World's poorest nations offer aid

[rebelAfrika]

September 6, 2005
World's poorest nations offer Katrina aid
By ROHAN SULLIVAN - Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Some of the world's poorest nations —
Bangladesh, Afghanistan and tsunami-hit Thailand — have offered the
United States aid and expertise to deal with the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.

While some of these aid pledges were small compared with the millions
of dollars and heavy machinery promised by Europe, they come from
nations with far less to give and are symbolic recognition of the role
U.S. aid has played in their development.

Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, where millions of
people live on a monsoon- and flood-prone delta, pledged $1 million to
Katrina's victims and offered to send specialist rescuers to inundated
areas, the Foreign Ministry said.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said the assistance from Bangladesh — a
major recipient of U.S. economic development aid — was "a token of
goodwill and sympathy," spokesman Zahirul Haque said late Monday.

Thailand Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkon said his Southeast
Asian country would send 60 doctors and nurses and a shipment of rice
to the United States.

The assistance is a "gesture from the heart," Kantathi said, adding
that Thailand remembers the help it received from the United States
after last year's tsunami that left 228,000 dead or missing across 11
Indian Ocean countries. Thailand's death toll was more than 8,000.

Impoverished Afghanistan, which is still struggling to recover from
two decades of war that ended when U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban
regime in 2001, has pledged $100,000 for Katrina victims, the
government announced.

Neighboring Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the international fight
against terrorism, has offered doctors and paramedics, and Washington
"expressed their appreciation for the offer," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Mohammed Naeem Khan said.

Some 2,700 Pakistanis and Pakistani-Americans were in the regions hit
by Katrina, and the Pakistani Embassy in Washington is working with
U.S. authorities to provide them with help, Khan said.

In Latin America, Honduras has offered to send 135 flooding and
sanitation experts, and Peru has offered to send a medical team of up
to 100 members.

A Mexican ship loaded with supplies set sail Monday from the Gulf
Coast port of Tampico, and the country has set up consular offices in
trailers around the disaster zone to help some of the estimated
140,000 Mexicans who live in the region — including 10,000 in New Orleans.

Even leftist governments often at odds with Washington have offered to
chip in. Cuba has offered to send 1,100 doctors and Venezuela offered
1 million barrels of gasoline, $5 million in cash and more than 50
tons of canned food and water.

More traditional, wealthier Asia-Pacific allies also have pledged
relief help.

On Tuesday, New Zealand promised $1.4 million in aid and offered to
send urban search and rescue specialists and a victim identification
team to hurricane-hit states.

Singapore said it sent a fourth military helicopter based in Texas to
hard-hit Louisiana, and 45 airmen were participating.

Since the first three CH-47 Chinook helicopters arrived last week,
Singaporeans have flown dozens of missions, evacuating several hundred
people and transporting thousands of tons of equipment and
humanitarian supplies, the Defense Ministry said.

[Elisa Keisha]

aint that sad if all this help and money sent never get to the real victims? coz thats what seem to be happening so far.

[Tehuti-4]

Not sure the US has even accepted these offers. Cuba and Venezuela offered the first international relief pledges. 1500 Doctors and medical personnel and thousands of pounds of medicine from CUBA!! Fidel and the Cuban people are always on point where African people are concerned. Undying love goes out to them for that. It would appear the US is too arrogant and caught up in petty politics to accept aid from these poor countries. Imagine that - people can die before "we"(USA) would accept aid from "them"(poor black countries).

It is making the case that this tragedy is not just a matter of incompetence or even racism. But perhaps even ethnic cleansing.

Black folks better start standing up on their own 2 cause this shit is a wake up call.

[rebelAfrika]

Originally Posted by Tehuti-4

Not sure the US has even accepted these offers. Cuba and Venezuela offered the first international relief pledges. 1500 Doctors and medical personnel and thousands of pounds of medicine from CUBA!! Fidel and the Cuban people are always on point where African people are concerned. Undying love goes out to them for that. It would appear the US is too arrogant and caught up in petty politics to accept aid from these poor countries. Imagine that - people can die before "we"(USA) would accept aid from "them"(poor black countries).

