in civilized countries while they wire aid money to the disaster and pat themselves on the back.

I would also wager that the same problems are not happening with the religious-based aid programs. Oh, they’re paying corrupt locals for the right to be there and provide aid, but they aren’t losing anywhere near as much because they are on the spot, watching and in many cases doing some or all of the work.

Habitat for Humanity

In the year since the Indian Ocean tsunami, Habitat for Humanity has assisted an estimated 6,000 households in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand to gain permanent housing. Over the next 24 months, Habitat for Humanity plans to provide direct housing assistance to as many as 20,000 families, and to assist 10,000 to 15,000 more households with training and disaster mitigation services.

Program targets*
Jan. 1, 2005–Dec. 31, 2007
Total families to be served — 35,000
Families to receive direct housing assistance — 20,000
Additional families to be served through training and disaster mitigation — 10,000–15,000

*At the one-year mark, countries have revised their individual goals; if the new goals are met, 21,000 families will receive housing and more than 39,000 households will be served.

The first year
Funds raised — US$54 million
Funds transferred to implementing countries — US$12 million**

Families receiving direct housing assistance — 6,000

New houses — 2,800
Repaired and renovated houses — 1,200
Total completed*** — 4,000

Housing units in progress — 2,000

**Estimated total to Dec. 31, 2005; includes $8.56 million actual through Nov. 17.
***House counts through Nov. 30 plus projections to year’s end.

It’s one year since the tsunami ravaged the coasts of South Asia. If you’d like to read about the initial relief effort, it’s fairly well documented in my blog. I originated the Stingy List, a PDF file listing the billion plus dollars donated to tsunami relief by Americans, individuals, businesses and groups.

The Financial Times had pointed out in a series that much of the money overseen by the United Nation is spent in overhead, or the UN is refusing to disclose its uses. I’d link, but the Financial Times hides behind a registration.

This point has come up in the past. In August, I answered the whining of a leftist aid group in my post titled Tsunami: Aid Use. In the post is a table, illustrating the moneys pledged by various governments, and delivered. The cites for the figures reveal that about half of the pledged moneys are for recovery and reconstruction over the next 3-5 years. Reconstruction doesn’t happen overnight.

In May, my post Tsunami: An Honest Charity featured the group Doctors Without Borders returning donations that they did not need. It also featured a list of links to various private charities’ efforts to date.

The problem with the Financial Times, with the media in general, is the expectation that the government is the solution. The dollars and hours pouring forth from private charities, mostly religious, are ignored despite the effect they are having. As a sometime libertarian, I’m not surprised by government corruption. Given 2000 plus years of written history, no one should be.

The notion that nothing is getting done, however, is false. It’s spread by politicians and those you live off the political trough. Mostly, the complaints mean that the complainer hasn’t gotten what he sees as his fair share of the graft.

And the left is getting its two cents in, too. Here’s a story from the Malaysia Star, where environmental groups are objecting to fishermen being given boats, because they might use them to go fishing. It’s their way of life, all they know, but since this group thinks fish stocks are depleted, they shouldn’t get the boats. The UN has agreed and is holding back on providing 2,400 boats it has.

As I have pointed out before, government planning or lack thereof, is also contributing to the appearance of no progress. Most of the governments in the region have plans to restrict rebuilding on the coast, and to improve the structures of those buildings that are built. In addition, you are dealing with regions where property titles and such are little known and less honored. ABC reports:

Permanent shelter has lagged in no small part because of political and legal wrangles over land allocation.

Indonesia had no coordination agency for tsunami aid until April, leaving aid groups to determine their own projects. Uncertainty over government plans – later dropped – to prevent building along the coastline as a safety measure only added to the confusion.

The Indian state of Tamil Nadu also tried to discourage rebuilding by the beach in case of another tsunami. People that rebuild within 200 meters of the high-tide mark forfeit their right to over $3,000 in government reconstruction aid, a move that has angered fishermen.

