By members of the undersigned organizations
On Tuesday the Daily Bruin published an opinion column by Charley Guptill criticizing on-campus relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Guptill wrote that the campus should “respond to (the) disaster in a more cohesive and thorough manner,” charging service and cultural groups with the responsibility to form a collaborative network to effectively address the needs of disaster victims long term.
While we understand Guptill’s intentions may have been to provide constructive criticism of the student body’s response in order to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan and disasters in the future, we are disappointed with his failure to thoroughly research existing efforts and find his criticism ill-informed. There is a collaborative network formed to address the short-term goals of providing relief, as well as a focus on the rebuilding of not only the Philippines, but Southeast Asia. To claim that service and cultural groups must come together and create a collaborative effort when one has already been formed, under the Typhoon Haiyan Relief Committee, undermines the immediate efforts made by the Mabuhay Collective, which is comprised of 10 Pilipino organizations, the Undergraduate Students Association Council Office of the President, various student organizations, UCLA Pilipino faculty members and other co-sponsoring organizations within the past few weeks.
We want to inform all those who may not know about the relief efforts of the Typhoon Haiyan Relief Committee. This collective was entirely student-initiated at the very first notice of the disaster without external aid, and now is comprised of more than 10 organizations.
As a collective, we have decided that it would be best not to hastily send collected monetary donations to an organization without doing extensive research unless they have met the following criteria: that the organization donates to and serves the Philippines and Southeast Asian countries that have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, and that the overhead cost charged by the organization is minimal, but not at the risk of compromising efficiency of aid delivery. To ensure this, we will be asking all organizations in question for a track record or tax record that is transparent regarding their usage of monetary donations, but also that the organizations have a network of community organizations on the ground of the disaster, which will be a conduit for relief aid. The organization must also provide contact information to those on the ground. To ensure that whichever organization(s) we choose will disseminate the donations appropriately and facilitate long-term stability, most importantly, the organization must be committed to long-term community building and rehabilitation and be able to provide a long-term plan of action.
We first ask that in tragic times like this, the UCLA community be more sympathetic to those who were directly affected by the typhoon.
Rest assured that the Mabuhay Collective, alongside the Vietnamese Student Union, the Asian Pacific Coalition and other organizations, are working toward relief efforts. Donation collections will be done throughout the week on Bruin Walk and at the Typhoon Haiyan Benefit Show on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. in Covel Commons Grand Horizon. This serves as an invite to you to volunteer for donation collection or dedicate a performance to the victims at our talent show. We would appreciate your involvement in these efforts.
Furthermore, we invite the rest of the UCLA community to act for the Philippines and for climate and social justice by getting involved in what will be a long-term campaign involving education, fundraising and on-the-ground community building.
Signed,
Nicole Ngaosi, Chairperson of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies Undergraduate Association
Uyen Hoang, Director of the Asian Pacific Coalition at UCLA
Seth Ronquillo, Co-chair of IDEAS at UCLA
Joy Erika Diwa, External Director of the Pilipino Recruitment and Enrichment Program
Ian Santos, Chair of the Pilipino Transfer Student Partnership
Justine Pascual, President of Samahang Pilipino
Christina Mojica, Vice President of Tau Theta Pi, Beta chapter at UCLA
Arielle Galeon, Director of Tinig Choral
Anh Nguyen, President of the Vietnamese Student Union
Janine Adviento, Senior Trustee, Kappa Psi Epsilon, Delta chapter at UCLA
John Joanino, USAC President