Maltese open hearts and wallets to tsunami victims

November 30th, 2005

Malta will today dig into its pockets and donate supplies towards the biggest-ever international relief bid in aid of the tsunami victims.

Businessmen, local councils, contractors, low-salary earners, schoolchildren - Maltese from all walks of life - have already started chipping in to help the millions left homeless and hungry as a result of last week's devastating tidal waves in South East Asia.

Several organisations have launched appeals, many are planning auctions, and communities are delving into their savings in what organisers have described as an unprecedented response to an international emergency appeal.

The charity campaigns will reach a climax today when the Civil Protection Department and L-Istrina organisers, among others, will spend hours raising funds and collecting items through different initiatives.

The government will be sending the items and money to Sri Lanka, a fellow Commonwealth country, which has made a direct request for help from Malta. In Sri Lanka, nearly 30,000 people were killed and one million displaced.

"The generosity we've seen is phenomenal, especially when you consider that all this comes after several fund-raising events over Christmas," Charles Debono, the CPD officer in charge of the co-ordination operation, told The Sunday Times.

The appeals seemed to strike a chord with donors because of the sheer scale of the disaster, the gruesome pictures aired on television, and the festive season.

The CPD will be collecting blankets, tents, tinned food and water today between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Maria Regina Junior Lyceum in Blata l-Bajda and Ninu Cremona secondary school in Victoria, Gozo. Scouts from Sliema, Fgura, Naxxar, St Venera and Victoria will collect goods from those who cannot go to the CPD venues.

Seven containers full of water have already been collected, and judging by the enthusiastic response, Mr Debono envisaged that at least 15 containers will be shipped out.

Attrans, a Maltese shipping company, has made available seven of its containers for transporting humanitarian aid to tsunami-stricken countries and pledged to pay freight charges on two of the containers.

Mr Debono said he had been touched by the solidarity shown by people, including a sick elderly couple who went all the way to a CPD centre to donate sheets and tinned food.

Malta will be sending a medical team to Sri Lanka. It includes three doctors and will be headed by a nurse, all of whom were involved in similar work in Kosovo. They will be taking 124,800 blood transfusion and drip infusion kits funded by the Foreign Ministry's Overseas Development Fund, and funds to be raised by L-Istrina and SOS Malta.

All the proceeds from an auction of art works to be held today in a follow-up to L-Istrina TV charity marathon last Sunday will be donated to the victims of the tsunami.

Over Lm26,000 worth of gifts, which were left over from last Sunday's programme, will be given out during today's programme between 1 and 8 p.m.

As L-Istrina's indefatigable presenter, Peppi Azzopardi, explained: "This situation is one of the utmost urgency, and unless our response is an urgent one, more lives will be lost. When we say that with a telephone call you can save a life, we mean it - literally, because the spread of epidemics can claim twice as many lives as those lost in the disaster, unless kept in check. This is why we are appealing for donations."

Mr Azzopardi added that during today's fund-raising programme a number of Maltese who survived the tsunami will be invited to relate their harrowing experience, and a link will be made with the Maltese nationals still undergoing treatment for injuries in Thai hospitals.

Money can be donated by dialling 5004-9005 for a Lm5 donation and 5004-9010 for a Lm10 contribution or by sending an SMS to 5061-9205 for a Lm5 donation.

Contributions can also be sent to SOS Malta, Dar L-Emigrant, Castille Place, Valletta. Donations can also be made through SMS: 5061-7356 for Lm1; and 5061-8074 for Lm2; or by depositing the money in the following bank accounts - APS 20000245111; HSBC 006070932050; and BOV 40013974950.

Persons wishing to help the countries affected by the tsunami can also send an SMS to the Red Cross on one of these numbers: Lm1 - 5061-7364; Lm3 - 5061-8916; and Lm5 - 5061-9213.