Resposta a uma oferta de ajuda

Dear Students of Boyceville High,

It's great that you want to help out. But there are a few things you should consider before you launch a food drive:

First, if you donate food items, the relief societies and aid agencies will have to ship the food to the affected areas. Shipping by air or sea isn't free...that's why relief groups raise funds. Southeast Asia is a long way from Boyceville and shipping heavy food items here from the U.S. costs a lot of money.

Second, although the devastated areas truly have been destroyed, the countries they are in have not. Relief agencies ask for money because they use the funds raised to buy food and supplies within the countries where the tsunami struck. This helps in a couple of ways:

1. It circulates money and keeps people working in the local economy;
2. Less aid money is spent on shipping fees, so it can be used to buy more food, medicine and shelter items;
3. The food purchased locally is likely to be the food people are accustomed to eating. Food collected in other countries often goes to waste because it is unfamiliar or cannot be consumed due to religious reasons or cultural taboos.

Third, the reconstruction of the places destroyed by the tsunami will take a long, long time. There will surely be other ways your school can help. How about raising funds to rebuild a classroom or buy books for a school library in the tsumani-hit areas? Learn about the sports people play in the region -- maybe your school could help fund a school football (soccer) pitch, sepak court, or cricket ground.

Perhaps Boyceville could set up an sister city program with a community of a similar size in Sri Lanka, Indonesia or Thailand...

Hang on to your charitable impulse and you will find a way to make a difference.

-- A former Wisconsin resident living in SE Asia.