Sri Lanka has also proposed relocating affected fishing villages inland, a move that social activists say is more about acquiring land for tourist development than helping coastal communities.

“The [coastal] buffer zones are obviously designed to clear such areas for tourist development. [Otherwise] how come the tourist hotels in the zones could repair and restart work immediately?” asks Sarath Fernando, moderator for the Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform.

The government in Colombo says it’s reviewing the buffer zone, and argues that tourism brings benefits to local communities. “I don’t think we are going to displace people for the sake of creating zones,” says Prathap Ramanujam, secretary to the Ministry of Tourism. “Our policy is to ensure that the local community in an area develops through tourism too.”

Here’s a story from New Zealand about a private effort that succeeded.

Sri Lanka Association – and Sri Lankans resident in Taranaki – had raised about $270,000. The Government – through funding agency NZAid – chipped in $180,000.

It left the association flush with cash but unsure where to spend it. Spokesman Chula Rajapakse, a Lower Hutt doctor, says there were plenty of options, but little agreement.

Apart from some immediate emergency relief, the association wanted to see the money spent on permanent homes, and by an organisation that could be held accountable by New Zealanders who had given so generously. Venamulla – chosen at random – fitted the bill nicely.

The association sent Sarvodaya all but $80,000 of the money (the rest went to Unicef). It was enough money to build about 60 homes, while Sri Lankan businessman Nihal Ranasinghe, an uncle of an association member, tapped connections in the United States and Britain for funds to rebuild the rest.

The villagers then went to work. At the local level, all Sarvodaya workers are volunteers, and 120 of the village were members. However, everyone chipped in, members or not, to rebuild their homes.

In a country where skilled labour and building materials are at a premium, due mainly to competition between aid agencies, Venamulla chose to look to itself. Virtually all the labour, and the materials for the concrete block homes with tile roofs, were sourced locally. A small amount of timber was brought in from elsewhere. The 50 square metre homes – built to a design from Sarvodaya’s head office – cost about 600,000 rupees (NZ$8000) each. Those who worked on their own homes were paid a small amount for their efforts.

The rainy season held up progress during the middle of the year, which also meant problems using local river sand for the concrete. However, it was a small bump on an otherwise smooth road for the villagers.

They had extra incentive to finish. Most were living in temporary shelters made of wood salvaged from the rubble. Many of these still stand – they will be used as kitchens – and are little more than shacks.

And finish they have. They have also – using other funds – rebuilt a primary school and Montessori preschool. The “half-damaged” houses will be rebuilt when the villagers can raise more money.

Here in the United States, in our own, very wealthy land, people are living in tents along the Gulf Coast. Governments at all levels have fought for their own shares of the billions being spent. Somehow, over 40 states were declared disaster areas as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, despite the storms never having reached most of them.

Don’t expect the governments of South Asia, many of which are corrupt or fighting internal battles against terror, to do better than we can. But, looking at the record, it is clear that progress is being made. Mostly where the government isn’t involved, but being made none the less.

Poliblog points out this story. Time picks three very rich people as their person[s] of the year. For their giving, of course.

I agree with him that there were a number of better choices.

I once wrote that while it was laudable what Princess Diana did in her chairitable endeavours, she could afford to. Bill and Melinda Gates, and Bono can also afford to be generous.

It the people who make time to be generous, who give a dollar more than they can afford, who ought to be the Persons of the Year. Americans gave over a billion dollars at the beginning of the year to tsunami relief. They gave over a billion dollars to hurricane relief in the Gulf. Americans gave up valuable time to coach Little Leage teams, to guide Cub Scout packs, to serve as aids in schools, to volunteer as firefighters and EMT’s. Bill Gates got his hands dirty from signing a check.

As much of an ass as Jimmy Carter is, he still hammers nails with Habitat for Humanity. As Jesus pointed out with the tale of the widow’s mite, it’s not chairity until you give up something.

