Petra,

Last week I was talking to a friend of mine who just got back from Japan. He is on an emergency team and goes to all the world hot spots in disaster areas. he has been to Mexico, Hati, Australia, anywhere there is something really bad, he and his team are there.

He was in Nashville because they have cleaned out a lot of the emergency people due to radiation dangers. They can't even get close to a lot of the sites,which are why there are still people missing over there.

So unfortunatly I think it will be a while before the work you are trying to do can take effect. I would suggest working within the Humane society or someone experienced with that kind of charity.

The problem with all of these things are the opportunty for fraud. Everytime something like this happens, there are hundreds of people out there willing to find ways to rip people off. One of the things we have seen consistantly out of world disasters are billions of dollars, food, supplies, that never got to where it was supposed to go. And people have just wasted money they couldn't afford to lose in the first place. It is why I am always very careful what I contribute too.

Personally I would rather see us take care of our own, like Glyna who is going through difficulties due to Cancer. That way you know where the money goes and the good it might do.

I try to be very compassionate, but I don't think we have the ability to save the world. I think we should look closer first.

MAB