I got the first news of the two strong earthquakes in the Indian Ocean yesterday. The images of the 2004 disaster that caused huge destruction in the same area and killed more than 230,000 people jumped in my mind. Like observers world over, I prayed that we wouldn’t be seeing similar images on yesterday’s evening news.
Luckily, we didn’t: the tsunami wave which the two earthquakes could have triggered, did not come and a potentially huge suffering and loss of life was avoided. Banda Aceh – and many other places – celebrated that they were spared this time. Read the full entry
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This year’s South Asian monsoon has once again uprooted people from their homes in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan – around 12 million are affected. The European Commission’s humanitarian aid teams have been assessing the needs in the flooded areas. Humanitarian assistance from the European Union – over €24 million – is already reaching the afflicted and the vulnerable in the worst flood-hit regions.
I am currently flying back to Nairobi from the remote arid lands of the pastoral clans of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, where the impact of the drought would have been far worse if not for some remarkable projects which European taxpayers are funding.