Benefit Show for Relief from the Storm

[nafconusa.org/category/typhoon-relief-efforts-haiyan-yolanda/northern-california]

In the aftermath of the devastation from Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the Philippines, National Nurses United has put out a call for volunteers and donations to provide sorely needed medical attention and services to the victims of the typhoon. In the first 24 hours, over 500 RNs signed up to volunteer to go to the Philippines, and supporters have been contributing donations to fund the nurses’ travel and ensure they have the resources they need. "As U.S. nurses we have seen the effects of deadly storms and disasters and the pain it causes for our families and communities, said Zenei Cortez, RN, vice president of National Nurses United. "We know the difference it makes to provide support and assistance in a hour of need. We will do whatever we can to aid our sisters and brothers in the Philippines." Learn more and make a donation.  
---
Subscribe to the National Nurses United newsfeed [twitter.com/NationalNurses]!
"Nurses Mobilize to Help Typhoon Victims in the Philippines; Public Can Help Support Nurses Relief Effort"
2013-11-12 by Deborah Burger, RN,  National Nurses United Co-president [http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/blog/entry/national-nurses-mobilize-for-philippines-relief-effort/]:
In the aftermath of the devastation from Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the Philippines, one of the worst storms on record, the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), a project of National Nurses United, has put out a call for volunteers and donations through its vast network of direct-care nurses both nationally and internationally. We are inviting the general public to assist our efforts as well with contributions to send volunteers as well as other medical needs for the relief effort.
In the first 24 hours of our call for help,over 500 RNs signed up to volunteer. We continue to gather information and assessments from multiple sources, including the Philippines Alliance of Health Workers, a member of NNU's international affiliate Global Nurses United, to determine the need for nurses, medical supplies and financial support on the ground. RNRN is in contact with nurses and other health care professionals in the Philippines to finalize the locations where we can be of most help, and number and specialties of nurses needed. In the Philippines, communication channels are not yet re-established to many areas, but news reports have made clear that the horrid devastation is widespread, with fears of many more casualties yet to be assessed. Several hospitals, along with thousands of homes and schools have been damaged or destroyed, and hundreds of thousands left homeless - many with long term shelter needs.
RNRN has learned from our experience responding to disaster over the last decade that RN's have an especially important role to play in relief efforts, after the TV cameras have gone and the initial responders are depleted or deployed elsewhere. In addition to the immediate acute care needs at this time, in the coming days and weeks there will be longer-term health effects to respond to. RNRN's goal is to send teams that can respond effectively to problems of dehydration, sepsis, a lack of access to clean water and lapses or lack of proper medication due to the storm. "As U.S. nurses we have seen the effects of deadly storms and disasters and the pain it causes for our families and communities, said Zenei Cortez, RN, vice president of National Nurses United. "We know the difference it makes to provide support and assistance in a hour of need. We will do whatever we can to aid our sisters and brothers in the Philippines." RNRN, a project of National Nurses United, the nation's largest organization of RNs, was formed in 2004 in the aftermath of the South Asia tsunami in 2004, when the need for nurses was not being met by traditional disaster relief organizations. Since that time, RNRN sent a team of experts who coordinated the unprecedented RN response to the disasters of Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian Earthquake. Last year, RNRN worked with nurses from the Veterans Administration and the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) to provide disaster relief to the communities most affected by Hurricane Sandy.
What you can do to Help:
* Volunteer: If you are an RN and are able to work on the ground for one to two weeks, please sign up here and provide information on your availability for the next few weeks [http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/blog/entry/typhoon-disaster-in-the-philippines-what-rns-can-do-to-help/].
* Donate: RNRN is seeking financial donations to help their relief effort. For more information, go here [http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/pages/rnrn-disaster-relief-fund].
* Watch and share this VIDEO appeal by Gina Macalino, RN. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYXQgkEQGf8]:



"NNU’s Disaster Response Network Seeking RNs, Donations for Philippine Typhoon Relief Effort"
2013-11-12 by Mike Hall, AFL-CIO from "California Labor Federation" [www.calaborfed.org/index.php/site/page/nnus_disaster_response_network_seeking_rns_donations_for_philippine_typhoon]:
In the aftermath of the devastation from Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, one of the worst storms on record, the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), a project of National Nurses United (NNU), has put out a call for volunteers and donations through its vast network of direct-care nurses both nationally and internationally.
After a request sent out this weekend from RNRN, within five hours, 370 RNs already had signed up to help.RNRN has been gathering information and assessments from multiple sources, including the Philippines Alliance of Health Workers, a member of NNU’s international affiliate Global Nurses United, to determine the need for nurses, medical supplies and financial support on the ground.Through the disaster relief effort, RNRN has mobilized hundreds of direct care RN volunteers to help provide care to people affected by other disasters in the United States and internationally, including Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the Haiti earthquake and the South Asia tsunami on the ground and on U.S. naval ships.For this effort, RNRN is placing a special effort on recruiting volunteers who speak Tagalog, many of whom are directly connected to NNU and RNRN.
RNs have been asked to provide their availability over the next month.The nurses also are seeking public support with financial donations to help their relief effort. You can make a secure donation by clicking here [https://donate.nationalnursesunited.org/page/contribute/send_a_nurse]. Contributions are tax deductible, and 100% of all donations go directly to the relief effort.In the Philippines, communication channels are not yet re-established to many areas, but current reports indicate as many as 10,000 deaths, with the fear of many more casualties yet to be assessed.Several hospitals, along with thousands of homes and schools, have been damaged or destroyed, and hundreds of thousands left homeless—many with long-term shelter needs.
Says NNU Vice President Zenei Cortez, RN: "U.S. nurses, we have seen the effects of deadly storms and disasters and the pain it causes for our families and communities. We know the difference it makes to provide support and assistance in an hour of need. We will do whatever we can to aid our sisters and brothers in the Philippines."


