January 6, 2005

Dear Friends:

I know many of you -- along with your temples, churches, and MAAs -- have been making donations to help tsunami victims in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries. Thank you for your generosity!

Not only is this a response to a terrible human tragedy. For some it is also a way of saying "thank you" to the people of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and other countries for sheltering refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam in the 1970s and 1980s -- and even in the present-day in the case of Hmong at Wat Tham Krabok.

To learn more about tsunami-relief efforts, or about making donations to organizations helping in the relief, you can visit a web-page established by USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development): http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/tsunami/ngolist.html

Max Niedzwiecki
Executive Director
SEARAC