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IRISH AID AGENCIES are appealing to the public to give money rather than second hand material goods to the Philippines relief effort, as the response to Typhoon Haiyan continues.
Dóchas, the umbrella group for Ireland’s NGOs, has thanked donors for their generosity, but said that where material items are donated that haven’t specifically been requested, it may have the effect of preventing the transportation of goods that are needed.
According to Hans Zomer, Director of Dóchas: “People in Ireland have once again shown their generosity when there is a need to assist victims of disaster, hunger or conflict”.
“At the same time, our experience as Irish NGOs also shows that this high level of public support is not always matched by a high level of understanding of the needs of the communities affected by the disaster.
“If material items are donated that have not specifically been requested by an aid agency, it may actually prevent the transportation of essential items”
“In the Philippines, roads have been damaged or have been rendered un-passable and there is a real risk of them becoming jammed with shipments of non-priority items, such as second hand clothes,” Zomer said.
Children queue for food at a damaged daycare centre in Basey township, Eastern Samar province [Bullit Marquez/AP/Press Association Images]
Donations of money enable relief organisations to buy exactly what victims need most urgently at locations closer to the affected areas. Dóchas is asking members of the public to check out the website HowYouCanHelp.ie which sets out ways people can help best assist aid agencies.
UN appeal
The appeal comes as the UN seeks more international aid to shelter and give temporary jobs to the millions displaced by the storm.
Donors have so far given $164 million, or just under half of the initial UN humanitarian appeal for $301 million.
The earlier appeal was launched on 12 November, four days after Haiyan unleashed powerful 315kph winds and giant storm surges in the central Philippines.
At least 5,598 have been killed and 1,759 others are still missing, mainly in the predominantly poor islands of Samar and Leyte, according to a government tally.
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That’s a shame to hear. I used to love reading Montague’s poetry for the Leaving Cert and sure enough he showed when I needed him on the big day. A dolmen round my childhood. R.I.P.
The light, tarred skin
of the currach rides
and receives the current,
rolls and responds to
the harsh sea swell.
Inside the wooden ribs
a slithering frenzy; a sheen
of black-barred silver-
green and flailing mackerel:
the iridescent hoop
of a gasping sea trout.
As a fish gleams most
fiercely before it dies,
so the scales of the sea-hag
shine with a hectic
putrescent glitter:
luminous, bleached—
white water—
that light in the narrows
before a storm breaks. ………RIP John Montague
Hey diddle diddle The cat did a piddle, All over the kitchen mat, The little dog laughed to see such fun, And piddled all over the cat.
@michael o’brien
“The disappointed cat / Reflected in the glass / Reflects on where it’s at / And that it shall not pass.” I made up that one last week when the cat was trying to get out the kitchen window and I closed it in time. Suppose Poet’s Corner’s safe from us both Michael. RIP Mr Montague filíocht mór. Ar dheish Dé go raibh a anam.
@john o Driscoll,I like your poem John,I always liked poems that rhymed.No harm havin a bit of a sense of humour.
The rhymes the thing for many Michael. And a sense of humour carries us a long way past where we’d otherwise give up always. But beat and rhythm, imagery and sense don’t necessarily need to rhyme though they should always scan imo. Was thinking as I wrote that how the real cat in the kitchen appeared also to be outside on the window ledge at the same time (it being dark outside as in Country dark) as he gazed at his reflection, a photon cat observing a molecular cat or vice Versa.
And thought of calling the insta-ditty “An answer to Schrodinger” but immediately thought it pseud and overly clever-clogs and reading this haven’t changed opinion. That’s why great poets like Montague are great; regardless of rhyme or the absence there of. Their poetry is real, not pretentious or forced. It blows the heart wide open with apols to Mr Heaney.
I always found poetry difficult, until I discovered JOHN Montegue….you Sir, deciphered poetry for me, where others shrouded it in obscure meaning. For that, I THANK YOU. May you Rest In Peace.
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