Walk Details > Press Release

TSUNAMI WALK IN FREMONT TO BENEFIT TRAUMA RELIEF, RECONSTRUCTION

Fremont, CA, February 1, 2005: The Bay Area Chapter of International Association for Human Values and the Art of Living Foundation is holding “Tsunami Walk 2005” on February 20, 2005 in Fremont and Milpitas, CA to raise funds for the two organizations’ Tsunami relief work in South and Southeast Asia.
The Fremont Walk registration begins at Lake Elizabeth Community Center at 12:00 p.m. and the two mile walk commences at 1:00 p.m. The walk will be followed by a special musical performance by international musician Jeremy Occhipinti at 3:00 pm. The Milpitas Walk registration begins at 2:00 p.m. and the walk will commence at City Hall at 3:00 pm. There will be a presentation and prayer service at 4:30 pm. Registration, pledge and sponsorship information can be found at www.iahv.org and www.artoflivingsfba.org/tsunami.

AHV and AOLF volunteers swung into action as soon as the tsunami hit, providing much-needed first aid and trauma care before any other relief teams could reach. More than 5,600 volunteers of Art of Living Foundation and IAHV are involved in reaching medicines, clothes, food and other necessary items to people in affected areas. In Tamil Nadu alone, hundreds of volunteers and 15 teams of doctors have distributed 250 tonnes of essential supplies, besides conducting regular medical camps. About 4,800 people have already been treated at camps in Nagapattinam and Velankanni. Eleven relief camps have been set up in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, providing food, medicines and drinking water, to over 1000 people everyday.

“Most of us can not go to physically work in ground zero,” noted Meera Nagaraj, volunteer IAHV / AOLF, who is leading the Fremont Walk, “but we want to make a contribution to the significant ongoing work in the region. The walk is not only a fun, community building activity that would also raise the needed funds for reconstruction, but also it is an opportunity for the community here to come together and show their support for the relief efforts underway in the disaster hit areas.”
IAHV has provided around 170 tonnes of relief supplies to Sri Lanka, including relief materials for 5,000 children. In coordination with the ASPIC group, IAHV has played a prominent role in disaster relief in Tissamaharama, Matara, and Hambantota. “Conditions here are harsh. It is harder because people have lost the will to live,” says Sajeev Vadeira, an IAHV relief program coordinator. “But we are in remote areas that other organizations have not ventured into due to lack of roads and facilities. And the people here appreciate our presence.”

As part of its comprehensive rehabilitation program, IAHV has decided to adopt a significant number of orphaned children and women Tamil Nadu, dispatched over 430 tonnes of relief material to Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, $50,000 for aid and organized medical and relief camps in Andaman & Nicobar and Kerala. For long-term rehabilitation, the foundation will hold trauma-relief camps, construct houses and toilets, and initiate employment generation programs.
Both IAHV and AOLF are active in the Bay Area. In addition to the 2004 Peace Symposium which brought together diverse community leadership in the Bay Area to find new paths to peace, IAHV volunteers have provided post-traumatic stress relief to Afghan women refugees in Fremont- home of the nation’s largest concentration of Afghan immigrants. AOLF volunteers have partnered with local homeless shelters to bring blankets and meditation to those in need.

IAHV and AOL, with a network of volunteers in 142 nations, are working not only to bring material help to those in need but also to tend to the mental and emotional needs of those who have experienced disasters. The organizations continue to operate trauma relief centers in Iraq and Afghanistan. IAHV has provided assistance during Gujarat earthquake, Orissa cyclone, Bihar Floods, post 9/11 World Trade Center attack, Jakarta Floods, Germany floods, Bam Earthquake and Kosovo, benefiting thousands in need.
IAHV is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with special consultative status at the United Nations. Contributions are fully tax-deductible and 100% of donations go to the victims. Donations can be made online at http://www.iahv.org or through check/money order payable to IAHV and mailed to IAHV, 12121 Quadrille Lane, Bowie, MD 20720.

For more information about the walk contact:
Suzanne Iyer (805) 637-2898
Neha Patel (510) 613-2739

National Media Contact:
Sanjana Chopra
(510) 745-8281
media@iahv.org