Dave
....
WE have a team in the Andaman
Islands
and will know more shortly. Below and coming to you in another email is
news from Steve Goode in Thailand.
Tim
This is
from Steve and Marie Goode who are working from Phuket and from Phangna
with 100 plus volunteers. The Thais are doing a great job regardless of
what you hear in the press.
The alert system was used by some
here (and it seemed to work) but many did not heed the Thai warnings on
the first day.
A report from today and
yesterday....
Today, the 600 patients
(foreign) are down to 3 in the Phangna hospital. All
dead bodies are being kept
in three wats and busloads of people are coming to
try and identify the bodies.
DNA people are trying to facillitate but it is a
zoo here . Will have a
report in a few hours as to what happened today in
southern Thailand.
Here is a report from
yesterday,
Steve Goode
Dear All,
One of the reasons you have not
heard from anyone is that the phones here are working 1 out of 30-40
times of trying.
But here is a blurb that you can
send out.
It has been an incredible last
four days operating from Phuket and Phangna. Mark and Doreen and
the Phangna team and John and Kim Quinley and family from Bangkok who
used to be in Phangna have been doing an incredible job..
Doreen, a nurse who has been doing
everything from translating from several languages to visiting morgues
looking for a 9 month old baby girl and listening to story after story.
Marie and I spent the day in
Phangna district one hour north of Phuket in southern Thailand helping
Kim, who is the point person at the Phangna hospital, to coordinate one
hundred volunteers into multiple teams doing lots of tasks - including
* at two hospitals – setting up a variety of
stations for people looking for loved ones
* assisting people making long distance telephone
calls to loved ones (a local company is doing this for free)
* translating with Thai hospital with the multiple
languages of people affected. 28 Embassies have come to Phuket to set
up embassy inquiry stations.
* listening to stories of people caught in the
Tsunami and trying to find word of those who may have survived.
Answering questions from lots of inquiries. Finding multiple
language doctors to assist patients.
* Visiting wards and getting updated records on
foreigners that are presently being treated and developing master lists
for embassies and hospital staff as most people do not have any
identification and some are in serious condition.
* Coordinated teams to go to local Thai temples
where several thousand bodies are being kept for identification. Many
if not most are unrecognizable due to salt water, decomposition and
injury but loved ones still are coming and wanting to look and see. The
Thai Forensic department is here taking DNA samples of all of the dead
so that they can be traced more than just through visual
identification. Today many are arriving from Scandanavia searching for
loved ones and trauma teams and counseling teams are also hopefully
arriving to be available for families in need.
* John, Mark, Duane from World Concern and I
visited several Thai villages that have been wiped out - one
village Ba Kim one and half hours north of Phangna - lost more
than 1,500 people and the village has just a few buildings standing.
People that were there at the time did not make it.
*John, Mark and Duane continued on an hour further
north into Muslim areas affected with the same report -- villages
devastated and losses high.
* Delivered some relief goods to a local hospital
and donation center..
* coordinated more teams to assist in this crisis
that are in country.
* Communicating and Coordinating with teams of
YWAMers that are working in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia Tsunami hit
areas and international inquiries about locating outreach people in
these areas.
There seems to be sufficient
teams for Thailand at least as foreigners are starting to be airlifted
from the country, thus meaning Thai speakers will be needed much more.
They have been the worst hit and the death count continues to rise
significantly. We have people in country outreach teams that can be
mobilized if needed but the expatriate injured are being covered by
local hospitals and then airlifted as quickly as possible back to home
countries.
World Concern, Food for the
Hungry, Operation Blessing and YWAM are meeting this afternoon to take
a look at what can be done probably in the rebuilding of homes in Thai
villages, probably Muslim areas, that might be overlooked.. We will be
coordinating this effort after further consultation.
If you have monies that you want
to send for any of these efforts —Mark for Asia Tsunami and if
you have a specific country in mind or for general use....
