When the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami ravaged southern and southeast Asia , APAS jumped into action. Through its generous members, the general public and with the help of United Way and Freeport McMoran, nearly $.5 Million was raised for the APAS Tsunami Relief Fund.
One of the many great projects APAS assisted with is an orphanage in Kao Lac , Thailand, called Home and Life, which now houses 20 children orphaned by the tsunami. We also donated computers to the Baluga School in Phuket, Thailand , which was another program directed at serving tsunami orphans.
APAS' point man for those projects was Mr. Pong Chongchit. He was instrumental in helping APAS identify programs and in making sure that our members' funds were handled with great care. It is fair to say that the Thailand programs could not have been done without Mr. Chongchit's assistance. APAS has learned that Mr. Chongchit has continued his good work on behalf of tsunami victims. This video is in promotion of a book authored by Aaron LeBoutellier regarding his experiences in the tsunami. Of course, there are hundreds of such books on the market now, but Mr. LeBoutillier's is different in that he will donate his profits to the Thai victims of the tsunami. He has pledged to work with Mr. Chongchit's Thailand Tsunami Education Center to aid tsunami orphans.
Please join APAS in raising funds to build a center and for the Disaster Relief Fund. The Hookah Caf will donate a percentage to APAS for every drinks purchased between 7pm and 10pm. Please join us at the information below:
Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Time: 7:00pm to 10:00pm
Location: Hookah Caf at 500 Frenchmen Street , New Orleans LA
If you cannot join us but would like to still donate, please send check or money order the following information:
APAS
3500 N. Causeway Blvd STE 1548
Metairie, LA 70002
Please indicate on the subject line: " APAS Cultural Center " or "APAS Disaster Relief Fund"
In addition, direct deposits can also be done at the APAS Disaster Relief Fund at Chase Bank.
From Henry Liu, MD
President, Louisiana Chinese American Society (LACAS)
As you all know, the Sichuan Earthquake in southwestern China caused massive casualties. The death toll can be over 50,000. The devastation is much worse than it was expected. The energy release from this earthquake is over ten times of the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake. Louisiana Chinese American Society (LACAS) has set up a disaster relief fund at Chase Bank. Please send emails and words to all the Asian and mainstream communities to give this fundraising more publicity.
To last night we have collected about $6000 including Tulane students' donations.
How to donate:
1. Make check payable to: Louisiana Chinese American Society: China Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund. We will send every penny to China Red Cross to be used for the disaster area. We will provide receipts to all donors. We will publish the names of the donors. Please send your check to: Dr. Xiaofeng Hu, her address is: 1430 Tulane Avenue , SL-31. Hayward Genetic Center , New Orleans , LA 70112 , or drop at Tulane Medical School , 5th floor, Hayward Genetic Center .
2. Donate through China Red Cross or Chinese Embassy
Tropical Cyclone Nargis has recently devastated Mynmar (Burma) leaving thousands dead and more are expected. APAS would like to help in anyway so if you are aware of any fundraising effort, please call Vatsana at (971) 570-2467 or cvatsana@yahoo.com
In the last seven days, we've received news of natural disasters in Myanmar (Burma) and Western China and APAS express our condolences to the people of both communities here and abroad. APAS does not have board member representative from Myanmar, but many members have expressed concerns and desire to help. Some are in the early stages of coordinating a fundraiser. APAS will communicate information once plans have been finalized. In the mean time, the following are recommendations forwarded of places you can donate to for Burma:
Dr. Henry Liu, an APAS member and president of the Louisiana Chinese American Society has sent out this solicitation for donation:
Donations to support the earthquake area in Western China
To all our friends,
You might have heard that a powerful earthquake (7.8!!) occurred on May12 in western China, which caused massive casualties and severe devastations to the area. We need your donations to support the disaster area. Please send your donations to Dr. Xiaofeng Hu, her address is:1430 Tulane Avenue, SL-31. Hayward Genetic Center, New Orleans, LA 70112. Please write in your check paying to: Louisiana Chinese American Society, Earthquake support fund. We will send all the money through Chinese Red-Cross to the disaster area. Thank you very much for your support.
My cell phone number is 5048134983.
Thanks again.
Henry Liu, MD
President, Louisiana Chinese American Society, LACAS
In the aftermath of the Asia
Tsunami that stunned the world in December 26, 2005, APAS of New Orleans
was able to raise a total of $450,000 dollars. After much consideration
and research, APAS developed a non-biased formula distribute funds accordingly
to each country. The formula took into account the human impact
(# death, # missing and # displaced), economic impact (amount estimated
to cost the country to rebuild) and direct observation by the APAS chair
at the time. Each community was then informed of the process and
voted on the numbers. Each community was also requested to identify
projects that would benefit from these funds.
The following is
a summary of the projects approved by APAS:
INDIA: The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund in Tsunami affected areas
in India provides a variety of services. The following is a condensed
description of each scheme:
The Prime Minister’s
Child Assistance are funds to assist tsunami affected children when
they turn 18 for further studies or self-employment.
The Prime Minister’s
Scholarship for Tsunami Affected Children who will receive assistance
for school-related expenses for the next ten years.
The Psycho-Social
Support provides social infrastructure, and social development,
such as Old Age Home, a sports complex, a trauma center, and
rehabilitation center.
Universal Health
Insurance provides health insurance coverage to families for the
next three years.
Support to
Fishermen and Loans provide funds low interest loans to fishermen
affected by the tsunami to help them get back on their feet.
THAILAND: The Thai community indicated in the Island of Phuket, many schools were
still in need of assistance. The Thai government immediately placed
many displaced and orphaned children in the School for Life in Phang
Nga, which is adjacent to Phuket Island. This school built an
additional complex/room to house computers for instructional purposes
for children and used as research purposes for the community.
The structure itself was funded by other donors and APAS bought computers
to fill the room. Recently, APAS allocated the rest of the funds
designated to Thailand to the funded the Home & Life Project and
the Tsunami Volunteer Center. The Home & Life project house
up to twenty children who were orphaned due to the Tsunami. The
Volunteer Center is a non-profit organization that house volunteers
who travel to Thailand at their own expenses and are committed for two
months to provide free skilled and unskilled labor on Tsunami relief
projects identified.
INDONESIA: This country was the hardest hit country with over 100,000 persons dead,
100,000 people missing and over 500 people displaced. It will
take years of projects to rebuild the affected area. The following
is a description of the projects:
Micro Financing: This project provides small low interest loans to 23 small businesses
to rebuild their businesses.
Building semi
permanent homes: The funds for this project goes towards building
semi permanent homes in the village of Punge Jurong in Indonesia.
These homes can last up to ten years while the families are rebuilding
their lives.
Building of
Community Center: This community center will provide opportunities
for villagers young and old to use for training or educational purposes.
Mobile Library
Van provides access to literature to school children. This
mobile library rotates between different sites affected by the tsunami
to give children opportunities to have access to literatures and human
interaction with volunteered story tellers.
Ya Ya San Nurani
Dunia- A project to build a dormitory for female university
students.
SRI LANKA: Ten
homes were built for families who lost their homes to the tsunami in
Sri Lanka. These homes, along with the land, would be owned by
the occupants.
Thanks to a generous donation of land by Ms. Sudaporn Boonmonthira, plans are underway to build the center at 6245 Wainwright Drive, across from the UNO Campus.
APAS seeks to preserve the experiences of Asians living in the New Orleans area in part through the documentation of cultural practices (such as festivals) and the experiences of Asian individuals or oral traditions (such as storytelling).
