Aid is arriving in from many countries, including the U.S.
U.S. planes carrying food and other aid landed in early Sunday, the first American aircraft to land in in more than a decade. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. aid was well received.
The reception was beyond expectations," said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jeff Bohn, who was on the first American transport plane to reach Kerman. "The warmth that the ian military and civil aviation workers gave us was truly incredible.
The reports from the devastated area are horrific. Hope is fading for finding more survivors. The Scotsman reports that:
The traditional sun-dried, mud-brick construction of the houses doomed many occupants. Heavy roofs, often sealed with cement or plaster to keep out the rain, sit atop mud-brick walls that stand without benefit of wood or steel beams. When the walls crumble, the roofs smash down, leaving few air pockets and crushing or suffocating anyone caught inside.
A spokesman for the Italian aid teams describing a visit to Barazat, a town with a population of 20,000 a few miles outside Bam, said:
There is nothing any more. Not one single house, not one single building stands upright. It is like the Apocalypse. I have never seen anything like that.
The disaster seems to have the potential for being even worse than the current unbelievable reports. This Scotsman article reports that there were 120,000 living in villages surrounding Bam where assistance is focused. If the damage is as severe throught the villages as the report Barazat it could be much worse than the 20,000 estimated deaths.
This Yahoo slideshow gives a sense of the devastation.
I spent over an hour this morning surfing web news sites to find advice about how to help the ians. The results of my efforts were disappointing. I only found this Seattle Times article and this Reuters Foundation article.
In the limited area of the blogosphere that I frequent, I found many suggestions on how we can send help, including the following:
Jeremy Brown, at whoknew, and Alireza, at Persian Blogger Chronicles, suggest sending donations to the National ian American Council, a Washington, DC-based non-profit educational organization promoting ian-American participation in American civic and political life.
Hugh Hewitt posts that he is donating to WorldVision, which has pioneered the delivery of "family survival kits," which provide immediate necessities.
Michele, at A Small Victory, also recommends NIAC, as well as Direct Relief and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Moe Lane, at Obsidian Wings, also suggests Direct Relief and complains that the Democratic candidates have been strangely silent about this disaster.
Pejman Yousefzadeh, at Pejmanesque, also suggests Direct Relief.
Kevin Aylward, filling in for Kate at Electric Venom, also suggests the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Michele, at the Command Post, refers us to the ian Truth Weblog, which has links to Mercy Corps, Relief International and NIAC.
Please pick an organization you are comfortable with and make a donation.
UPDATE: 12-29-03
Today's the Christian Science Monitor's website has information about how to help. The CSM reports that the following agencies "are accepting cash donations to assist the relief effort in Bam, :"
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
In the US, 1-800-HELPNOW
World Vision
In the US: 1-888-56-CHILD
Mercy Corps International
In the US: 1-503-796-6827
UNICEF
In the US: 1800-367-5437
Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières)
In the US: 1-888-392-0392
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