News
By Jacqueline Roper
|
November 18, 1999
In response to the devastation caused by the Oct. 29 super cyclone that hit India, two student cultural groups are organizing students to help provide relief for the survivors of the tragedy.
The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth and the Hindu Students Council are working with the Center for South Asian Studies to raise funds to send to the devastated area.
Relief agencies estimate the death toll to be in the tens of thousands but an official death toll has not yet been released.
With such a high level of destruction, students involved said they believe supplying the survivors with funds is essential.
SPICMACAY Chief Coordinator Sunny Takkallapalli encouraged students to "take a moment and think of what it would be like to have nothing left, no family and no belongings."
SPICMACAY is working closely with the Orissa Forum, a humanitarian relief organization, to ensure the money collected from students goes straight to the victims and does not pass through many hands, Takkallapalli said.
"There is a worldwide effort to collect money to send to the victims in India.