World Vision NZ has so far raised over $350,000 in donations from the public for relief to victims of the Asia tsunami.

“New Zealanders are being very generous,” says Executive Director Helen Green. “We are receiving many donations of a thousand dollars, and received a $10,000 donation yesterday. Our call centre is putting more people on over the weekend to cope with the number of calls, as we’re receiving several thousand a day.”

Mrs Green also has several doctors and nurses on standby ready to go, and Judy Moore, a veteran Kiwi relief worker is about to fly to India to help. Ms Moore, who has worked with World Vision in emergencies in Cambodia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Albania, Iraq and Iran and most recently in Sudan, is highly skilled and experienced in disaster situations. “Judy is such an asset to World Vision internationally,” says Mrs Green. “She has a real ‘can-do’ spirit and is brilliant with logistics and relief organisation and distribution.”

The aid agency says it’s better for people to give money than to try and send goods overseas. “We’ve found in past emergencies that the cost of freight and the problems it can cause in the destination country with customs charges and logistics, means it’s simply better to send money. Most goods can be purchased more cheaply than here and are easily available.”

To donate to World Vision's tsunami relief fund, please phone 0800 80 2000 or visit the website: http://www.worldvision.org.nz

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