Re: [tlug] Thoughts and prayers from America

[Pier Fumagalli <pier@example.com>]

On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 19:34, Pier Fumagalli <pier@example.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 15:54, Josh Glover <jmglov@example.com> wrote:
>>
>> [...]
>> Stephen (or anyone else in the know), where would donations do the
>> most good? I know there are countless NGOs mobilising, but it is hard
>> to know which ones are performing the most critical functions.
>
> We (work, Gilt) have organized of couple of charity funding events on
> the web, one in the US (see http://www.globalgiving.org/giltcity/) and
> one in Japan (see http://www.giltcity.jp/tokyo/earthquake2011mar).
>
> In Japan we'll be directly donating all the money we collect to the
> Red Cross, and we'll match yen-by-yen all contributions from members
> (you donate 500 yen, Gilt will match it with an extra 500 yen, Red
> Cross will get 1000 yen).
>
> Groupon Japan is doing the same (including the matching, see
> http://groupon.jp/) and a lot of other retailers are collecting funds
> on line.

A friend who volunteered in the past with them, also sent an email
about a NGO based here in Japan:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, Mar 12, 2011 at 11:46 PM
Subject: Something we can all do

To my dear friends

For those of you in Japan, I hope you and your families are all OK
after the earthquake.  I’m in Myanmar right now, with limited
internet, but the photos I manage to find online are just horrific.
Unbelievable…

I know that those of you in Tokyo have also been affected, and are
still experiencing the aftershocks.  But I’m writing you all to ask if
you would contribute to the relief and rehabilitation efforts in the
hardest-hit Tohoku region by a Japanese NGO called JEN:
www.jen-npo.org.  As some of you may know, I worked with them briefly,
and I can say with confidence that they do amazing work.  They have
been working in emergency situations—postwar and post-disaster—since
the 1990s, and they are considered to be one of the best.  In addition
to projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc., they have a
program in Niigata where they’ve been supporting a small community of
elderly farmers to rebuild their lives after the Niigata Earthquake in
2004.  Seeing their work there, I know that JEN can and will respond
with care to the needs of victims, not only in the immediate relief,
but in the long years of recovery ahead.

There must be other large organizations mobilizing for action right
now.  While they also do good work, it can also be limited.  Small but
highly skilled NGOs like JEN can do what large agencies cannot do—be
attentive to the multiple local needs and act according to each
situation.  This means that they can choose to work in neglected and
hard-to-reach areas, work flexibly according to the fast changes of
post-disaster conditions, without large overhead costs, and without
bureaucratic constraints.  They will also continue to be there when
others have left after the relief phase.  In short, your donations
will go far to help victims directly.

If you’d like to contribute, you can do so using your credit cards or
through the post office:

http://www.jen-npo.org/contribute/form01_1.php   (credit card, in Japanese)
http://www.jen-npo.org/en/involved/donate1.php   (credit card, in English)
http://www.jen-npo.org/contribute/contribute.html#furikae   (postal,
only if you live in Japan)

I will keep you updated on their activities in the days to come.

It would be great if your companies/employers are interested in
donating as well.  Please contact info@example.com or 03-5225-9352 (or
me) if your company is interested in donating to JEN.

Another possible entity for companies to donate to would be Japan
Platform: http://www.japanplatform.org/.  It’s a consortium of NGOs,
the private sector, and the government that pools together money and
resources so that selected professional NGOs can respond quickly to
emergency situations like this one.  Although the Red Cross seems to
be the obvious choice for the general public and people overseas,
there are highly skillful Japanese NGOs that I think could make better
use of your contributions.

One last thing—I also urge you to consider contributing again next
year, and the following year.  The lives of those affected are often
the hardest when the world has begun to forget, and sadly those are
the times when donations drop drastically…

Please let me know if you have any questions!  And please forward this
message to others.  Thank you so much for reading this far, and
clicking on the links above.  Every little act will help.