Remembrance Week

A year back, Boxing Day didn’t mean much to me. You don’t really have the concept of Boxing Day in India. It’s an alien word, with not much of an import on the subcontinent. However, the tsunami changed it all. In the early hours of 26th December 2004, reports of an earthquake poured in. And then the first reports of huge waves of water. Then, the deaths. The numbers flying furiously across the television ticker. We came to know it as the Boxing Day Tsunami. But it was just the first of disasters to strike the world. Hurricane Katrina and Rita, the earthquake in Kashmir and the countless disasters that never make it beyond Page 8 under International News. World Wide Help says

Last December and this January, the online community came together as never before to help in the aid efforts in South-East Asia. The lessons learned there were put to use, and improved upon, when the other tragic events of the year unfolded.

Can we harness that goodwill, that togetherness, that willingness to help once more?

The WorldWideHelp group would like you to join us in Remembrance Week. Here’s what we suggest you do. Use your blogs, your home pages, your wikis, your newsletters. Link to your favourite charities and NGOs, write a paragraph about them and the work they are doing, and ask your readers to make a donation.

Please remember that whatever you give to these causes, shouldn’t mean that your contribution to another, perhaps lesser-known cause is compromised. We have enough to give away a bit more. Through this week, I shall be linking to some organisations and NGOs that are well-worth your money and support.