Oxfam America

In the last three weeks, a new variant of COVID-19 (B1617) has swept through India creating a dire need for beds, doctors, medicines, medical equipment, oxygen supply, and PPEs. India’s Covid crisis is not only heartbreaking but horrifying. As India was already trying to recoup after its first wave of the virus in August of 2020, this puts most of the nation in a grim position (especially those in the lower income group) . 

On a personal note my grandma tested positive after 5 days of getting her second vaccine shot. For someone who's stayed indoors the last year, followed every protocol, advice that was put out there, this was a shocking reality to deal with. 

As a teenager, I am asking for your support in spreading the word about my fundraiser and also for a donation, as a way to help save lives and play our part towards a better future. And as the famous line goes “We are all in this together” and have to stick together by lending a helping hand to get us out of this.

All donations will be automatically sent to Oxfam India (via Oxfam USA), a charity currently aiding in the fight against the B1617 strain by providing medical equipment, supplies, and food.


Below are links to Oxfam's page:

https://www.oxfamamerica.org/

https://www.oxfamindia.org/

Our beloved brother, son, and friend, Drew Lyell, passed away on March 28, 2019 at the age of 22. Drew was sensitive, thoughtful, and dedicated to making his world a better place. We hope to continue his legacy and work by making a donation on his behalf to OXFAM America, an organization that aims to end world poverty and hunger. Thank you all for your support. 

More information about Oxfam America: Oxfam America is a global organization working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. As one of 17 members of the international Oxfam confederation, we work with people in more than 90 countries to create lasting solutions.

Hi! This year for my 16th birthday, instead of asking for gifts, I'm asking people to help me raise money to benefit Oxfam America, an organization that is working to end poverty.  Any donation, big or small, will help make an impact and is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your contribution to helping this great cause. 

I chose this organization because I want to raise awareness about poverty. 80% of the world population lives on less than 10 dollars a day, and more than 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. And the number of people who live on less than $1.25 a day is appalling: more than 1.3 billion. In our daily lives, it's hard to remember and acknowledge that there are people living in extreme poverty when everyone we know has a home, electricity, and food to eat. However, around 150 million people are homeless (with many more who don't have adequate housing) , 1/4 of all humans do not have access to electricity, and hundreds of millions of people worldwide do not have enough food to eat and go to bed hungry. Your donations will offer hope to the people living in poverty, and help various communities rebuilding from disasters. 

More information about Oxfam America: Oxfam America is a global organization working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. They provide aid to countries recovering from disaster, support refugees fleeing from violence, and help families around the world. They work with people in more than 90 countries to create lasting solutions. For more information about them, you can check out their website at https://www.oxfamamerica.org/about/.

My name is Sanjay Khatri.  I am originally from Kathmandu, Nepal and have a home there along with immediate and extended family.  I am currently working in San Jose at Jasper.  This is a charity fund raising campaign soliciting donations from my colleagues at Jasper to benefit Oxfam-America's relief efforts in Nepal. 



Message from Jasper
On April 25, 2015, a massive 7.8 earthquake rocked the fragile nation of Nepal, leaving much of historic Kathmandu in rubble and shattered hundreds of thousands of lives. Thankfully Jasper employees' close ones are safe. But others haven't been so fortunate.

The survivors of the worst earthquake in Nepal in 80 years have little refuge. This earthquake struck in a densely populated area where many people live in already-precarious conditions. They have no resources to survive and recover without our help.

Oxfam aid workers are on the ground, providing clean water, latrines, and emergency shelter to people who can’t return to their damaged homes. With Jasper's partnership, Oxfam can respond to

urgent needs in the hardest-hit areas, and our gifts will deliver the lifesaving relief and resources families need to recover in the days ahead.

Your generosity can help save their lives and strengthen their determination to rebuild their communities. Please click the link above to support these brave men, women and children.

Let's show Jasper's compassion to those in need around the world!

Tropical Cyclone Pam

Vanuatu is an island nation in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean home to roughly 267,000 people.  This beautiful country has recently taken a substantial blow from Tropical Cyclone Pam, a Category 5 storm.  Over the past weekend, torrential rains and 185 mile per hour winds ravaged Vanuatu with an intensity that will be regarded as one of the most catastrophic storms in the history of the Pacific.  The outcome of Cyclone Pam has been absolutely devastating—90 percent of buildings in Port Vila, the nation’s capital on the island of Efate, have been destroyed and the outer islands have been completely leveled.  Roughly half of the Ni-Vanuatu population is now homeless and many have yet to receive relief, let alone contact from any sort of government or aid organization.