"Philipine Government misuses public funds as People suffer from post-typhoon devastation"
2013-11-12 [http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=13530]:
The Real News Network inteviews Prof. Jose Maria Sison, ILPS Chairperson, about the devastation wrought by super-typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda).
Prof. Sison explains how Philippine government has set up ghost non-profits that failed to service its most vulnerable citizens.
Video from The Real News Network youtube. Report by Jessica Desverieux, Producer, @Jessica_Reports.
Transcript of interview is available from [www.therealnews.com]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXKd6k2bF14]:
[http://bayanusa.org/typhoon-haiyan-yolanda-relief-efforts-an-urgent-appeal/]:
We ask all BAYAN USA members, allies, friends, and family to donate online today to National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) Bayanihan Relief of which 100% of your donations will be given to BALSA (Bayanihan Alay sa Sambayanan). BALSA translates to RAFT (People’s Cooperation for the People). For more information on how to donate visit NAFCON website. BALSA is a grassroots relief and rehabilitation organization of BAYAN for more than a decade. It is run by people for the people, eliminating gross administrative costs and ensures your donation contributes directly to the communities that need immediate assistance. Furthermore, BAYAN advocates have and continue to expose the Aquino Administration and Philippine Congress’ Priority Development Assistance Fund, which contain $141 Million (1.3 trillion to 1.5 trillion in Philippine pesos) for misusing government funds.


"Appeal for aid to victims of super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)" 
2013-11-10 by Prof. Jose Ma. Sison, issued by the Office of the "Chairperson International League of Peoples’ Struggle" [josemariasison.org/?p=13526#more-13526]: 
We, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, appeal to all our global region committees, national chapters, member-organizations, our friends and all the people of the world to carry out a campaign of raising resources and delivering them to the millions of people afflicted by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 35 provinces in the central part of the Philippines.
The aid is for immediate relief and rescue and long term rehabilitation of the devastated communities and families , especially of the impoverished workers, peasants, fishermen and the middle social strata who have suffered death and injury and whose homes, personal belongings and livelihoods have been either blown away by the overly strong winds or swept away by storm surges from the sea.
Due to the destruction of energy and communication lines, the full extent of the destruction of lives and property is still being assessed. But there are already images of the wide scale of destruction taken from air planes and satellites. Entire communities are flattened. Thousands of lives have been lost. Millions of people are in need of food, clean water, clothing, shelter, medical services and proper burial of the dead.
The most reliable private relief-and-rehabilitation organization in the Philippines is BALSA, which includes BAYAN and other ILPS member-organizations as well as civic and religious organizations that have an excellent record of undertaking humanitarian efforts in previous disasters. Within the Philippines, BALSA is taking initiative in assessing the destruction to life, property and livelihood and in collecting and delivering the aid to the victims. The ILPS advise Filipino organizations and their friends abroad to forward to BALSA the aid that they can collect.
It is necessary for the people’s organizations to raise the money and goods for the immediate relief and rescue and for long-term rehabilitation of the communities and families, especially because the so-called calamity funds of the Benigno Aquino government have been misused and continue to be misused as pork barrel for purposes of corruption and political patronage from the level of the chief bureaucrat Aquino downwards.
Both civil bureaucracy and military forces of the Aquino regime did not give timely and adequate warning to the people about the grave dangers of the overly strong winds of the super typhoon and the storm surges from the sea. They did not prepare evacuation centers. And they did not guide the people to move to relatively safer areas before the super typhoon struck.
We appreciate highly the efforts of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to mobilize the local revolutionary organs of political power, the mass organizations and the broad masses of the people to prepare themselves against the onslaught of the super typhoon and for collective action in undertaking rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations.
We also admire the revolutionary forces for unilaterally declaring ceasefire in all the areas devastated by the super typhoon. They stand on a high moral ground as they serve the people in need. In sharp contrast, the bureaucrats and military officers of the reactionary armed forces loot a big part of the relief goods from government warehouses and use another part for counterrevolutionary propaganda and psywar. They shamelessly coordinate with US planes and ships in interventions under the pretext of humanitarian aid.
---
Note from GOTT: Communism, for bad or good, is a permanent mainstay of politics outside the USA, especially in Latin America and Asia, where, more often, communist parties are seen as the "good guys" in comparison to the "bad guy" governments subsidized by the USA, whose human-rights abuse are often more intense and cruel than what was seen in the old Soviet Union under Stalin's regime when comparing starvation rates, death-squad actions by authorities, oppression of "minority nations, and artificial poverty (usually all done for the private investors who seek to acquire natural resources for private profit).