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CRYING NEED: A young Indonesian
girl was among thousands of children left homeless
in Aceh province.
Choo Youn-Kong/AFP/Getty
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rasi wickramasinghe was
visiting family in Sri Lanka 1 1⁄2 miles from
shore when the tsunami hit. Uninjured, he used his vacation
money to buy food, water and clothing for victims, and
within days launched his own fund-raising effort in
concert with a Sri Lankan radio station.
Wickramasinghe, ’02, was just one of the many
members of the Stanford community compelled to help
in the weeks following the disaster that struck 11 Asian
and East African countries.
Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s
Hospital sent an estimated $52,000 worth of sterile
gloves, bandages and other medical and surgical supplies
to the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kerala,
India.
Asha Pillai, ’90, a former fellow in pediatric
hematology/oncology and adult hematology at Stanford,
was in Kerala at the time of the tsunami. She escaped
injury but immediately waded into waist-deep water to
begin helping victims. Pillai stationed herself at one
of the local relief camps, and once the majority of
the physical injuries were under control, she began
focusing on psychological therapy for the traumatized
children of the area. “Many of them are unable
to sleep or go into a room because they have recurring
visions of waters rushing into their home to kill them
while they doze,” she told Stanford Report.
Pillai returned to Stanford in January. Several
other doctors and at least one medical student planned
to travel to affected regions in the following months.
Undergraduates pulled together as well. More than 20
student groups, including sororities, fraternities,
cultural and community organizations, and a student
chapter of the American Red Cross, combined fund-raising
efforts to form Stanford Students for Relief. They hoped
to raise $100,000 on behalf of Save the Children. In
addition to online contributions, the group went dorm-to-dorm
soliciting funds from fellow students. University President
John Hennessy and his family pledged to match up to
$5,000 in student contributions.
The most unusual money-raising scheme involved Larkin
residents. Freshmen Andrew Burmon, Pam Geist and Joel
Lewenstein produced “The Freshman 12: A Calendar.”
It depicts students in everyday scenarios, with one
important distinction: they are naked. The photos were
composed to hide students’ private parts. Miss
February is featured in Green Library “wearing”
two carefully positioned books and Time’s
Man of the Year issue. Money raised from sales of the
$10 calendar will go to Stanford Students for Relief.
By early February, 350 had been sold.
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