GOAL has passed the €3 million mark in public donations while as of today there are 48 GOALies working alongside national staff and partner organisations in the region, responding to the needs of over a quarter of a million people.

Support for GOAL’s work in the stricken areas continues to pour in as CEO, John O’Shea, is in the region this week.

GOAL has also received a cheque for €100,000 from Ben Dunne who said: “I have always admired the way GOAL gets to the trouble spots so quickly and gets on with business. On top of that, the fact that their administrative costs are so low (5%), you just know that the money will be put to good use.”

Former Formula One champion, Damon Hill – a long-time supporter of GOAL – has donated €5,000 to our relief operation in the stricken regions.

The following is a brief resume of GOAL’s emergency response to the disaster.

GOAL is currently assessing the cost of replacement boats and nets for some of the fishermen whose livelihood was, effectively, wiped out by the tsunami. GOAL is finalising plans to provide temporary shelter initially to a population of 1,000.

SRI LANKA

GOAL continues to provide emergency relief assistance in three areas; Ampara (target population 183,527), Hambantota (target population 27,351) and Matara (target population 41,900).

Our emergency activities in all locations include rubble clearance, the essential restoration of water and sanitation facilities including the provision of mobile latrines, and the distribution non-food items to the hundreds of thousands of people now living in relief camps. In Ampara GOAL has now begun transporting potable water in tanker trucks into affected areas. We also have a psycho-social counseling programme for children operating through schools.

In Matara we have initiated a brick making facility with the local cement factory and are also working with a local co operative to develop a rope making facility as a cash for work scheme. Our first fishing boat repair yard is progressing well with 25 boats initially being repaired, and we are negotiating for a second boat yard repair under way. GOAL has also agreed with the Ministry of Education that we will repair 20 damaged schools in the area.

In Hambantota GOAL has established children’s activities in the camp areas and has distributed 55 bicycles to local NGOs to aid movement around the area.

US helicopters have been assisting the GOAL operation in Sri Lanka by ferrying vital supplies to remote regions, and we have been called upon by the World Food Programme to be a senior partner with them in the ongoing distribution of food supplies.

In addition, Michael Kelly, Charles Storer, Jeff Gill and Nick Cooper from Hope and Aid Direct will be joining other aid workers from GOAL to assist in the distribution of aid in Sri Lanka. They will be flying to Dublin on Monday 10 January 2005, for their briefing and will be flying out to Sri Lanka later in the week.

ANDAMAN ISLANDS

GOAL is the only international non-governmental organisation implementing a relief operation on the Andaman Islands, where we have established a food and non food item distribution programme in Port Blair the island’s capital.

We also identified a further 7,000 survivors on Hutt Bay Island who have received no assistance to date and have begun to provide 2,000 of them with emergency food and non-food items.

We have shipped over 30 metric tones of food items from Port Blair to Hutt Bay in the last couple of days. The isolation and remoteness of the survivors and the fact that very little assistance has been given to them, renders them extremely traumatized and needy.

Indonesia

An experienced team of GOALies is assessing needs in Banda Aceh district where GOAL will implement emergency medical, food and non food item distribution in the coming days.

There are over 40 GOALies working alongside national staff and partner organisations in the region, responding to the needs of over a quarter of a million people.

Aid Workers Needed
GOAL urgently needs more qualified and experienced aid workers, including doctors, nurses, engineers, logisticians and accountants, who can commit for at least three months to join its teams in Southern India and Sri Lanka. If you are interested please contact GOAL on 01 2809779 or email personnel@goal.ie

How You Can Help
Anyone wishing to help can click here to make an online donation on our website, or contact GOAL at PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin or phone 01 2809779.

More Information
Click here for more information about the disaster. (Courtesy of alertnet)

Thank you for your support in this terrible time for the people of South East Asia.