Bad Timing for a Natural Disaster
Aid for earthquake victims alarmingly slow

I am very concerned that the earthquake victims in Pakistan are not getting what they need to survive. The UN warns that if aid is not immediately forthcoming more could die from the aftermath than the 54,000 to 78,000 initially killed during the quake. The US has never seen fatality numbers like that from a natural disaster; unfortunately they have not seen hours of footage of people struggling to survive in Pakistan. An article in the Christian Science Monitor lays out the problem Below are some excerpts:

Try explaining "donor fatigue" to the earthquake survivors in Pakistan - up to 3 million of whom need food and shelter as winter blows into the Himalayas. Or, explain it to hard-line Muslim groups providing humanitarian assistance while the West responds with far less magnanimity than it did after Asia's tsunami. '

Perhaps because the Oct. 8 quake came in the wake of other large-scale disasters, perhaps because nations' aid budgets are stretched, or because the 7.6 temblor hasn't received 24/7 media coverage - whatever the reasons, the relief effort in mountainous northern Pakistan is in a cash crisis, and requires urgent response.
[. . . .]
UN officials say aid workers have only five weeks left to get six months' worth of food supplies and shelter to millions of survivors before winter cuts off accessibility. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for a "Berlin airlift," but already this week helicopters were grounded due to bad weather in the mountains.

With all the hoopla of our current political circus, let us not forget those who need the help of the richest nation in the history of the world. Both in Pakistan and Africa as well as Guatamala. There is a website to guide your donations at:

http://www.microsoft.com/citizenship/giving/relief.asp