An aerial image taken by Care Australia's Tom Perry shows flattened houses near Port Vila

At this time, only aerial surveys have been able to observe the destruction on the 64 inhabited outer islands and communication with their inhabitants has been impossible.  Subsequently, aid will be difficult to distribute among these remote areas and the death toll will continue to rise as more information is received.  Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale has illustrated that the event has completely undone many years of the nation’s development.  Please take a look at the following webpage containing a video of his emotional plea for help: http://tinyurl.com/mhej88u.

One striking quote from this article is able to put the magnitude of this storm in context for the many people who have never heard of Vanuatu before: “Tom Skirrow of Save the Children said the logistical challenges were even worse than after Super Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines in November 2013, killing more than 7,350 people.”  Several organizations including Save the Children, UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Oxfam along with the governments of Australia and New Zealand have already begun helping Vanuatu recover; however, this process will be arduous regardless of how much aid is given.  The entire country must be rebuilt.

A home damaged by Cyclone Pam, outside Port-Vila, Vanuatu. Reports said that about 90 percent of the housing in Port-Vila had been damaged.
Credit Unicef Pacific, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


My Connection 

I spent the summer of 2013 working for the Vanuatu Cultural Center in the Tafea Province (Southern Vanuatu).  My role as a research assistant on an archaeological expedition gave me the unique opportunity to work alongside many Ni-Vanuatu in the field and get to know them personally.  Over the course of our field season, we lived and worked in three locations: Isangel and Kwamera on the island of Tanna, and Port Narvin on the island of Erromango.  Each of these villages has left a lasting impression on me and I fear for my many friends that are still there.

Over the past few days, the only information about the status of the destruction in Southern Vanuatu—the area hardest hit by Cyclone Pam—has been the following:


Retweeted from Aurelia Balpe (@aureliabalpe), who is head of the Pacific office of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

1st report private fly-over Tanna&Erramngo, trees uprooted, no corrugated iron structures standing, no roofs on concrete blds, no H20 ‪#‎TCPam


As contacting any of my friends on the islands may be impossible for the coming months, I am eagerly awaiting more information and extremely motivated to do anything that I can to assist the relief effort.  At the moment, complete demolition of the islands’ infrastructure and permanent shelters are evident, there is no drinking water, and the death count is unknown.

Picture of our field crew on the rock beach near the excavation site at Potnuma, north of Port Narvin, Erromango.


Our Purpose

 This webpage will enable individuals to have a positive impact on the recovery of Vanuatu.  The relief effort is growing as more and more aid organizations are able to import supplies and establish themselves in the devastated nation.  Of these organizations, Oxfam Australia’s plan to address immediate needs will be particularly effective.

As an established global poverty fighting organization, Oxfam International is especially adept in providing relief in the wake of a disaster and has the capability to provide crucial supplies to those affected.  They have identified clean water, hygiene kits, and shelter as the most urgent needs to save lives in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam.

The following is what they are able to provide:

·      $50 is enough to provide basic provisions including tarpaulin, water containers, soap and sanitary materials to families affected by a natural disaster.

·      $60 is enough to provide a toilet for 20 people in an area devastated by a natural disaster

·      $104 will provide a Food Survival pack to feed a family of six for four months

Of particular not on this list is Oxfam’s ability to provide a Food Survival pack.  This campaign will be focused on providing food security in the outer islands of Vanuatu.  Oxfam is unique in the sense that its Food Survival pack can feed a family of six for at least four months, and this package ensures food security for the receiving family even when the disaster has fallen out of the public eye.  That being said, three months is roughly the minimum amount of time to regrow some crops (i.e. manioc) while other regional food staples (yams, taro, bananas) may take up to a year.

The importance of these Food Survival packs cannot be overstated.  One major impact of Cyclone Pam has been the destruction of most of the subsistence farmers’ crops.  Outside of Efate, Ni-Vanuatu are dependent on whatever they can grow for what they eat, and now they have nothing.  According to the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid on March 16, at least 19,000 households need emergency food aid based on the storm’s path, but this number likely does not include a large number of households on islands where contact has not yet been made.


Our Publicity Plan

Please share this with everyone you know.  Additionally, over the next few weeks fundraising will be taking place at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA.  Our goal is to engage our community and get people talking about the tragedy of Cyclone Pam while empowering them to become agents for change in a community largely unaware of Vanuatu and the issues it is facing.  Updates will occur as our plan comes together, fundraising events are planned, new information is available about the relief effort, and milestones are achieved in our campaign.

Thank you for your interest, and please consider donating to this worthy cause.

We at Openwave Mobility would like to invite our colleagues and friends to donate to Oxfam to help with disaster relief in Nepal.  Please try to donate as much as you can, as so many people lost everything in the recent series of earthquakes.

Thanks very much for your donations!