WORRIED...Anthony Rapp: Is He Okay? UPDATE: He's Okay! — Page 3

THank you so much for posting and i am so glad that you and Anthony are safe. I am constantlly hoping and praying for everyone else especially since i have a good friend in the area.

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The news is now saying 53,000+. *shaking head sadly*

Luckily my relatives in Malaysia are safe. They work and live in Penang and we weren't able to reach them. Turns out on the weekend they were planning on going to the very beach that was hit, but decided that it would be too crowded so they went out of town for the weekend instead. Thank god.

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The earthquake in Iran last year killed about 30,000 people. From what I read, the survivors are still living in temporary shelters today. So you can imagine the great need for long-term awareness and assistance that arise in cases like these. The death toll in Indonesia alone is 27,000, with the number of displaced people estimated at 1 million. That's only in one country.

Here are some links for people who might be interested.
Red Cross:
http://www.ifrc.org

Care International:
http://www.careinternational.org

Medecins Sans Frontieres:
http://www.msf.org

Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org

Unicef:
http://www.unicef.org

Thank you.

Updated On: 12/28/04 at 07:26 PM

Last I heard the death toll has now reach well over 100,000 already. I'm praying for all those families here in the US as well as overseas that are missing loved ones. I hope they can be found safe.

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If Anthony was well enough to email friends to say he's well, then yes, I think it's safe to say he's fine. He was several hundred miles away from where it happened anyway.

In the mean time, our thoughts and good vibes should be focussed on those who are missing and those who survived this ordeal, but now face the threat of disease, starvation and dehydration.

Where is your family from? My family's from Malaysia, and they had a close call but they're alright. Whew.

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I posted this on the other thread as well, but wanted to make sure you got it in case you were checking...

Hi all --

I'm writing this to you in the aiport lounge in Seoul, en route to NYC. I didn't know that there was such concern about my well-being after the tsunamis hit, and I'm very touched to read all of your posts... But I will join in with others around BWW who have urged you to contribute whatever you can to any number of organizations who are doing such important and difficult work in the region.

I wasn't in Phuket or the other Thai resorts that were hit, as you know, but the coverage in Bangkok was incredibly extensive on CNN and BBC and in the english-language newspapers, so I have been very moved by what I've seen, as I'm sure you all have been. I wonder how extensive the coverage has been back in the states, though, aside from a list of numbers of people dead and missing.

If there is any good thing to come of all of this incredible tragedy, maybe people will be that much more aware of the difficulties facing populations in emerging nations like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and even India, to make ends meet. Hopefully people won't now be frightened of visiting these countries, but will be encouraged to help spur their economies forward by spending some time getting to know them. They will need all the help they can get, not just in the short-term relief efforts, but in the long-term economic recovery and stabilization.

Anyway, I hope everyone has had a good holiday season in the face of all that's happened. And here's to a much happier and healthier new year for all of us all over the world.

Take care --

Anthony