3 of 3

Who is paying for the aid that you're providing? It's an awful lot of money that needs to be raised in a very short time.

For the $3 million goal, we put out a public invitation for individuals to donate as they feel led. Then we began applying for government grants.

Do you have a sense of whether people are donating at a certain level? Are they being pretty generous? Or are you seeing some donor fatigue?

I just saw something from one of my colleagues that said the average gift was about $130, but the fundraising pace has begun to pick up. So it's everyday people who see humanity halfway around the world and they want to do something to help.

Can you help our readers understand why this cyclone had such a devastating impact on the country?

I've heard a couple of thoughts on that, one of them being that when the tsunami hit in 2004, Myanmar was close enough that it wiped out some of the mangroves, trees, and vegetation right along the coastline. So what was wiped out hasn't had a chance to grow back. It's only been a few years. So when this storm came along it went straight through. There was essentially nothing to block the storm. They don't have strong roadways or alert systems or houses that can withstand these kind of natural pressures. That's always another factor when looking at why these things happen.

What can Christianity Today's readers do to help right now?

I think the most important thing we can ask first is for prayer. We are asking for prayer for our staff in Myanmar. Staff there are working around the clock tirelessly. Many of them have lost friends and family.

We're also praying for a quick resolution to the situation, that the NGOs are ready and willing to go in and start distributing aid as quickly as possible. But beyond that we're also looking for financial gifts. If readers feel led to do that, they can go to our website. And you'll see everything on the homepage. It will tell you more about our relief work and how to donate.

Is there anything else you think our readers need to know?

One of the things that makes World Vision unique as an NGO is that we are "child-centric." We were founded with the biblical call to work with women and children—to protect them and to be an advocate for them. And we're very concerned about the children that we have.

We have about 10,000 children in the center of the destruction in the five regions that have been marked as the hardest hit, and we have 42,000 children total in Myanmar. We're concerned for them because in a natural disaster, children in particular are very vulnerable to disease. They're vulnerable to dehydration. And they're also vulnerable to the emotional stress and the toll that takes when a little child has to go through a situation like this.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

first page |  3 of 3

share this page

May (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52