Help NEEDED for Cyclone victims in India!!!

[Guest guest]

Dear prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

The situation in Orissa is extremely serious. We humbly URGE YOU TO SEND

DONATIONS TO HELP WITH THE CYCLONE RELIEF EFFORTS OVER THERE.

 

The temple president in ISKCON Gadeigiri, Caitanya Candra Das has this to

say:

 

We are calling upon the international community of devotees to help with the

situation. Our relief plan is as follows:

 

We need to feed the 400 people who are living with us for one month. If we

have funds we could feed another 5-600 from nearby villages.

 

We need to help the villagers so they can return to their homes, and so that

we can reestablish a proper worship standard for Sri Sri Radha Gopal Jiu.

This involves giving them plastic sheeting to build some temporary houses,

as well as kerosene, clothing, and blankets for the coming winter.

 

We need to buy diesel for the temple generator.

 

And optionally:

 

We will need to continue to feed at least 200 people for up to three months.

 

At least 100 of the poorest will require food for a year until they can

again earn some money.

 

Needed minimum emergency finances are calculated at Rs.8 per day to feed one

person:

 

One month prasadam "Food for Life" (really) for 400 = $2300

Plastic, kerosene, and clothing for villagers = 2700

Transport, medicines, and miscellaneous = 300

 

Bare Minimum Required = $5300

 

One month extended prasadam distribution for 600 = $3300

Continued prasadam distribution for up to three months = 2300

Prasad assistance to poorest = 5000

 

Total if Funds are Available = $15900

 

It may be many months before proper communications are restored here,

therefore we have requested Sri Bhaktarupa Das Prabhu to coordinate the

relief program from Bhubaneswar.

 

Hoping this reaches you in good health, and in the best of Krishna

Consciousness.

 

Thanking you.

 

Your humble servant,

 

Caitanya Candra Das

Temple President, ISKCON Gadeigiri

 

--------------------- * US DONORS * --------------------

You can wire money directly into the FFL Global account. We will then

forward all donations in a lump sum to the relief fund in Orissa.

 

Here are the details for wiring money directly...

 

Bank Name: Bank of America

Address: 10000 Falls Rd., Potomac, MD 20854 USA

ABA # : 052001633

Account # :3933988254

Account Name: Food for Life Global

 

Alternatively, you may make a check out to:

"Food for Life Global - Cyclone Relief"

PO Box 59037

Potomac, MD 20859

USA

 

Note: So far $5500 has been collected

 

-------------------- * Overseas DONORS * ------------------

 

Please wire to this account:

 

UCO Bank

CRP Headquarters Branch

Bhubaneswar, Orissa, INDIA

Account Number 12067/64

Account Name: William B. Rubins

 

---------------------------

 

Thank you for your generosity.

 

Your servant,

 

Priyavrata das

FFL Global

 

--------------------------CNN REPORT-------------------------

 

November 10, 1999

India cyclone death toll estimated at 10,000; epidemic feared

 

>From staff and wire reports

 

BHUBANESWAR, India -- Masked rescue workers struggled to clear mounds of

bloated corpses 11 days after the fierce cyclone in India, and the Red Cross

estimated Tuesday that 10,000 people had died, far more than Indian

authorities were reporting.

 

A Red Cross disaster expert said the official death figure of 3,426 seemed

inaccurate because thousands of bodies were cremated or buried by relatives

or neighbors before official help arrived.

 

"It is difficult to tally because where the people have been able to cremate

they haven't necessarily been able to report to government officials,"

Julian Francis told The Associated Press. "It's obviously hit-and-miss."

 

"The number of deaths from the disaster is likely to reach 10,000," he said,

quoting a statement from the Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent

Societies, the most authoritative estimate published yet.

 

Francis said more than 10 million were estimated to have lost their homes,

livestock or livelihood. Many people were dying of starvation apart from

gastroenteritis, he said.

 

U.N. seeks $50 million more in relief aid

Relief agencies launched renewed efforts Tuesday to help the cyclone

victims. Meeting in Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Orissa and center of

the disaster zone, international aid groups suggested a food-for work

program for poor people to help in an emergency cleanup.

 

In London, 11 of Britain's biggest charities launched a joint appeal for

funds to help the homeless and starving.

 

U.N. officials in New Delhi said they were seeking an additional $50 million

from donors to help relief and rehabilitation work in Orissa, one of India's

poorest states. The United Nations already gave $1.8 million in donations.

 

"In addition to the deaths, the local economy has been seriously destroyed,"

said U.N. representative Vladimir Sakharov. The storm caused an estimated

$3.5 billion in damages.

 

Rotting human, animal corpses poisoning water

In several parts of the 480-kilometer (300-mile) coastal expanse hit by the

cyclone, army soldiers and volunteers with cloth wrapped over their noses

carried disfigured and blackened bodies of villagers. The stench of rotting

corpses reaches several kilometers, some army officers said.

 

"Dead bodies are still being pulled out from ponds and roadsides in villages

by workers," said Dr. Khirod Kumar Raut at the government's health control

room in Bhubaneswar.

 

Tens of thousands of animal bodies littering the countryside also threatened

water supplies. Raut said disease was already spreading from poisoned water.

At least 155,300 people have been reported sick after the cyclone struck

Orissa. Twenty-five people have died so far of diarrhea and nearly 2,000

more are suffering, Raut said.

 

"You can see people sitting in the ruins or just staring ahead" in many of

the badly-hit areas, Francis said. "Many have been without food for many

days ... so any slight infection can get worse very quickly and lead to

death."

 

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