Thai Baht Account
Standard Chartered BANK
13 B 100 Sathorn Nakorn Tower
North Sathorn Road
Silom, Bangrak
Bangkok 10500 Thailand
Account Number: 001-00210457
Account Name: YWAM Asia Relief and
Development
Swift Code: SCBLTHB XXXX
SCB NY - AC 3582 088 661001
US Dollar Account
Bank: Standard Chartered
Branch: 6 Battery Road
Singapore
Account Number: 01-740-2737-0
Account Name: YWAM Asia Relief
& Development
Routing # CHIPS UID - #057 220
SCB NY - AC 3582 088 503001
SWIFT # SCBLSGSG
If you want tax deductible
receipts from USA – please send checks to
UofN Kona Foundation
Accounting Dept
75-5851 KuaKini Highway
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
USA
For Asia Tsunami – YWAM Relief -
Bangkok
Most of the villages that we saw
will need a major reconstruction over the next year or
two........
Thank you for your support.
Steve and
Marie Goode
=========
Below is an
appeal for funds for the relief work we are beginning. Can you
help? We need immediate financial assistance and this email will
start going out tomorrow to as many people as we can. Let me know
what you can do. We were glad to hear that you were safe though you
were right in the middle of the problem at the beach front. If you can
mass send this email and help guide us to send it to key funders that
would be very helpful.
Sudhakar is
overseeing the effort here in South India and Samuel our slum leader is
already in the thick of it. Teams from Chennai are starting to leave
for assistance down south.
We are yet to
access Andaman Islands. WE have a YWAM DTS outreach team there from
Pune and tryng to get in touch with them. No contact yet.
When you
respond please keep both Sudhakar and myself in the cc fields.
Sudhakars email is Sudhakar@pqsa.net
Tim
Nobody was warned of any
upcoming disaster and proceeded with Sunday morning, December 26th, in
the usual manner.
But when the tsunami hit,
lives of people all across South and
Southeast Asia were changed dramatically. In Tamil Nadu, fishing
villages are among the worst damaged. With boats and huts wrecked,
people’s loved ones and livelihoods were stolen from them.. The fishing
town of Colachel is among the worst hit with more than 4000 dead with
more expected to come. Huts situated along Colachel’s coast have been
flattened. The Indian Express newspaper notes that Colachel has been
the worst hit by the Tsunami wave. There are more than 7000 families
who are now homeless. As the debris is cleared and the ocean waters
recede, more bodies are expected to be discovered. In Nagapattinam, the
stench of decomposing bodies lingers heavily in the air. It has been
reported that the progress of relief and rescue efforts are moving at a snail’s pace.
The
tsunami has rendered many people homeless, taken away their
livelihoods, and left many with no hope for the future. When the
tsunami becomes a memory for the rest of the world, the people of
Colachel, Nagapattinam, and other coastal villages will struggle to
move forward with their lives.
This tragic story
stretches all along the coastal towns of Tamil Nadu right into the city
of Chennai The numbers continue to rise. Although much work has already
been put into action, much still remains to be done.
YWAM
is already moving quickly into action. One of the fisherman’s village
in Chennai that we have a permanent ministry in got hit by the tsunami.
In Colachel, another fishing town down south, one of our workers who
leads our slum ministry was home for Christmas holidays.. He is now
deeply involved in relief work on the coast.
We are sending teams and
our staff into these troubled areas. Already they are moving into
action as you get this email. WE NEED YOUR HELP. The immediate need RIGHT NOW is US 60,400.
The breakdown is below.
Immediate
Needs:
· Food packets for the
stranded fishermen. We are planning to provide rice, dahl (lentils),
and oil for 7000 families that will last them 5 days to help them get
through the initial stages of the relief work. This amount is needed
right now.. Cost: 34,000 US dollars.
· Medical: Because of the
mass amount of dead bodies that are being washed ashore and the
devastation of homes there is a pending outbreak of dysentery, cholera,
and other diseases. We are setting up dispensaries for IV fluids
rehydration, and medicine to combat this potential outbreak. Cost for
Medicines and distribution: US 12,000
· Temporary housing and
shelter: We will provide plastic sheets for people to sleep on or cover
themselves from rains that may come. The ground is still wet and they
need something to sleep on. Cost: US 2400
· We are mobilizing 45
people in the relief effort. We need US 12,000 for transportation,
housing and food to keep them working.
