EDITORIAL Stay in the holiday spirit of giving and help tsunami vicitms.
There is no place on earth invulnerable to natural disasters of some sort earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, even asteroid strikes are not completely unheard of in Earth’s long history.
Because we all share the same planet and the same human vulnerabilities, we can all too easily imagine the trauma being suffered by the families in the 11 countries directly hit by last weekend’s cataclysm and by relatives of those who died or are missing around the world. As of Thursday morning, the count stood around an uncertain 116,000, but it seemed sure to climb even higher.
The repercussions of the disaster have only just begun to manifest. There was little time to recover from the daily doubling of the death tolls this week, when we realized that clean water and disease control are now the main challenges facing hundreds and thousands of people and the rescue workers and volunteers trying to assist.
Contaminated water supplies, diseases like mosquito-borne malaria or water-borne cholera these are some of the real challenges facing the health and well-being of nations of people right now. The least we can do from far away is to support the relief effort to keep these death tolls from rising.
There is no nation or group responsible for this huge loss of life. There is no one to blame and there are no political implications it is simply an act of nature, which could in theory affect any place on earth.
As fellow humans, we must empathize and want to heal this wound before it becomes worse.
Let us unite as we have before in the face of disasters that have struck our own nation, and reach out to those who are in danger right now from the aftermath of the earthquake.
Let us demonstrate our natural generosity as a people.
Among the relief programs offering assistance are the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, Mercy Corps, Save the Children, UNICEF, CARE and faith-based organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Inc., Lutheran World Relief and many others.
Whichever aid program you choose to donate to, if you are able, consider making a donation in some form now and in the coming weeks and months.
Make it a New Year’s resolution to carry the giving spirit of the recent holidays over into 2005 and support the causes that are helping the thousands of people in need of help right now.

