Aid for Tsunami victims

The events of December 26, 2004 dramatically changed the lives of many people in South East Asia. The effects of the devastating tsunami are still felt to this day. Although the disconcerting pictures have long disappeared from the media, it is nevertheless important to keep the aid going.

The events of December 26, 2004 dramatically changed the lives of many people in South East Asia. The effects of the devastating tsunami are still felt to this day. Although the disconcerting pictures have long disappeared from the media, it is nevertheless important to keep the aid going.

Almost a year has passed since the tsunami hit, and we would like to take a look at the measures taken over the past year.

Firstly, Lufthansa employees were on-site to help: some who simply wanted to spend their Christmas holidays assisting and others from the Medical Department and Special Assistance Teams, who arrived in the crisis region just 2 days after the disaster had happened.

In January, over 5000 Lufthansa employees followed the CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber’s appeal and donated nearly 14.000 work hours – an amount equaling approximately 300, 000 Euros. This sum was generously multiplied by the Lufthansa management. All totaled, Lufthansa supported the tsunami region with a monetary equivalent in excess of 2 Mio Euros, to include transporting aid goods and providing aid worker flights to the affected region.

However, these ‘first aid’ measures just aren’t enough. As of October, Help Alliance has received donations of over 1 Mio Euros for the tsunami victims.
The organization still supervises aid projects in the tsunami region and supports all affected countries in South East Asia, the largest portion benefiting Sri Lanka.
Amongst other projects, two schools for over 1,000 pupils are being built on
Sri Lanka’s East coast.

Thailand is also in need of support. The Khao Lak region has been largely damaged and many children were left traumatized.
The first stage of the joint project “Children’s World Academy” will be completed and inaugurated in April. Help Alliance is supporting this project with the construction of a kindergarden that accommodates 25-30 children affected by the tsunami. Here they will be able to play and learn in an untroubled environment.
This joint project also houses a school under the patronage of the Thai princess Sirindhorn, which offers children opportunities for a professional future, and is run on an educational concept that has proved to be very effective.

After carefully examining each project, approximately 700.000 Euros have been allocated to the tsunami region.