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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, January 7, 2004: Chinmaya Mission Chicago reports:



“You are all aware of the unspeakable tragedy of death and destruction caused by the deadly Tsunami in the Asian region. In the face of such extensive human suffering, the least we can do is to open our hearts and offer support to reach the victims. Our earnest efforts are under way at Chinmaya Mission to raise funds for this humanitarian cause. The Mission has always been at frontline in such disaster relief, locally as well as internationally. We appeal to you for your wholehearted support. Please note: 100% of your donation will be sent for relief work (no reduction for any overheads). Our immediate plans are to send monetary help to meet urgent and basic needs of the victims. We shall also support reconstruction and development with funds available through Mission. You may also donate on-line through our web site: here.”



Chinmaya Mission Chennai reports:



“The impact of the Tsunami waves was unknown to Indians until the morning of the 26th of December. Heavy loss of life and property were the footprints it left on the sands along the coastal regions. The Government machinery has been working really hard to bring the life of the people back to normality at the earliest. The power lines in many areas have been restored 3 days after the tsunami wave event. Water supplies have been restored in 70% of the affected places within a week. We have at present over 50 NGOs working here to help in the relief and the rehabilitation work. They belong to different countries and have come with great enthusiasm as well as financial and material support facility for the affected families. The Government as well as the NGOs have covered almost every inch of all the affected villages on the coast. The medical teams of the Government hospital have done a wonderful job. There is no case of epidemic of any kind. The NGOs also pitched in with doctors. The Government has posted doctors and the nurses in all places. Apart from this, the NGOs are also flooding the place with voluntary doctors who have come from different parts of India.



“Chinmaya Mission started work on the 27th morning. Being an organization based locally, it was instrumental in arranging for the stay and food for other NGOs that had come to Nagapattinam. Initially, Chinmaya Mission provided great help to a lot of donors from outside Nagapattinam to distribute relief materials to the affected people. Chinmaya Mission then plunged into the field of food and cloth distribution as well as providing medical aid for the affected people. We have had teams of doctors and volunteers coming in from Chinmaya Mission centres at Chennai, Trichy, Hosur and Coimbatore. On average, we have been having at least 5 doctors serving at various places in Nagapattinam.



“The response of people from all over the country has been overwhelming. At the moment, there is an excessive flow of relief materials into the town. As the affected were unorganized, the distribution of materials reached the wrong hands too. Seeing all this, we have slowed down the distribution of materials to the public. We are limiting it to only verified genuine cases. Food is now being provided by other service organizations through community kitchens too. Hence, we are now planning to shift focus to long-term rehabilitation, making the best use of the available infrastructure at our disposal as well as the other facilities. A plan will be discussed with Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji on the January 6 in Chennai. Only after this will we have a clear picture of how Chinmaya Mission will involve itself in this project.”

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