Rice community aids victims of two earthquakes

Rice
community aids victims of two earthquakes
…………………………………………………………………

The Rice community
has been doing its part to aid victims of two recent earthquakes,
one in India and the other in El Salvador.

Indian Students
at Rice (ISAR) coordinated a relief effort to assist victims
of the Jan. 26 earthquake that struck the northwestern state
of Gujarat in India. Donation boxes were set up at the Rice
Memorial Center and the Office of International Students
and Scholars.

“In just
a matter of days, our collection has exceeded $1,500,”
said Priyank Jaiswal, president of ISAR. He noted that the
Indian student group worked in conjunction with the South
Asian Society and other student organizations on campus,
and those groups collected an additional $500, raising awareness
about the earthquake destruction in various colleges across
the campus.

As part of the
awareness efforts, a video was presented to faculty, staff
and undergraduate and graduate student representatives that
showed the devastation in India and discussed relief measures
and the purpose of raising funds at Rice. Student representatives
hosted similar video presentations in many departments and
colleges across campus.

Measured at
a magnitude of 7.9, the Indian earthquake was the country’s
worst natural disaster in 40 years, causing enormous damage
to life, infrastructure and morale. Tremors lasted for about
50 seconds and were felt across a large area, from Nepal
in the east to as far as Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip
of the Indian peninsula. Officials have estimated that nearly
30,000 people died in the 11 days following the quake, and
more than 200,000 were injured, with close to 100,000 homes
destroyed. Initial estimates of property losses of $5.5
billion and production losses of $110 million per day have
been made. These estimates are continuously increasing as
reports of more destruction keep pouring in.

“We are
just beginning to see the scope of this disaster,”
said Carol Bellamy, executive director of UNICEF. “The
loss of life could be astounding — and the task of
helping the survivors stay sheltered, safe, fed and protected
from disease will require an enormous outpouring of support.”

Members of the
Rice community can donate to the relief effort or volunteer
to help the effort. To send donations or to volunteer contact
Jaiswal at (713) 348-2414 or <priyank@rice.edu>.
For more information visit the Web at <www.cs.rice.edu/~karthick/isar/earthquake/>.

Meanwhile, the
campus community also stepped in to provide relief to victims
of the Jan. 13 earthquake in El Salvador. In coordination
with the nonprofit organization Salvadoran-American Medical
Society (SAMS), the student group Hispanic Association for
the Cultural Enrichment at Rice (HACER) held a coin drive
to raise funds. The money collected from HACER’s effort
was donated to SAMS. Food, medicine and other items will
be purchased with this money.

The 7.6-magnitude
earthquake left more than 600 dead and thousands missing
or injured.

For more information
on the relief effort, contact HACER at (713) 348-3886.
.