It is making the case that this tragedy is not just a matter of incompetence or even racism. But perhaps even ethnic cleansing.

Black folks better start standing up on their own 2 cause this shit is a wake up call.

Cuba reiterates medical aid offer to the United States

PRESIDENT Fidel Castro last night reiterated Cuba’s disposition to help Hurricane Katrina victims in spite of the silence of Washington regarding Cuba’s aid offer.

Fidel met on Sunday evening with 1,586 doctors toting backpacks filled with medicine and essential equipment for treating people in emergency conditions like those in the region lashed by the hurricane in the neighboring country.

The president said that Cuba had fulfilled its commitment, confirmed by the rapid constitution of the medical force to aid those affected by Katrina in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

He noted that because of its proximity to the affected areas, it was possible for Cuba to send 1,100 doctors to save people in danger of dying, but the number of those called up had risen to 1,586.

"Forty-eight hours have passed, and we have not received any response to our offer," he noted. "We will wait patiently for as long as it takes," he added.

If no response arrives, or if Cuba’s cooperation were not necessary, it would not be any cause for discouragement among our ranks, he added.

"Very much on the contrary, we would be satisfied that we had fulfilled our duty, and extremely happy to know that not one more U.S. citizen out of those who suffered the painful and treacherous blow of Hurricane Katrina would die without medical attention, if that were to be the cause for our doctors’ absence," he affirmed.

During the meeting, and at the proposal of Fidel, the group of doctors was named the Henry Reeve Medical Brigade, in honor of a man from the United States who gave his life during the first Cuban Independence War against the Spanish colonial power.

The Cuban president stated that in this kind of situation, it didn’t matter how rich a country might be, or the number of its scientists or technical advances. "What is required at this moment is a team of young, well-trained professionals who, with a minimum of resources, can be sent where human beings are in danger of dying."

He affirmed that in the case of Cuba, being geographically close to the affected areas, the circumstances were appropriate for offering aid to the U.S. people.

He explained that each one of the doctors was equipped with two backpacks full of medicines and essential equipment for diagnosing and treating many different diseases.

Cuba has more than 130,000 health professionals, he noted, of whom more than 25,000 are on international missions in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

The medical brigade standing ready to go to the United States includes 1,097 specialists in comprehensive general medicine; 351 general and intensive care doctors; 72 with specialties in more than one area, and 66 specialists in cardiology, pediatrics, surgery, gastroenterology and other areas.

The Cuban medical brigade members have an average of 10 years of professional experience and an average age of 32. (PL)

[Elisa Keisha]

I agree Tehuti-4

Also the offering (and the US acceptin them) could be seen as not only an act of solidarity/arrongance. We talkin about world politics, everything has its second faces (and third and fourth) We talking about the US bein in debt with another country! thats an unprecedented situation. US power (over the planet) is based on it. US is the strict but benevolent father of the world. Stupid as it sounds.
Europe licks its ass because US helped them to win against the Nazis, freed them from communism and finance europe's reconstruction. and many countries around the world got similar "debts". Stupid as it sounds.
So I believe not only is arrogance whats running thru Bush's head.

[Elisa Keisha]

Originally Posted by rebelafrika

C
"Forty-eight hours have passed, and we have not received any response to our offer," he noted. "We will wait patiently for as long as it takes," he added.

If no response arrives, or if Cuba’s cooperation were not necessary, it would not be any cause for discouragement among our ranks, he added.

"Very much on the contrary, we would be satisfied that we had fulfilled our duty, and extremely happy to know that not one more U.S. citizen out of those who suffered the painful and treacherous blow of Hurricane Katrina would die without medical attention, if that were to be the cause for our doctors’ absence," he affirmed.

During the meeting, and at the proposal of Fidel, the group of doctors was named the Henry Reeve Medical Brigade, in honor of a man from the United States who gave his life during the first Cuban Independence War against the Spanish colonial power.

