Give something

This is pretty much my old life I've gotten back to. Sure I have alot of stuff going on, but then I read about the cholera epidemic in Haiti, and how much worse it has gotten since I last wrote about it. And I feel like a jerk again. This wasn't suppose to be me anymore...

I guess the least I can do is mention what's happening. 1034 people has died, and at least 16.799 are sick. There is war going on in the streets, after rumors getting out about the cholera coming from UN soldiers. It's just totally crazy. As I've said before, cholera is an easily treated disease. We can help by donating money to Doctors Without Borders. Follow this link to donate online (min. amount 5$).

Megi the Monster

The people in the Philippines were "lucky" this time. Even though typhoon Megi did destroy infrastructure and crops to a worth of around 30 million dollars, and thousands of houses were damaged, "only" 20 people died. Usually typhoons kill hundreds of people when they hit these areas. The difference this time is said to be the great preparations made by the government and the Red Cross, putting lots of resources in and evacuating thousands of people and giving them shelter in safe places.

Time to hold our breath and pray for the best as the typhoon heads for China right now. It looks like it is going to miss Hong Kong, so that's great news. If worst comes to worse and she then heads for Vietnam, we're all gonna have to step up. With the terrible floods killing lots of people there already, Vietnam is in no shape to make preparations of the kind that was made in the Philippines...

I feel small, don't you?

How to help the families in the Philippines

The Philippine Red Cross is the organization on site doing lots of work. They accept any donations! On this site you'll find all the information you need. You may send a check or make a bank deposit. Supposedly you're also able to donate through sms, but I haven't yet figured out how. I texted "RED(space)1" to 2899 just to see if it would work, but it didn't. Maybe I'm just stupid who can't figure it out (I don't want to call the hotline as I'm sure there are people calling with more urgent questions). The great thing is that you can donate just as much as you afford. You can also send food, medicines, sanitary products and shelter materials. Check the site for all info.

Another option for us who like the work of the Red Cross is to donate locally. In most places you can choose category for your donation, like "Disaster Relief", but there's a minimum amount for what you can give.

Mother nature strikes again

A new monster typhoon has hit the Philippines. They call her Megi and she killed at least one person already this morning. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. BBC News claims: "it will re-emerge into the South China Sea and re-intensify as it heads for southern China."

It's always scary when uncontrollable forces like this hit. Especially for someone like me, who has grown up in a place where natural disasters is known almost solely from TV and American movies, it is easy to fall into the trap of letting yourself be fascinated by the idea. Type example was the horrible tsunami in 2004. As many Swedes were affected when the holiday resorts in Thailand were destroyed, people got almost obsessed with what was happening. Those who didn't know anyone that had been affected still lost focus on everything else, as if their every day life didn't matter. The bright side was that many many people donated money to help.

I will keep an eye out for ways to help the people who's homes will be hit by the typhoon. Even for us with limited resources there should be a way. Those of you who believe should pray no one else gets hurt.