On January 18, Tenrikyo Overseas Department’s International Network for Mutual Help entrusted the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA)—an international nonprofit relief organization based in Okayama, Japan—with ¥3,000,000 (about US$33,000) for the relief work being conducted in the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on January 12.
Sources are now estimating that the final count of the dead will amount to more than 200,000. With infrastructure problems and supply backlogs hampering international aid efforts, food has yet to reach all the quake victims who are struggling to recreate their lives from scratch. Though showing some signs of progress, there is much more that needs to be done to restore communications, transportation, and infrastructure in the city as well as to meet the immediate needs of those lacking food, shelters, and security.
The Overseas Department’s International Network for Mutual Help decided on January 16 to donate the relief money, which the network’s Director Noriaki Nagao delivered to the headquarters of AMDA. The donated money will be used for the relief activities conducted by the organization, which has already dispatched its emergency medical aid units to Haiti.
For information about making relief donations, please contact the Overseas Department’s International Network for Mutual Help at tnet@tenrikyo.or.jp.