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Tsunami in Asia: Information for schools
From the Tsunami
in Asia online resource
Oxfam have now closed our Tsunami Crisis Appeal,
with huge thanks to the British public. The generosity of the British
public has made Oxfam's Tsunami Crisis Appeal the most successful
appeal in our 60-year history.
Oxfam now has sufficient money to work with
partners in the affected countries to rebuild people's lives over
the coming years. We are no longer able to accept donations specifically
for the tsunami appeal, but are still in desperate need of your
support in other emergencies. Click here to find out about other emergencies where people still need your help.
The DEC is also winding down their
tsunami appeal although they are still accepting funds raised by
pre-arranged events. Click here for information
on how to submit donations.
There are many different ways of responding to the
current crisis, and in the immediate term, Oxfam (like many other
agencies) recommended fundraising as the most effective public action.
But although your amazing response has allowed us
to fund reconstruction work in countries affected by the tsunami,
there are still many other places where suffering continues.
Around the world, the number of people killed by the
tsunami die every week because they are poor.
30,000 children die needlessly every day.
Oxfam still desperately needs your support in these
other emergencies, and around the world, as we work to make poverty
history.
Below you will find suggestions for ways to support
Oxfam’s ongoing work around the world, and information about
how to explore issues with your pupils. There is also information
about what to do if you are currently fundraising for the tsunami
appeal, and where to find information about how Oxfam is responding
in affected countries. Finally, we hope you will join us in our
campaign to Make Poverty History during 2005.
> Background information for teachers
> Thank
you message from Oxfam Director, Barbara Stocking
> What can your school do?
> What does your money buy?
> Where should schools send their donations?
> What is the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC)
> Educational resources from Oxfam
> MAKE POVERTY HISTORY – A Year of Change?
Background information for teachers
You can’t prevent a natural disaster, such as
a tidal wave, but you can prevent the millions of deaths caused
each year by poverty – for instance deaths from childbirth,
preventable diseases and lack of medicines. The governments of rich
countries could prevent these unnecessary deaths by giving more
and better aid, debt relief, and changing world trade rules.
A huge natural disaster attracts the world’s
media, but slow disasters are being played out, and ignored, in
other parts of the world every day. The huge public response to
the Asia Tsunami shows that people do want to address problems in
other parts of the world and are prepared to give their money to
do so.
Television pictures of the tsunami disaster show how
desperately poor most of the communities affected already were.
With limited resources for rebuilding their lives, they are totally
vulnerable to natural disasters. A lack of basic infrastructure,
such as a health system, means that the death toll will be higher
than it would be otherwise.
Natural disasters like the Asian Tsunami show how
the poorest people are often the most vulnerable in this kind of
catastrophe. 98 per cent of those killed and affected by natural
disasters come from developing countries. Each disaster reported
in highly developed nations results in an average of 23 deaths,
while every disaster in poor countries kills on average more than
1,000 people (World Disasters Report 2001). Images from the tsunami
show how desperately poor many of the hardest-hit communities are.
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What can your school do?
While the aid agencies working together as the Disasters
Emergency Committee are now winding down their appeal for funds
for the tsunami appeal, there are still many other emergency situations
around the world where Oxfam needs your help to save lives.
Oxfam has now closed their Tsunami Appeal. The DEC
is also winding down their appeal but will still gratefully accept
money raised at events that have already been arranged. However,
perhaps you would consider redirecting funds raised to provide much
needed support in other emergency situations around the world.
Find out about other emergencies:
Oxfam's emergencies home page
Sudan
Northern
Uganda
Democratic
Republic of Congo
Find out how to help Make
Poverty History
Fundraising ideas
Many schools have already raised money, or have plans to raise money,
to help the tsunami’s survivors rebuild their lives. If you
haven’t started fundraising yet – please consider raising
money to support Oxfam’s work in other emergency situations
and our development work around the world.
Oxfam won’t be able to accept any more money
specifically for the Tsunami Appeal because we have enough to do
the work we need to do. If you still want to give to the Tsunami
Appeal you can do so through the DEC.
You might want to consider buying an item from the
emergency edition of our Oxfam
Unwrapped gift catalogue. The items for sale are all things
that Oxfam needs in emergency situations around the world.
If you do want to fundraise for the DEC or to support Oxfam's other work, here are some suggestions
on how your school could raise money:
Reproduce the school Christmas concert for parents/local
community
Non-uniform days
Jumble sale/Car boot sale
Donate a week’s pocket money
School fashion show
School clothes auction
Cake stalls
Sponsored walk around the school grounds/school field
Sponsored silence
Sponsored swim
Sponsored dance
School disco
Sponsored karaoke
DT models/Junk modelling sale
Quiz night
Concert/Assembly for parents on the disaster
Book sale
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Where should schools send their donations?
