LETTERS: Tsunami victims need our help

By:
To the editor:
   
This truly is the season for giving, not because of any holiday but rather because the people of the world are in dire need of it. As many of you may have watched or read about, tidal waves caused by an earthquake under the ocean floor in Southeast Asia have caused devastation in 11 underdeveloped nations on Dec. 26.
   Everyday, the death toll has risen — to upwards of 77,000. That number is greater than the combined populations of Cranbury, Jamesburg and Monroe. About half of the deaths are children, ruining futures for families already living in or near poverty.
   The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, said the economic loss for these poor nations is in the billions of dollars. While it is hard for us to imagine such staggering numbers, it is the stories below that gave me insight into how truly unfortunate the situation for victims of the tragedy is.
   "There was a couple standing in the foyer just checking in when this thing just hit – and that was it — that was their holiday — just wrecked straight away. There was one poor mother’s baby got pulled out of her arms – they never found the baby; there was a father who couldn’t find his wife or son — he ended up with broken ribs; and we finally found the mother but his son was never retrieved; and a lady in a wheel chair just couldn’t get away — I think she got swept
away," (from a tourist on his honeymoon in Thailand).
   "There were people holding onto trees and holding on for dear life really because you get caught up in that rush, you could get pushed into anything and everything, a piece of glass, I mean people were cut everywhere, cut across the face. Now I know why so many people died and it really was a period of survival," (from a British tourist in Thailand).
   "The whole town is full of her family, and we’ve heard this morning that the entire village has been swept into the ocean and there’s nothing but dead bodies. They can’t find anybody and she’s just … I don’t know what to bloody do," (from a British man married to an Indonesian woman who resided in this now nonexistent town).
   Look into your hearts and give to those who are truly unfortunate and suffering now. While you can donate money and it will be put towards a good cause, raising awareness so that others may provide is even more important. I am personally donating $100 of money I was planning on using for my tuition at Rutgers University. Please find the place in your hearts and mind.
   New Jersey groups currently collecting supplies and donations: New Jersey Buddhist Vihara, (732) 821-9346 or www.helplanka.org, Hindu American Temple and Cultural Center of Marlboro (732) 972-5552, and American Red Cross of Central New Jersey in Princeton (609) 951-8550.
Miten Shah
Jamesburg