Long term Needs:
· Distribution of cooking
utensils, pots, plates to 2000 families of the poorest of the poor in
the disaster area. Cost: US 14,500.
· Finally, we are planning
on complete rehabilitation of three fishermen villages. This could
include helping those who have been widowed, the orphans, rebuilding of
houses, repair of boats, purchase of new boats for the poorest of the
poor and repair or purchase of fishing nets. Cost: US 500,000
FUNDS
TRANSFER: Below are instructions
for those in the U.S. Europe, Australia, and Great Britain. If you are
in another country and want to wire money please email us and we will
send you the wiring instructions for your country. For those in any country
including those listed below if you want to send a cheque by mail you
can make the check out to Youth With A Mission and send it to: Youth
With A Mission 121 Vasantha street, Golden George Nagar, Nerkundram,
Chennai Tamil Nadu 600107.
For US
Dollars from the United States: If you would like a
tax-deductible receipt, please make your checks out to Youth With A
Mission and include a note in the envelope that the check is for Tidal
Relief work. Send it to YWAM P.O. Box 61700 Honolulu Hawaii,
96839.
By
Wire from the US: TO TRANSFER FUNDS IN USD
TO YOUR ACCOUNT AT CHENNAI: PLEASE INSTRUCT YOUR BANKERS TO TRANSFER BY
SWIFT TO ABN AMRO BANK, CHENNAI SWIFT CODE ABNAINBBMAS UNDER
ADVICE TO CREDIT A/C NO.772533 IN THE NAME OF Youth With A Mission WITH
ABN AMRO BANK ,CHENNAI. AND TRANSFER THE COVER TO OUR ACCOUNT NO.
661001151741 WITH ABN AMRO BANK, NEWYORK. Please inform us when you transfer funds so
we can track it.
For
Australian Dollars: TO TRANSFER FUNDS IN AUD
TO YOUR ACCOUNT
AT CHENNAI: PLEASE INSTRUCT YOUR BANKERS TO TRANSFER BY
SWIFT TO ABN AMRO BANK, CHENNAI SWIFT CODE ABNAINBBMAS UNDER
ADVICE TO CREDIT A/C NO. 772533
IN THE NAME
OF Youth With A Mission WITH ABN AMRO BANK
,CHENNAI. AND TRANSFER THE COVER TO ABN AMRO BANK , MUMBAI A/C NO.
ALG0006973 WITH WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION,SYDNEY. Swift Code of West
Pac Banking Corporation is WPACAU2S. Swift Code of ABN AMRO Bank Mumbai
is ABNAINBB Please inform us when
you transfer funds so we can track it.
For
Euro: TO TRANSFER FUNDS EUR
YOUR ACCOUNT AT CHENNAI: PLEASE INSTRUCT YOUR BANKERS TO TRANSFER BY
SWIFT TO
ABN AMRO BANK, CHENNAI SWIFT CODE ABNAINBBMAS UNDER
ADVICE TO CREDIT A/C NO.772533 IN THE NAME OF Youth With A Mission WITH
ABN AMRO BANK ,CHENNAI. AND TRANSFER THE COVER TO ABN AMRO BANK ,
Mumbai A/C NO. 529481375 WITH ABN AMRO BANK, AMSTERDAM. SWIFT CODE OF ABN AMRO
BANK AMSTERDAM IS ABNANL2A Please
inform us when you transfer funds so we can track it.
For
Great Britain Pounds: TO TRANSFER FUNDS IN GBP
YOUR ACCOUNT AT CHENNAI: PLEASE INSTRUCT YOUR BANKERS TO
TRANSFER BY SWIFT TO ABN AMRO BANK, CHENNAI SWIFT CODE ABNAINBBMAS
UNDER ADVICE TO CREDIT A/C NO.772533 IN THE NAME OF
Youth With A Mission WITH ABN AMRO BANK ,CHENNAI. AND TRANSFER THE
COVER TO ABN AMRO BANK , MUMBAI A/C NO. 902756 WITH ABN AMRO, LONDON. Swift Code of ABN AMRO
Bank London is ABNAGB2L Swift Code of ABN AMRO Bank Mumbai is ABNAINBB Please inform us when you transfer funds so
we can track it.
.