Thank you to everybody who has emailed and called us offering
their best wishes and help following the tsunami in South Asia. Many of you have asked if
there is any way in which money can be donated directly to
the people of Sri Lanka in an effective way. There is.
Eastern Province and the areas around the city of Batticaloa (see map) has suffered greatly
- the latest figures report over 20,000 dead and over 40,000 missing. For various reasons,
both political and logistical, very little meaningful aid has arrived in this area up to now.
Pireeni's father, Dr. Sundaralingam, has flown out to Sri Lanka to help with the
medical effort in Batticaloa. Already, he has been tending to many hundreds of affected people in a
number of refugee camps in the area. We are very proud of him. We speak
to him and to give you an idea of what he's facing every day in his daily rounds on a
motorbike from
makeshift shelter to makeshift shelter, you can read his daily journal here:
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Working with him, we have set up an account to which people can donate to help this effort.
Money from this account will be sent directly to an account in Batticaloa from where money
has already been used to make basic sarongs and dresses for 300 men and 300 women who have lost
everything, including their clothes. If you wish to donate, please send a cheque
(made payable to Pireeni Sundaralingam)
to us at
713 Castro St.,
San Francisco,
CA 94114
If you wish to
wire-transfer money into this account (from within the USA or from abroad), please
contact us and we will send you details
immediately as to how to effect this. Thank you.
If you prefer your donation to be tax-deductible, there is another option.
Co-ordinating with a group of Bay Area-based Sri Lankans,
a new fund, the Sri Lanka Children's Fund,
has been set up under the aegis of the The Women's Foundation of California,
a highly-regarded philanthropic organization based in San Francisco. Aid from this fund shall be used to
support the efforts of a number of very effective organizations on the ground in Sri Lanka with
particular emphasis on helping women and orphaned children. If you wish for your donation to be
tax-deductible, make out a cheque to the Sri Lanka Children's Fund and send it to either of
the following:
Pireeni Sundaralingam
713 Castro St.,
San Francisco,
CA 94114
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Sri Lanka Children's Fund,
c/o The Women's Foundation,
340 Pine Street, Suite 302
San Francisco,
CA 94104
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Please let us know if you send a donation directly to the Fund - it makes
tracking the aid more effective.
Thank you.
Pireeni & Colm
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News
BBC
Tamilnet
(for coverage on Tamil areas)
BBC report on ethnic-based obstructions to aiding Tamil areas
On the Ground Reports
Galle | Batticaloa | Galle 2
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