| The Asian Earthquake | The number of people known to have died across south-east Asia in the aftermath of the most powerful earthquake in 40 years is now expected to rise to over 150,000. The epicentre of the earthquake was off the western island of Sumatra in Indonesia, striking at about 0100 GMT (0800 local time) on Boxing Day. Dozens of buildings were destroyed in the initial quake before a huge wall of water, up to 10m high in places, hit the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra. Officials said Aceh was the worst hit area, which lies closest to the epicentre. In Sri Lanka, a wide stretch of the eastern coastline - from Jaffna in the north to the popular tourist beaches in the south - have been devastated, while in India, more than 2,000km (1,243 miles) of southern coast was swamped by tidal waves, including the states of Tamil Nadu - whose capital, Madras, was particularly badly hit - Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala, as well as the federally administered territory of Pondicherry. The western coast of southern Thailand has been badly affected, including Phuket and Phi Phi islands and the mainland resorts of Krabi and Phang Nga. High waves and floods inundated the Maldives and people are reported to have been swept away from beaches near the northern island of Penang in Malaysia. Waves also struck Somalia, Kenya, Burma, Mauritius, Reunion and the Seychelles. |
Hope for Children Hope for Children are a small Hemel Hempstead based charity whose aim is to improve the quality of life and advance the rights of children. They have a major operation in Sri Lanka and have been at the forefront of support of needy children for over ten years in the region, supporting pre-schools catering for low income families in urban and rural areas plus other schools and children's resource centres. Simon Jackman, Projects Manager for HOPE expressed his dismay at the destruction and loss of life in the Tsunami disaster. "It's absolutely terrible" he said. "It is the worst situation I can remember with so many small organisations affected. The human loss is tragic with over 1m people homeless and tens of thousands having lost their lives. "Our main priority is to try and pick up the pieces of our work with local Sri Lanka charities who have been overwhelmed with the task facing them - trying to provide the most basic necessities, such as food, water and shelter, as so many people only have the clothes that they stand up in." HOPE directs all its efforts through small local organisations who know what and where the local need is greatest, choosing not to have overseas offices of paid staff, instead directing funds that would be used for this straight to where the plea is greatest. "We believe that it is vital that we are there to intervene long after the publicity and appeals have ended, and so our call for your support is for funds not just for now, but also for use when the available resources have ebbed away he added. "Disasters such as this have implications for years to come, long after the heart rendering newspaper and television reports have finished. We're still working in areas that were affected by the floods in Mozambique four years ago. The work is always long-term after disasters such as this." You can ring their Appeals Line on 0800 298 7550. Tsunami Peace and Hope Multi Faith Congregation The multi-faith community in Milton Keynes have come together with a view to sharing moments of quiet contemplation, and also to offer a message of hope and peace. Tsunami Peace and Hope Multi Faith Congregation has been arranged to take place on 3 January 2005 from 7.00pm - 9.00pm at Christ The Cornerstone Church in Central Milton Keynes. The people of Milton Keynes are all invited to come and light a candle, to have a quiet moment of reflection and to sign the book of condolence. The programme for the evening includes messages of peace and hope from:
Norman Miles - Mayor of Milton Keynes Nigel Long reading message from Dr P Starkey and Brian White
The Ecumenical Moderator - Representing all Christian traditions
Pritam Singh Obi - Sikh Community
Dr J Pedley - HOMSA - a charity already working in Sri Lanka and based in Milton Keynes
Abbot Handa Shoni - The Buddhist Temple Fazel Khundkar - Representing the faith of Islam Zvi Friedman - Representing the Jewish faith Kapil Dudakia - Representing Hindus The La Hind Tsunami Appeal Fund The La Hind Indian Restaurant in Milton Keynes will donate £5.00 to the tsunami quake appeal for every table booked from the 1st January. They say that this will run indefinitely. "We recognise that however tragic the situation is now, it can only get worse in the short term" explained partner Suhel Ahmed. "Therefore it is so important for businesses to lead the way in offering support. "Our gesture, whilst on its own is quite small, when added to the efforts around the world can make a difference to lives of the many survivors, we hope therefore our many customers will support us in this appeal" he added. Mayday Appeal The Mayday Group, parent company to Travel Extras, are aiming to raise as much money as possible for the Tsunami Earthquake appeal and will be setting up collections at Europcar branches in the area. Luton Town, Mayday House, Crescent Road, Luton
Stevenage, Caxton Point, Caxton Way, Stevenage
Bedford, 4 Kingsway, Bedford
Hemel Hempstead, Unit 5, Enterprise Way, Off Maxted Close, Maylands Park Ind Est, Hemel Hempstead Check local branches for opening times. Items that are needed are: Clothes
Dry Food
Water bottles
Baby items
Boxes of matches
Candles
Tents
Bedding All items collected will be going to the Sri Lankan High Commission based in Hyde Park to be shipped over to Sri Lanka. The next pick up will be in the middle of the week commencing the 3rd of January 2005, with other dates to be confirmed.
Ray Mulford, Group Managing Director commented: “We have several employees who originate from the affected area and as we have the facilities, we are aiming to collect as much items as possible.” Letchworth Buddhist Community Centre The Community Centre are doing house to house collections for essential items to send to Asia. They are also looking for people to donate black dustbin sacks. If you can help, please contact: Rev. N. Rahula Thero
Buddhist Community Centre
32 High Avenue
Letchworth
Tel: 01462 641326 The Rotary Club of Marlow Thames Throughout the year, Rotary continuously raises funds to help keep a stockpile of Aquaboxes in case of any form of disaster throughout the world. These boxes are bought at a cost of £45.00 each and are designed for the purification of dirty water into drinking water within a few hours.
Anyone can sponsor a box which is then traceable via the internet to its final destination in the world. The Rotary also want to get these boxes filled to capacity with emergency items, such as buckets, bowls, kettles, frying pans, candles, tools, toilet rolls, children's clothing & shoes, cutlery, first aid kits, nails and screws, or anything that can be
used in a emergency situation (either old or new but useable). They will then be sent to a dispatch warehouse in the UK for the forward distribution by the aid agencies to those areas of great need. If you wish to see some boxes or contribute in any way you can visit Hunt's of Spittal St, Marlow, Bucks, SL7 1DB or telephone 01628 484376. Voices With Soul Charity Concert The X-Factor's Voices With Soul will be performing a concert in aid of charities including the Tsunami Appeal. Stopsley Baptist Church
St Thomas' Road
Luton 15 January 2005
7.30pm Tickets available from Library Theatre Box Office: 01582 547474 Local Stars for Tsunami - Stantonbury Campus, MK Stars, including local heroes The Blues Collective, MK Dons midfielder and soul stylist Malvin Kamara, and The Will Snap band are staging a major concert to raise money to help orphans of the Tsunami disaster. The event has been organized by Lee Scriven on behalf of the MK Dons Supporters Club. The evening will also feature appearances by fm103 Horizon’s Trevor Marshall, sharing a stage for the first time with breakfast rival BBC Three Counties’ Big George Webley as well as Pete Winkelman, comedians and singers and some surprises on the night. All money raised will go to the Milton Keynes based HOMSA (Hope Outreach Ministries South Asia) aid agency, led by MK GP Dr Sam Muthuvelo who has been operating an orphanage in Navalddy in Sri Lanka for more than six years. 23 January 2005
6.45pm - 10.00pm Tickets: £5.00 Box Office: 01908 324422. | 
