Helping Burma and China

Today has been a strange day–I’m still mentally dealing with the gargantuan disasters in Burma and China, but I’m also relieved that the human rights situation in the United States has improved marginally, with the probable legalization of same-sex marriage in California.

I guess TESOL people tend to have global connections and an interest in the world at large–in fact, I find a lot more TESOL professionals with “citizen of the world” mentalities than I do in most other fields. Anyway, although this isn’t directly related to the usual topics here, I wanted to pass on a couple of ways that you can help with the disasters in Burma/Myanmar and China:

A former instructor of mine from the TESOL certification program at CSUEB recommends donating through the US Campaign for Burma. You’ll need to tick a box if you want your donation to go to post-cyclone disaster relief (their usual focus is human rights, I believe). She says “despite what you are reading in the news – aid is getting through – slowly, but getting there.”

Those in China who were affected by the earthquake there seem to be in a somewhat better situation, but there’s no such thing as a good situation in these kinds of massive events. I don’t have any personal recommendations from anyone in China, but the most frequently mentioned avenue for sending aid is Red Cross of China. If you have a better suggestion, please leave a comment.

I imagine that at some point in the future, when the immediate health crises have eased somewhat, there will be calls for rebuilding schools and libraries. I’ll try to post information when I get it. Let me know if you hear anything when the time comes.

Thank you!