The media, being what it is, is intent only to project the exiting stuff (not even news, for it is already 6 days old) rather than the truth. As it is said, dog biting a man is no news, while, man biting a dog, is great news indeed! The work of the municipality, the JCBs, the tractors and cranes working is less exiting to show than the rumbles of the devastation.

The truth is that the Government machinery has been working really hard to bring the life of the people back to normality at the earliest. The power lines in many areas have been restored 3 days of the tsunami wave event. Water supplies have been restored in 70% of the affected places within a week. We have at present over 50 NGOs working here to help in the relief and the rehabilitation work. They belong to different countries and have come with great enthusiasm as well as financial and material support facility for the affected families. The Government as well as the NGOs have covered almost every inch of all the affected villages on the coast.

The medical teams of the Government hospital have done a wonderful job. There is no case of epidemic of any kind. The NGOs also pitched in with doctors. The Government has posted doctors and the nurses in all places. Apart from this, the NGOs are also flooding the place with voluntary doctors who have come from different parts of India.

Chinmaya Mission started work on the 27th morning. Being an organisation based locally, it was instrumental in arranging for the stay and food for other NGOs that had come to Nagapattinam. Initially, Chinmaya Mission provided great help to a lot of donors from outside Nagapattinam to distribute relief materials to the affected people. Chinmaya Mission then plunged into the field of food and cloth distribution as well as providing medical aid for the affected people. We have had teams of doctors and volunteers coming in from Chinmaya Mission centres at Chennai, Trichy, Hosur and Coimbatore. On an average, we have been having at least 5 doctors serving at various places in Nagapattinam

The response of people from all over the country has been overwhelming. At the
moment, there is an excessive flow of relief materials into the town. As the affected were unorganised, the distribution of materials reached the wrong hands too. Seeing all this, we have slowed down the distribution of materials to the public. We are limiting it to only verified genuine cases. Food is now being provided by other service organisations through community kitchens too.

Hence, we are now planning to shift focus to long-term rehabilitation, making the best use of the available infrastructure at our disposal as well as the other facilities. A plan will be discussed with Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji on the 6th January in Chennai. Only after this will we have a clear picture of how Chinmaya Mission will involve itself in this project. A separate list of services that we have done till now in these areas is
attached.

We shall keep you updated on the Progress here every week.

Hari Om!
Br.Rishi Chaitanya

You all are aware of the tragedy caused by the tsunami waves affecting various countries amongst which our mission centres are in India, Indonesia & Sri Lanka. Those of you who wish to contribute for relief work may do so depending upon your choice of country.

Donations can be sent to the UK, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, United States & Canada as detailed below

UNITED KINGDOM - PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO
Chinmaya Mission UK
2 Egerton Gardens
Hendon Central
London NW4 4BA
Tel +44 (0)208 203 6388
email : info@chinmayauk.org

Please send cheques to 'Chinmaya Mission UK' (indicate for Tsunami Relief and country where donation meant for)

INDIA - PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
Central Chinmaya Mission Trust
Saki Vihar Road
Mumbai 400 072 INDIA
Ph: +91-22 2857 2367 / 2828 / 5806
E-mail: ccmt@vsnl.com

SRI LANKA - PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
Chinmaya Mission of Sri Lanka R/F
48 Haig Road, Colombo 04, SRI LANKA
Ph: +94-11-2591344
E-mail: cmsl@sol.lk
Contributions can be made directly to the bank account.
A/c No: 1150047966,
Hatton National Bank, No. 293 Gale Road, Colombo 03.
Swift Code: HB LI LK LX

INDONESIA - PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
Yayasan Keluarga Besar Chinmaya
Jl. Pandeglang No. 22 Menteng, Jakarta 10340, INDONESIA
Ph: +62-21-3144058 / 59
E-mail: camila@indosat.net.id

Contributions can be made directly to the bank account.
A/c No: 0011810491, Bank Negara Indonesia, Kantor Cabang Utama Tebet,
Jl. Prof. Dr. Soepomo, SH No. 25, Tebet - Jakarta Selatan.

USA - PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO
Chinmaya Mission Tri-state Center,
Chinmaya Vrindavan, 95 Cranbury Neck Road,
Cranbury, NJ - 08512, U.S.A.
Phone: 609 -65-1787

Chinmaya Mission Chicago
11 S. 80 Route 83
Willowbrook, IL-60527

You may also donate ON LINE through our web site :
http://www.chinmaya-chicago.org

CANADA - PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO
Chinmaya Mission Halton Region
206 Locke Street South
Hamilton, Ontario
CANADA L8P 4B4
Phone: 705-286-3984

It must be very clearly stated that donations are for purpose of "Relief work of Tsunami & earthquake". All the donations are tax-exempt when channelled through above Mission centers. The money sent to India will be directed by CCMT to the affected centres.

Let us pray to God for the peace of all.

Love & Om,
Swami Tejomayananda