Dear friends,
I know that some of you may be sitting at home anxiously wondering how some of the world’s leaders will respond to the disasters taken place in Asia, while wondering how you can assist yourself. I’ve thought a bit about how we can best support the displaced by following the news and donating to organizations that can place your funds most appropriately:
www.irawaddy.org (an independent publication of Burma and southeast Asia)
www.chinadaily.com.cn
(I don’t know how reliable these sites are but you’d get more information about the countries from their perspectives)
www.unicef.org (based on what I’ve seen in Malawi, they seem to give to established institutions, i.e. schools, health centers, and sometimes local organizations but doesn’t monitor the distribution of funds)
www.wfp.org (same as unicef, they seem to only give to established institutions but not much to local organizations)
www.redcross.org (it seems that Red Cross has the most leverage in terms of getting access and support to refugee camps)
If you would like to support other NGOs, I highly encourage you to go to www.charitynavigator.org and evaluate their ratings and effectiveness.
I’ve already gone ahead and did some research for some NGOs within China and Burma you can support from the ground. You can click on the link and view the ratings and websites of each NGO. These are the best NGOs (four stars) suggested by Charity Navigator:
CHINA:
· ACCION International
· Islamic Relief USA
· Mercy Corps
· Operation Blessing International
· PATH
· Project HOPE
· World Relief
· Kids Alive International
· Global Volunteers
· Doctors of the World-USA
· Half the Sky Foundation
· Church World Service
· Himalayan Cataract Project
· ADRA
· International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, U.S. Office
· China Care Foundation
BURMA:
· Action Against Hunger-USA
· Save the Children
· World Vision
· Kids Alive International
· Church World Service
· ADRA
And last but not least, sometimes the only and best thing to do is to pray which would never go unheard.
I hope this helps to make giving less stressful!
Blessings,
Elaine
