To answer these questions and more, close to 15 established aid organizations working towards relief of Tsunami victims in India and Sri Lanka gathered at De Anza College on Jan. 2 to create more awareness among the public for how and where to donate.

The list included such organizations as the American Red Cross, the American Indian Foundation, the Association for India's Development, the Volunteers of India Development and Empowerment, the Shankara Eye Foundation, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, the Bay Area Tamil Manram and chapters of several Indian regional organizations.

"People have been calling us to check where and to whom to donate money. So we decided to organize a meeting with all possible organizations, so people can decide for themselves," said Vertriselvi Rajamanickam, president of the California Tamil Academy. The academy runs Tamil language classes for children every Sunday at De Anza College.

Tamil is the language spoken in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and also in the northern and eastern part of Sri Lanka. Rajamaniakam, who is a resident of Saratoga, left for India the week after the meeting to help in the rehabilitation work of a fishing village in Tamil Nadu.

"What we need from people right now is money and not contributions in kind," said Lorraine Zippiroli, CEO of the Santa Clara Chapter of the American Red Cross. "It's very costly to move supplies and different areas need different things, and only volunteers on the ground there can decide what is actually required."

The Red Cross has raised $43.7 million so far. "The response has been tremendous. As of Dec. 31, we have sent $25 million worth of food and $5 million worth of items required for general hygiene to the affected areas," said Zippiroli. The last week of December, the Santa Clara chapter organized a phonathon and raised $ 142,000 in three hours.

Already there are reports of used clothing piling up without use in certain parts of Tamil Nadu. "Our contact from the Nagapattinam area of Tamil Nadu— one of the worst affected areas— told us that they don't want clothes anymore," said Avinash Tadimalla, a member of Volunteers for India Development and Empowerment.

"What they need is clean drinking water, medicine, non-perishable food items and kerosene," Tadimalla said. "There are so many dead bodies lying around rotting and people are unable to cremate them because of lack of basic fuel like kerosene to burn the bodies. A simple $25 donation will buy a starter kit that will take care of a family." The organization also partners with another nonprofit group called SEEDS, which is running two relief camps in the islands of Andaman and Nicobar.

American India Foundation is one of the largest nonprofit organizations working towards development projects in India. Apart from having influential business leaders on its board, it also has former President Bill Clinton as an honorary trustee.

Sujatha Alluri, a representative of the foundation, said the organization has pledged to raise $2 million in the next 90 days for the long-term relief efforts and will match dollar for dollar, the first $1 million raised. "One hundred percent of the funds raised will go towards rehabilitating of the survivors of the Tsunami attacks in India," she said.

Thasam Gunanayagam is a member of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization that has been working with the Tamil ethnic population in the war ravaged areas of northern and eastern Sri Lanka for the past 20 years. Gunanayagam lost two of his distant relatives in the tsunami. "I'm from a town called Mullaithivu, and it's believed that 3,000 out of its 5,000 people have been swept away," he said.

Dr. Ann Arvin, chief of Infectious Diseases at Stanford Hospital, warns that outbreak of diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis and respiratory illnesses is not too far behind in the relief camps. "When people are living in close quarters like in the refugee camps, infections are more serious," she said. "And when there is stagnant water around, mosquitoes breed and there can be an outbreak of malaria."

Arvin said he thinks medical supplies that are being sent over should cover basic emergency interventions like vaccines, antibiotics and oral re-hydration solutions.

"This is a simple solution of clean water, minerals and vitamins that can save people and children in cases of diarrhea. Also we need to send chlorine and iodine tablets to purify drinking water," she added.

Prasanna Ananth, a resident of San Jose and a second-year medical student at Stanford University, remembers the day of the disaster quite clearly. "My mother was at an ashram in Southern Kerala when the tsunami hit." she said. "Kerala on the southwestern coast of India was another region affected. We were able to contact my mom quickly. But within a short time the entire ashram was washed away. Sitting here, miles away I felt the need to do something to help the people."

Ananth spoke to the hospital officials, and Stanford is now sending basic medical supplies required to treat infectious diseases to Kerala.

Among the people who attended the event was a Sri Lankan native and Los Gatos resident Samuel Nagalingam. "My brother-in-law lost his sister when the waves came into the city of Kalmurai in the Ampara District. She was an elderly lady, and she had gone to the church there to attend Sunday Mass. She could not run away after the first wave, which was just knee high. So she climbed onto a dresser that was in the church. But then a 20-foot wave came next and killed 50 people inside the church," he said.

Dr. Harvey Cohen, the chairman of the department of Pediatrics at Stanford Packard Children's Hospital, was also at De Anza. He said the children who have survived these waves are going to require a lot of counseling apart from help getting on with their lives. Some might have lost a single or both parents or might have been injured during the disaster. "For a child, this is an extremely traumatic experience. This kind of help will be a long-term operation," he said.

Cohen also reminded the audience to be especially attentive to children here in the U.S. exposed to the media coverage of the tsunamis. "This is a side effect of such disasters. Some children will take this in stride while other might need extra attention and love. If you think your child needs that extra help, talk to your doctor about it," he said.

Tsunami relief

Here are websites for some of the organizations raising funds for long-term relief operations.

www.trousa.org

www.aifoundation.org

www.indiadev.org

www.idrf.org

www.santaclaravalley.redcross.org