OK, sorry I lied but I know you will forgive me, SE Australia has had record unbelievable floods, Christchurch was torn-down by an earthquake but what has happened in Japan defies description….
Most Australian birders have contacts with their counterparts in Japan…..what can we do to help? We’ve all seen images of homeless people with nowhere to sleep, no food and no fuel to escape the freezing conditions but to cap it all their nuclear power-stations are threatening to make their regions uninhabitable…..I’m sure that we can do something to help,
C’mon Birding-Aus, ideas? let’s get our heads together…I know we can do do something!
Tom
Tom
The Red Cross is an excellent idea. Perhaps in due course the Wild Bird Society of Japan & others will seek funding for some conservation restoration work on Honshu.
Cheers
Andrew
_____
[mailto:birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Tom Tarrant Sent: Friday, 18 March 2011 8:36 PM
OK, sorry I lied but I know you will forgive me, SE Australia has had record unbelievable floods, Christchurch was torn-down by an earthquake but what has happened in Japan defies description….
Most Australian birders have contacts with their counterparts in Japan…..what can we do to help? We’ve all seen images of homeless people with nowhere to sleep, no food and no fuel to escape the freezing conditions but to cap it all their nuclear power-stations are threatening to make their regions uninhabitable…..I’m sure that we can do something to help,
C’mon Birding-Aus, ideas? let’s get our heads together…I know we can do do something!
Tom
It’s hard to know how to respond to a disaster in such a well resourced country. The idea of supporting Japanese companies seems to be a good one, and it will be interesting to see what happens to prices and availability. This is a link to a copy of a letter from online optics dealer Adorama, summarises the status of their Japanese suppliers: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=37990490
In particular, “Epson, Canon, Panasonic, Sony, Ricoh and Nikon have all reported that they have donated hundreds of millions of Yen to the relief effort and are contributing in other tactical ways to help survivors.” I also note that Olympus, not mentioned in the email, has donated 100 million yen and resue equipment.
Peter Shute
________________________________________ Sent: Friday, 18 March 2011 10:13 PM Cc: Birding-aus
Tom,
I also feel very frustrated as well, but think the best thing we can do at the moment is donate to an organisation such as Red Cross, they are the experts in disaster relief. I know it is difficult to have to sit back and watch the terrible images but this is an unprecedented disaster and we have to rely on the authorities on the ground.
Before I retired, I was my department’s Regional Emergency Management Officer and was also in the SES. When those reports and images started to come in via the media, my immediate thoughts were “where do you start with this mess?’ The first stage, survivor rescue is virtually over. The next stage will be clean-up and body recovery, which will have to be done alongside repair of infrastructure such as utilities and transport systems. The Japanese Self Defence and Civil Defence Forces seem to be getting on top of the immediate problems of housing and feeding the survivors, though they are not being helped by the weather at the moment, with this cold snap. Heating the shelters must be a great problem.
We should really feel for those working on site. Burnout will be a real problem for those working at the pointy end. There is only so much emergency service personnel can take in a terrible situation like this.
What we can best do for the longer term is buy Japanese products and so support the Japanese economy and help the country get through.
As far as what we can do about the nuclear power stations, all I can suggest is pray that those 50 poor buggers who are trying to control the situation succeed. They are real heroes, as they are probably giving up their lives to do it
Carl Clifford
OK, sorry I lied but I know you will forgive me, SE Australia has had record unbelievable floods, Christchurch was torn-down by an earthquake but what has happened in Japan defies description….
Most Australian birders have contacts with their counterparts in Japan…..what can we do to help? We’ve all seen images of homeless people with nowhere to sleep, no food and no fuel to escape the freezing conditions but to cap it all their nuclear power-stations are threatening to make their regions uninhabitable…..I’m sure that we can do something to help,
C’mon Birding-Aus, ideas? let’s get our heads together…I know we can do do something!
Tom
Roy My Hawai’ian friend’s relatives live just outside the tsunami devastation zone, and have internet contact. Would you like me to ask my friends (who are also birders) if they would ask their relatives to make enquiries? Denise
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Carl I agree with you about those men still working in the nuclear reactor – apparently the company was overwhelmed when they asked for volunteers.
Unfortunately another, and unnecessary, problem is the panic over the radioactivity – while bad, it’s unlikely to kill any, apart from, possibly, some of those brave workers. The BBC has an article on the Japan nuclear threat: “The tsunami is the bigger tragedy”
By David Spiegelhalter Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk, Cambridge University http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12785274
However, many simply do not know who to believe. I’ve Hawai’an friends who have relatives in the area the tsunami hit, and they are really panicking. However, people do tend to trust the BBC which is why I’m sending this particular article to my friends. If the BBC isn’t reporting that the end of the world is nigh, then it probably isn’t!
So how about birders who have friends and contacts in Japan and elsewhere reassuring them. Denise
Hi Tom
One way is to donate money via the Australian Red Cross http://www.redcrossfundraising.org.au/please_help_japan as these funds are used to ease humanitarian suffering. I have been unable to contact a goose researcher friend who came from the Miyagi area and I am very concerned for him.
Roy Sonnenburg
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Dear Tom I have absolutely no problems with your “lie”.
My husband and I have already donated money, and on the night of the tsunami I stayed up to offer comfort by email to a worried Indigenous Hawai’ian relative. Her husband and father had taken their boat out to sea to ensure its safety. She also had friends in the tsunami zone that she couldn’t contact.
At this stage money will be required, not goods. Once safety, food and shelter are assured, survivors need to heal. And as fellow human beings, I’m sure many of us could help there too. So perhaps we could start a pool of birding or other equipment that could be sent later, things that might lighten hearts and occupy minds, rather than fill stomachs or offer shelter.
Denise
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Tom,
I also feel very frustrated as well, but think the best thing we can do at the moment is donate to an organisation such as Red Cross, they are the experts in disaster relief. I know it is difficult to have to sit back and watch the terrible images but this is an unprecedented disaster and we have to rely on the authorities on the ground.
Before I retired, I was my department’s Regional Emergency Management Officer and was also in the SES. When those reports and images started to come in via the media, my immediate thoughts were “where do you start with this mess?’ The first stage, survivor rescue is virtually over. The next stage will be clean-up and body recovery, which will have to be done alongside repair of infrastructure such as utilities and transport systems. The Japanese Self Defence and Civil Defence Forces seem to be getting on top of the immediate problems of housing and feeding the survivors, though they are not being helped by the weather at the moment, with this cold snap. Heating the shelters must be a great problem.
We should really feel for those working on site. Burnout will be a real problem for those working at the pointy end. There is only so much emergency service personnel can take in a terrible situation like this.
What we can best do for the longer term is buy Japanese products and so support the Japanese economy and help the country get through.
As far as what we can do about the nuclear power stations, all I can suggest is pray that those 50 poor buggers who are trying to control the situation succeed. They are real heroes, as they are probably giving up their lives to do it
Carl Clifford
OK, sorry I lied but I know you will forgive me, SE Australia has had record unbelievable floods, Christchurch was torn-down by an earthquake but what has happened in Japan defies description….
Most Australian birders have contacts with their counterparts in Japan…..what can we do to help? We’ve all seen images of homeless people with nowhere to sleep, no food and no fuel to escape the freezing conditions but to cap it all their nuclear power-stations are threatening to make their regions uninhabitable…..I’m sure that we can do something to help,
C’mon Birding-Aus, ideas? let’s get our heads together…I know we can do do something!
Tom