The Cuban president stated that in this kind of situation, it didn’t matter how rich a country might be, or the number of its scientists or technical advances. "What is required at this moment is a team of young, well-trained professionals who, with a minimum of resources, can be sent where human be

thats wat I meant, u can feel Castro's "irony" on every line.

[Tehuti-4]

So I believe not only is arrogance whats running thru Bush's head.

I assure you Mut NOTHING is running thru Bush's head. He is a complete moron with a head filled with nothing but solid bone. He just goes where they tell him to go and says what they tell him to say.

FEMA is on record has having TURNED AWAY truck loads of water, food and supplies!!! They blocked access to fuel needed for rescue efforts. Interfered with the Red Cross. Now CHECK THIS:

Frustrated: Fire crews to hand out fliers for FEMA
By Lisa Rosetta
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
ATLANTA - Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?"
As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.

Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.

On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area at the Sheraton peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in backpacks, saying they refuse to represent the federal agency.

Federal officials are unapologetic.
"I would go back and ask the firefighter to revisit his commitment to FEMA, to firefighting and to the citizens of this country," said FEMA spokeswoman Mary Hudak.
The firefighters - or at least the fire chiefs who assigned them to come to Atlanta - knew what the assignment would be, Hudak said.
"The initial call to action very specifically says we're looking for two-person fire teams to do community relations," she said. "So if there is a breakdown [in communication], it was likely in their own departments."
One fire chief from Texas agreed that the call was clear to work as community-relations officers. But he wonders why the 1,400 firefighters FEMA attracted to Atlanta aren't being put to better use. He also questioned why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - of which FEMA is a part - has not responded better to the disaster.
The firefighters, several of whom are from Utah, were told to bring backpacks, sleeping bags, first-aid kits and Meals Ready to Eat. They were told to prepare for "austere conditions." Many of them came with awkward fire gear and expected to wade in floodwaters, sift through rubble and save lives.
"They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet."
The firefighter, who has encouraged his superiors back home not to send any more volunteers for now, declined to give his name because FEMA has warned them not to talk to reporters.
On Monday, two firefighters from South Jordan and two from Layton headed for San Antonio to help hurricane evacuees there. Four firefighters from Roy awaited their marching orders, crossing their fingers that they would get to do rescue and recovery work, rather than paperwork.
"A lot of people are bickering because there are rumors they'll just be handing out fliers," said Roy firefighter Logan Layne, adding that his squad hopes to be in the thick of the action. "But we'll do anything. We'll do whatever they need us to do."
While FEMA's community-relations job may be an important one - displaced hurricane victims need basic services and a variety of resources - it may be a job best suited for someone else, say firefighters assembled at the Sheraton.
"It's a misallocation of resources. Completely," said the Texas firefighter.
"It's just an under-utilization of very talented people," said South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote, who sent a team of firefighters to Atlanta. "I was hoping once they saw the level of people . . . they would shift gears a little bit."
Foote said his crews would be better used doing the jobs they are trained to do.
But Louis H. Botta, a coordinating officer for FEMA, said sending out firefighters on community relations makes sense. They already have had background checks and meet the qualifications to be sworn as a federal employee. They have medical training that will prove invaluable as they come across hurricane victims in the field.
A firefighter from California said he feels ill prepared to even carry out the job FEMA has assigned him. In the field, Hurricane Katrina victims will approach him with questions about everything from insurance claims to financial assistance.
"My only answer to them is, '1-800-621-FEMA,' " he said. "I'm not used to not being in the know."
Roy Fire Chief Jon Ritchie said his crews would be a "little frustrated" if they were assigned to hand out phone numbers at an evacuee center in Texas rather than find and treat victims of the disaster.
Also of concern to some of the firefighters is the cost borne by their municipalities in the wake of their absence. Cities are picking up the tab to fill the firefighters' vacancies while they work 30 days for the federal government.
"There are all of these guys with all of this training and we're sending them out to hand out a phone number," an Oregon firefighter said. "They [the hurricane victims] are screaming for help and this day [of FEMA training] was a waste."
Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid.
But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.

[Elisa Keisha]

May the tears of all of us cryin flood the White House someday

I assure you Mut NOTHING is running thru Bush's head

I know right