I took three calls yesterday with the ambulance. PG is working long hours in Mississippi for little pay helping with hurricane relief. My boss tutors kids before work most days. Bill Gates wrote a check. Hope he didn’t get a blister.

I’m no longer working on the Stingy List, but I did want to point out that tsunami charity continues worldwide.

Gulf Times BRITISH Airways together with Ramada Hotel and Doha Golf Club has raised QR180,000 for Southeast Asia’s tsunami-stricken children. The money was raised at an auction gala dinner organised during a celebrity amateur golf tournament, with international celebrities from the UK and individual contributors from Qatar participating. At an awards ceremony held at the British Airways office recently, representatives of British Airways, Ramada Hotel and Doha Golf Club presented a cheque for the amount to Omar Shehadeh, Unicef Gulf area office representative, a spokesman for British Airways said in a release. Rory Black, British Airways commercial manager for Qatar and Bahrain, said the donation will help make a difference in the lives of children still faced with the dire consequences of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed over 240,000 people. Earlier this year, British Airways donated ’1mn to the tsunami disaster relief fund. Half the donation was passed on to Unicef, and the other half was spent on supply-carrying cargo services and flights to the stricken region, the official said.

Indonesia Relief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, Head of Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), announced that Indonesia has received $4.1 billion out of $7 billion that has been pledged to rebuild tsunami devastated areas in Aceh and Nias. Including Rp 8.3 billion from Indonesian national budget. ”In the first three months of our (BRR) works, there are $4.1 billion of fund already available to be spent for Aceh and Nias reconstruction,” said Kuntoro, after a meeting with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla in Jakarta. The fund will be used for various project in Aceh and Nias including construction of Meulaboh port by Singapore government and Singapore Red Cross. Also construction of Ulee Lheue port by Australia government. The Ulee Lheue port will be upgraded from only ferry port to become cargo port. The fund will also finance construction of road connecting Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. US government provides $245 million, and Japanese government provides additional support of $48 million.

Reuters Alert Net Former U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush and William Clinton named the American Refugee Committee’s (ARC) Fishing Boat Project as the first tsunami relief project to receive funding with private money raised through the Bush-Clinton Fund. The Presidents’ $1 million contribution will replace fishing boats in Thailand and provide equipment and support to fishermen, many of whom lost nearly everything in the tsunami. The former Presidents wanted to fund the project because of its economic impact and ability to spur job creation. The two former Presidents visited ARC’s Fishing Boat Project in Nam Khem, Thailand, on February 19 of this year as part of their tour of tsunami-affected areas. The Fishing Boat Project is the only tsunami relief project they visited while in Thailand.

Indonesia Relief The CHF International announced donation of $50,000 from Alanis Morissette to empower economic revitalization projects in Aceh, including repairing fishing boats and provide small seed capital to street vendors. ”We’re delighted to be partnering with Alanis Morissette in our efforts to restore the economic situation of those affected by last year’s tragic tsunamis,” said John Chromy, CHF International’s Vice President on Wednesday. ”The support of high-profile individuals like Alanis Morissette is extremely helpful for sustaining public awareness about the long-term economic recovery efforts that will be needed for years to come.” Alanis Morissette’s $50,000 donation will be channeled to a local community-based organization in Indonesia’s Aceh province, Udeb Saree Lhok Seudu, to undertake several important economic revitalization projects that will provide local community members with the resources they need to get back on their feet.

]]> http://northshorejournal.org/tsunami-donations-and-status-2/feed 0 http://northshorejournal.org/tsunami-six-months-and-building http://northshorejournal.org/tsunami-six-months-and-building#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2005 22:13:59 +0000 Chuck Simmins http://blog.simmins.org/1999/11/tsunami-six-months-and-building/

I’ve completed a more detailed look at the state of tsunami aid on the six month anniversary of the disaster. That page is called Tsunami Aid. It’s not meant to be comprehensive, just representative of the work that’s been done and that to be done. It covers the world’s response, not just Americas. If you want some idea of what happened to your money, go take a look.