4Basra

Emails arrive from two potential blog designers, who seem enthusiastic, and from the NGO.

I need to register a .org domain. One of the designers can host the blog as well as customise a template with graphics and RSS buttons. I need to try and get this right so it looks professional, so will take my time – but not too long - in choosing a template.

I need to find out more information from Orion Laboratories, so I have emailed them to see if they will help out with supplies of the Leukaemia drug Imanitib. 

We also need to approach Glaxo Smithkline to see if they will supply us with Pentostam, to treat a tropical disease which is prevalent in Iraqi children.

Have placed another ad on the excellent Freelance Ireland website again, to see if I can find a voluntary german-english translator to translate a report from the NGO and some of the content on their website. 

Meanwhile, the operating theatre in one of the Basra hospitals “is in a terrible condition,” and another unit in the building also needs a lot of work. Finding a way to tackle that is going to be difficult. 

Now that a new front has opened up in the Middle East, other hospitals will find themselves in similar conditions, lacking basic supplies and services, and the more vital ones needed to carry out their work. 

The “War on Terror” glorified military dominance and firepower. TV pictures of bombs being dropped and arms being fired looked not unlike a fireworks display when they played across the airwaves.

Somewhere below, in the midst of the dark, unlit and unseen areas on the screen, there were homes, schools and hospitals – the places where a free society quietly goes about its daily life – being destroyed.  

To other matters – John Caudwell, a well-known telecoms entrepreneur in the UK, has made a shedload of money from the sale of The Caudwell Group, £1.24 billion, to be precise.

He plans to sail around the world and then look at other business ventures, as well as continue working with his charity, which helps sick and disadvantaged children.

Mobile Today jokes that ‘the inevitable begging letters’ will soon be dropping through Caudwell’s letterbox.

£1.24 billion could go a long way…

On Activelink, I notice Paul Lamb of Social Edge has launched an online discussion about how advances in technology will change – and hopefully enhance – the work of non-profits and NGOs. 

Meanwhile, Irish aid NGOs met with the Irish minister for development co-operation and human rights. Although the government have already allocated € 2 million in official aid for Lebanon, they have asked the public to be more generous. Unicef Ireland has reportedly received € 50,000 in response to its public appeal, which was launched more than two weeks ago. 

According to Development Co-operation Ireland, the government allocated a total of € 8 million for Iraqi aid in 2003. It would appear that Iraq has dropped off the radar as far as the Irish government is concerned. 

How does this situation compare with other sources of aid for Iraq?  If I get time, I will try to find out.

The front page of The Independent tomorrow says that 45 per cent of the casualties in Lebanon are children. A shocking statistic. 

The Sun newspaper has linked up with The Red Cross in an appeal for the children of Lebanon. The front pages of many newspapers feature photos of dead children. 37 have been killed in Israeli attacks most recently. 

Clearly the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is going to be the latest humanitarian story to dominate the headlines for some weeks to come.