earthquake relief day

In the spirit of the poem below--today is Earthquake Relief Day, a blog-organized fundraising effort to help those left homeless and injured as a result of the quake in Pakistan and India. The initial post is here, and lists of organizations accepting donations (plus some awesome t-shirts for sale, with all proceeds going to relief efforts) are here at chapati mystery.

The death toll is now expected to be in the range of 79,000; at least three million are lacking shelter, with winter coming on. Here is the story of two brothers, aged seven and nine, who were orphaned in the quake and walked through the mountains for a week, carrying their seven-month-old baby sister. They had set out to seek help for their other sister--three years old--who has polio and was trapped, unable to move, underneath the wreckage of their house. The boys eventually reached an army base, and the soldiers they led back to their village pulled the little girl alive from the ruins eight days after the quake. Please do what you can.