Fulbright Association Message on Earthquake & Tsunami Disaster & Relief Efforts
January 4, 2005
The global Fulbright alumni community joins people of good will throughout the world in grieving for the loss of life and for the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunamis that struck Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and other countries. Fulbright alumni and current grantees have asked if Fulbrighters in the region were harmed. The U.S. Department of State has informed us that no U.S. Fulbright grantees in the affected area were killed or injured in the disaster. However, some family members of current grantees from the region are among the missing, and reports of horrible consequences are still coming in.
The U.S. Fulbright Association encourages alumni, current grantees, and friends to send their condolences to the relevant Fulbright foundations and commissions and to fellow Fulbright associations in the affected countries as well as to the ambassadors of those countries. There are links to Fulbright commissions and foundations worldwide here, to global Fulbright associations here, and to foreign embassies in the United States here.
We realize that many individual alumni and current grantees have already given generously to relief efforts. If you are considering initial or additional gifts, please see the following sites for lists of relief organizations, many of which accept gifts online: Associated Press (via Yahoo! News); Network for Good; USAID; Yahoo! Directory Listing.
The U.S. Fulbright Association also joins the U.S. Department of State in encouraging Fulbrighters to take part in longer-term initiatives to support rebuilding in the region. The Department has asked Fulbright alumni and grantees worldwide for their views on how the Department might design academic and professional exchanges to assist the affected countries with reconstruction and other mid-term to longer-term needs. Of particular interest are alumni or current grantees from any country in the following fields: community preparedness; crisis and emergency management; disaster management; disaster preparedness; engineering management; public policy; public health; sustainable development; seismology, and related fields.
The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs welcomes your input and would like to hear immediately from those with expertise in areas relevant to disaster relief or preparedness or with relevant regional or country-specific experience. Please respond to DisasterRelief@fulbright.org, and we will forward information and messages to the Bureau. Please include your contact information, so the Bureau may be in touch for further discussion. We would also like to know about disaster relief activities in which you are already participating or which you are supporting. You may also send that information to DisasterRelief@fulbright.org.
Thank you for all that you are doing to help. With best regards.
Jane L. Anderson, CAE
Executive Director
Fulbright Association
1100 G Street, N.W., Suite 525
Washington, DC 20005
Ph: (202) 347-5543
Fax: (202) 347-6540