Those interested in making cash donations, may do so via these international aid agencies :
 
MercyCorps

http://www.mercycorps.org/
 
World Food Programme

http://www.wfp.org/english/

Doctors Without Borders

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Reported on Straits Times Online :
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_179502.html


Photo hosted on http://www.straitstimes.com/

Cyclone survivors face starvation and disease
Aid workers say food deliveries hampered by damaged roads and blocked waterways

FOOD CRUSH: A crowd pushing its way into a relief centre at Tafalbari village in Bagerhat on Wednesday. -- PHOTO: AP

DHAKA - THE fear of disease and starvation was growing in Bangladesh yesterday as relief workers battled to reach cyclone victims left without adequate food and water for a week.
In some places, aid workers said the immediate challenge was simply to supply enough food to keep people alive.

'We are fulfilling their immediate needs to keep them alive...they need more food,' said Mr Emamul Haque of the World Food Programme.

He said rice would be provided later but, at this 'critical point', the priority was to get life-sustaining, high-energy biscuits to as many people as possible, adding that the air force has delivered 95 tonnes with another 105 tonnes on the way.

The supplies were reaching victims slowly because many roads have been washed away and narrow waterways - in some cases the only means of access - are blocked by fallen trees.

Ms Wahida Bashar Ahmed of ActionAid said: 'It is unbelievable how people have been surviving... If they do not get timely relief, they could die or face debilitating outbreaks of disease.'

Cyclone Sidr smashed into Bangladesh's southern coast last Thursday before cutting a swathe through central districts.

It wiped out countless villages, killing more than 3,400 people and making millions homeless. Many victims were swept away by a 6m-high sea surge, and thousands are still missing.

The United Nations Children's Fund said it had set up dozens of camps to care for some of the thousands of children orphaned by the cyclone.

'We have set up 30 child-friendly safe places where we give them one hot meal a day and try to reduce their mental stress,' said child protection officer Shabnaaz Zahereen.

A week after the disaster, the threat of water-borne disease is also looming.

'There is a possibility of serious disease outbreaks because of lack of fresh drinking water. Many people have started to suffer from fever and diarrhoea,' said Mr Fazlul Haque of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, the biggest non-governmental organisation in the country.