I visited this country less than a few months back. The people are wonderful and sweet. The regime that has controlled the country has ruled with an iron fist for years but the people remain amazing. The disaster has risen to at least 22,000 deaths with over 40,000 still missing. It is devastating. I also do not see the outpour of assistance from the international community. I was also disappointed to hear First Lady Laura Bush condemn the junta for not being prepared for this. I guess she forgot all about New Orleans and the debacle that occurred in our own country.

I have not found a way to send assistance there yet. If anyone knows of humanitarian organizations that are working with the country, please let me know. I know that Thailand has send over aid and am sure that others will as well.

Hi Oz,

The topic of Burma (its true name, IMO) and the oppression it's people have to endure under the junta government has been an issue at my campus for a while. This latest tragedy only compounds the situation.

As i am aquaintences thru school of a couple of former Burmese citizens (many who have relocated to the Bay Area), i cannot begin to relate the additional heartache they are facing- for me, it has made an already difficult week of navigating finals even more stressful.

Here is a link to an article that may assist you and others with the question you posed, hopefully my external linking skills to this site have improved:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../MNCQ10H4IN.DTL

Thank you for that link and the info. Here is what the end of the article said.

How to help

For information about Burma and Cyclone Nargis or to donate to relief efforts, contact one of these organizations:

-- Burmese American Democratic Alliance: badasf.org

-- Burmese American Women's Alliance: bawalliance.org

-- Foundation for the People of Burma: foundationburma.org

-- U.S. Campaign for Burma: uscampaignforburma.org

-- Doctors Without Borders: doctorswithoutborders.org

-- UNICEF: unicef.org

-- CARE: care.org

-- Church World Service: churchworldservice.org

-- American Red Cross: redcross.org (The Red Cross has an international response fund through which people can designate donations for the Burma cyclone.)

We here at MaleEscortReview have donated 1,000 USD to the Red Cross for this specific fund. This area of the world has a special place in my heart and I know many guys from Burma and my first bf in Thailand was actually from there.

Welcome for the info. Great what you guys are doing. On campus, we've been generating dollars and donations of blankets, food, etc to send over there this weekend- even though most of us are smack dab in finals stuff.