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is now winding
down its tsunami appeal and we would encourage you to consider giving
instead to Oxfam’s ‘general funds’ – that
is, to allow us to spend your money to help the world’s poorest
people wherever it is needed most.
But, if you are already collecting for the tsunami
appeal you can still make donations to the DEC by:
- phoning 0870 60 60 900
- visiting the website at www.dec.org.uk
- going to your nearest high street bank and making
a donation payable to the DEC Tsunami Earthquake Appeal
- sending a cheque made payable to DEC Tsunami Earthquake
Appeal by post to: PO Box 999, London, EC3A 3AA.
Alternatively, cash or cheque donations can be made
at any Post Office. Cheques should be made payable to Post Office
Limited. Oxfam will accept cash donations at its shops.
If you are a UK taxpayer, the value of your gift can
be increased by 28% under the Gift Aid scheme. On your behalf, we
simply claim back the tax from the Inland Revenue.
If you would prefer to make a donation directly to
Oxfam that can be spent anywhere to help the world’s poorest
people, click
here for more information
> For
more information about what you could do, click here.
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What does your money buy?
It’s amazing how much can be achieved with just
a small amount of money from people like you, and a little help
from Oxfam. Your school can make a difference today by raising money
to donate to Oxfam for our work in over 70 countries around the world. If your schools raised money to help victims of the tsunami – this list will give you an idea of what that money might have bought.
£23.40 could pay for
10 Oxfam buckets with taps to keep water clean and keep people healthy.
£25 could pay for a latrine slab. When communities’
toilets are destroyed emergency latrines with slabs are a quick
way to prevent the spread of disease.
£36.20 could pay for 400 bars of soap –
to be used for personal hygiene and washing.
£60 could pay for 10 family hygiene kits.
£118 could pay for an emergency shelter kit,
comprising plastic sheeting, struts, pegs and rope – enough
for a family of eight.
£185 could pay for a tonne of aluminium sulphate
for water purification (this is used when the water is very dirty
– it causes sediments to drop out of the water, after which
it can be chlorinated).
£482 could pay for a latrine digging kit.
£1,086 could pay for a complete water-testing
kit.
£1,236 could pay for an 11,000-litre water
tank, which can be put together in just 45 minutes and is large
enough to provide 750 people with their daily water requirements.
> Click
here for more details on what your money could buy.
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What is the Disasters Emergency Committee
(DEC)
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is a UK-based
umbrella organisation which launches and co-ordinates national appeals
in response to major disasters overseas. By coming together, charities
can achieve higher media profile and raise more money.
DEC members include Oxfam, Action Aid, British Red
Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide,
Help the Aged, Merlin, Save the Children, Tearfund, and World Vision
UK.
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Educational resources from Oxfam
We have produced new educational material specifically
designed to help teachers cover issues raised by this tsunami. Cool Planet's Tsunami in Asia
resourcehas been regularly updated in the two months following the tsunami. We are now keen to encourage schools to support our ongoing work to prevent needless death and suffering caused by global poverty – where 30,000 children die every day just because they are poor. Educating young people about how poverty is man-made, unjust and unsustainable can make a real difference to their belief that they can change the world for the better, and their ability to do so.
Cool Planet is full of excellent free materials to
help you tackle many topics relevant to international development
and other global issues. You can find our list
of resources here.
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MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY –
A Year of Change?
Many of the organisations that are part of the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY
campaign are working now to save lives in the countries affected
by the tsunami. That's because we are committed to being there,
working alongside people in poverty to help save lives and stop
suffering. But we also know that long-term change for the better
in the world's poorest countries will only come with more and better
aid, an end to the debt crisis and a new approach that makes trade
part of the solution, not part of the problem. That is why –
as we continue to work in Asia to support people rebuilding their lives – we think it is even more important that we
campaign to make poverty history.
The terrible reality is that 30,000 children die every day because of the effects of poverty. And, while the tsunami came without warning and killed thousands of people, we already know that 30,000 children will continue to die unnecessarily every day until we end extreme poverty once and for all. There is no excuse for the world's failure to act.
The huge public response to the tsunami shows that
when people in Britain see large-scale suffering in other parts
of the world, they want to help. We believe that when people see
the hidden yet massive disaster created every day by extreme poverty,
they will want to take action and they will call on Tony Blair to
take leadership in 2005 to make poverty history.
> Click
here to find out more about MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY
– A Year of Change
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