Regards to fundraisers for Tsunami I have two comments. Firstly my thoughts are that if we have fun and expand our repetoires on a regular basis and give enjoyment to others I don't see the harm in being able to raise money for those who have been hit by tragedy at the same time on at least one of these occaisions (its not a legal obligation remember!) It could also do some good to the folkworld by expanding the number of people who become involved in folk by creating a special occaison that wouldn't normally attract their attention.

Secondly, there is a worrying rumour which is incorrect and being spread in that the relief fund is oversubscribed. It is important this is set straight as it does no good to this or other organisations (or any charity) collecting to fund their efforts.

The rumour stems from a a misquote of a statement Medecins Sans Frontiers made when it expressed its appreciation and provided feedback on the support it had received and estimated that it had received sufficient funds for the FIRST STAGE of their work for this disaster. Whilst MSF have invited donors to consider donating to one of their other appeals and listed links to them, they did not say anything about shifting funds donated to them for tsunami relief to other areas or that the fund is oversubscribed. You will also appreciate that it is very difficult to estimate how much will be required to rebuild people's lives. After all, how do you estimate the cost of a lost parent, child, sibling or all of the above to a family or community as a whole. What price do you put on putting preventative measures in place, not to mention hospitals... It could be us on holiday in future. At the end of the day let's make some good come from this and have some fun! I know its helped finally get my creative juices flowing and to meet some new interesting talented people in the process!

For anyone interested in the truth of what MSF have said about closing their tsunami appeal this is copied from their website www.msf.org.   

"MSF clarifies donations for Asian tsunami disaster relief. MSF teams are working day and night to provide assistance to people affected in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Myanmar. More relief projects will be launched by MSF in the coming days and weeks. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has received an extraordinary outpouring of support for the people in the areas surrounding the Indian Ocean†through its network of offices worldwide. To date, the contributions MSF has received since the tsunami struck the region are estimated at approximately 41 million euro for this emergency. MSF estimates that we have received sufficient funds for to the first phase of our work †at this †disaster. MSF teams are working day and night to provide assistance to people affected in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Myanmar. More relief projects will be launched by MSF in the coming days and weeks. It is therefore too early to evaluate the total cost of the MSF operations in the regions struck by the tsunami. We have an ethical obligation to explain the use of funds raised by MSF for the tsunami relief and to ensure that we use all funds for the purpose for which they were raised. MSF will continue to assess the financial needs as the scope of our operations in the affected areas becomes clearer. In this emergency, like all others, we relied on the constant support of people to respond quickly and effectively. MSF was one of the first international organisations to respond in Aceh because of the support we already had and we need this continuing support in order to react in the future. These ongoing MSF funds have enabled us to respond quickly to the current disaster as well as to the humanitarian needs in other crisis zones worldwide, such as in war-torn Darfur, Sudan, and elsewhere in more than 70 countries in which MSF is working. †Many of these countries are †in dire need of emergency aid. MSF wishes to express its gratitude to all private donors who have contributed to MSF's efforts in providing emergency relief assistance in the wake of the Asian tsunami. "