A flood of compassion, pledges

Amando Doronila, Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network, Manila

The emergency summit of 21 nations in Jakarta last Thursday to coordinate aid to more than 1.5 million homeless people in 12 countries devastated by the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami unlocked more than US$4 billion in aid pledges from more than 50 countries, both rich and poor.

Although the torrent of pledges moved UN officials to describe it as a display of "competitive compassion," they warned aid donors not to engage in one-upmanship, and to make good the pledge, reminding them that the UN had a bad history of unfulfilled pledges.

The more reassuring and heart-warming aspect of the flood of compassion around the globe was the outpouring of cash donations from common people and the private corporations. Even before governments could make up their minds about their donations, it was the spontaneous public donations that generated the cash flows that financed food and medical supplies that were the first to reach the victims at the hour of their greatest need.

Indeed, it was the private outpouring of aid that may be credited for the recovery of the bodies of more than 150,000 dead, and for blunting the second wave of deaths from diseases and hunger.

Although U.S. President George W. Bush has been criticized by UN officials for his miserly initial offer of $15 million in the first few days of the disaster, forcing him to increase the amount to $350 million in the following days, American private donations have surpassed their government in generosity and lead private donations all over the world, with the Australians competing with them in generosity.

U.S. charities have reported raising more than $337 million for emergency relief, that could dwarf the $350 million committed by the Bush government. Bush himself has donated $10 million after urging the American people to give personally cash donations and drafting his father, former President George W. Bush, and former President Bill Clinton to lead the appeal for private donations from Americans.

The American Red Cross alone has raised nearly $150 million. American private donations were much smaller than the $2 billion raised for the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Tsunami donations to the Red Cross have averaged between $81 and $104 million.

Heart-warming was a donation of fourth-grader Will Molnar of Elverta, California, who gave up his ninth birthday celebration and asked his mother to donate the money she would have spent on his party as presents to children tsunami victims.

A prisoner in the U.S. donated his wages earned from prison labor to tsunami charities. A group of children in a Seattle suburb stood out in the rain offering "hot chocolate for Tidal Wave Relief" and raised $255.

Private Australian donations have been pouring in. A rock concert on the weekend at the Sydney Opera House raised more than $20 million for World Vision Australia as more than 160,000 Australians called in with pledges. The concert proceeds pushed Australian private donations over the $150 million mark.

The Australian public has been donating up to $12 million a day since the tsunami hit 12 countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa two weeks ago, ranking them among the world's best per capita donors. The Red Cross has raised almost $62 million; World Vision, $50.8 million; Care Australia, $18 million; and Oxfam at least $14 million-bigger than the $39 million government pledge of oil-rich Saudi Arabia, together with its $41 million private donation.

The bulk of the Australian cash donations comes from small donors: Ordinary people, chipping in a few hundred dollars. Money is raised from cricket matches, church collections and pubs, and ethnic communities.

More than 50 Thai restaurants from Albert Park, Melbourne, donated up to 50 percent of their earnings last Sunday to the Thai disaster fund.

A lottery winner donated the bulk of her $500,000 winnings to tsunami charities. An 80-year-old pensioner in Brisbane gave to the Red Cross his $10,000 savings, straight out of his mattress where he had kept it for many years.

Australian corporate donations are lagging far behind private individual donations. Business donations have been less than $20 million, compared to the more than $100 million private individual donations. Corporations have been criticized for their miserly response, despite the fact that they are making record profits. Australian corporate response compares poorly with that of U.S. corporations whose donations were outstripping the U.S. official aid pledge package.