Problem Solvers in Foreign Companies in Japan

Was your foreign corporation in Japan full of problem solvers or problem solver poseurs during the recent crisis? I'll bet you half a donut that you have a bunch of fakers in your midst....  

The March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster has most probably changed the business landscape in Japan for foreign corporations forever. Did they handle the situation well? Or did they blow it miserably? Regular readers of this blog know that I took many foreigners and foreign corporations to task for their poor handling of the situation soon after the crisis began.


Many foreigners and foreign corporations have done irreparable damage to their reputations amongst their staff and the Japanese public at large. How can they ever repair this situation? What can they do to prevent a repeat? The Toyo Keizai Newspaper has a brilliant analysis of the current and future situation in Japan concerning foreign corporations and their status in Japan.


Here's a translation of an excellent piece entitled, "Problem Solvers in Foreign Companies" that appeared in that newspaper on May 11 in Japanese (this is the English translation):  


.....

Confusion was the dominant feature of the triple disaster within foreign companies in Japan. This is particularly due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant explosion and resulting leakage. Many headquarters and embassies ordered immediate emergency evacuation of their nationals from Japan. Indeed many foreigners took this action upon themselves even without such encouragement. Almost by definition, this meant a massive evacuation of senior management teams out of Japan.

Confused? It is what it is.

For local employees receiving word about their status, their duty to show-up at work or simply receive on-going explanations of the situation from their in-Japan/now-out-of-Japan foreign managers, this was characterized more by silence and confusion than by thought, analysis and appreciation for the situation overall.

Actually, reporting lines within Western companies are well established. For example, while employees of Japanese-subsidiary companies are handled by the local Personnel Departments on a basic level, the headquarters wields (and exercises) supreme power. Even the local CEO essentially plays the role of mere “advisor” on critical or quickly evolving issues. Some say this is natural but it is cumbersome.

In fact, success or failure of global firms frequently turns on quick and adroit handling of problems that invariable arise: Fukushima was only one such incident. Given that important authorizations are hoarded elsewhere, this requires far more than on-location business-professionals sent from the headquarters. It goes without saying that fine-tuning & dealing in nuances spells “success” in addressing evolving, quickly deteriorating situations. “How to?” is the issue.

Management of foreign corporations would do well to read this example written by a Japanese from a Japanese point of view (of course). Read the rest here. (If that link doesn't work, copy and paste this: http://www.langleyesquire.com/results/published/toyo-keizai-shimbun/)

What do they say, "When in Rome....."

Positivity After the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Accident

“I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.” - James Joyce

So many things have changed after the March 11 disaster. Golden Week is over in Japan and, definitely yes, life is returning to normal here in Tokyo.


Many people lost their lives, loved ones, their homes and livelihoods. The world turned upside down for so many people that day. There are a very many who continue the struggle. Our prayers are with them.

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” - Charles F. Kettering

Even for many of us far away from the epicenter of the disaster the effects are still being felt today.


Business in many sectors of Japan have been severely damaged and still haven't recovered. Due to this aftershock many people I know have had their incomes cut to the extremes and some have even lost their jobs.


Yesterday, I was floored to hear that one of my dear friends, who has been the program director at a major FM station in Tokyo has lost his position and has been transferred out. He was quite blue about it.


I know of companies whose entire business plan was tossed into the air due to the Tohoku disaster. I know some small companies that even lost over $1 million dollars due to the events of that day.

“They can conquer who believe they can.” - Virgil 

Everyone must rise up and not be depressed. Better days are coming. Yes, we have lost much, but look at how much we have gained. We are stronger for this experience and it will help us grow into the people that we are destined to become.

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" - Matthew 14:31

Make no mistake about it; if you are one of the survivors then better days are coming and we are destined for greater things and greater personal glory. Believe in the good that is coming your way and have faith in positive thinking and positive actions. Do not despair. The best thing we can do for those people up north and the best thing we can do for ourselves and our children is to get our lives back together and get them back to normal.


Despair is not a healthy state of mind. Being busy, productive and positive are very healthy states of mind. It is up to you to choose.


We must always be thankful for what we have and be ever thankful for all the good things we are about to receive. Today is the first day  of the rest of your life and it can be the best day so far if you make it that way.


Believe Onward and upward!

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." - Norman Vincent Peale

Perhaps Japan Red Cross Not To Blame?

Whenever I screw things up or make an error, I want t be the first to say, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I made a mistake."

BEATLES - HELP!

In the case of my recent blog criticizing the Japan Red Cross for delays in getting relief funds to the victims of the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, I may have been mistaken.

Marriott Hotel in Ginza, Tokyo Japan

Mr. Hiro Kosugi, who is a good friend of mine and who is also the Marriott International Regional Director for Global Sales for Japan & Korea, writes in an explanation of the situation. This is an excellent rebuttal and so well written that I asked for his permission to post the entire mail. Mr. Kosugi says: 

On your blog about the Japanese Red Cross Society, I totally agree with you on their overall bureaucratic slowness to respond. However, I saw some points that you either missed, or did not touched upon that your readers may misunderstand. I hesitated to write this email, but I thought I should be the one to point them out instead of someone else you do not know.

The process of the fund allocation was clearly stated on JRC's web site as early as March 14. I cut and pasted their message from their website:

If you wish to send your donations directly to the Japanese Red Cross Society, you can donate online, or direct your funds to the following bank accounts. All funds received under this account will be transferred to the Distribution Committee, which is formed around the local governments of the disaster-affected prefectures. These funds will be distributed directly among the affected population. We are currently requesting the government to establish the Distribution Committee as soon as possible. - JRC News on 3/14/2011

As you can see, what took placed on April 15 is not that "the JRC finally decided to allocate the money", but rather "the JRC was finally given the instruction on how to allocate the money."

The real problems were 1) the time that the federal government took to create the Fund Distribution Committee and 2) the time this committee took to make a decision. Please note that it was on April 7, when Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano announced that the government decided to set up this committee. I hardly say this is the fault of the Red Cross on this particular case. It is the current Japanese Government's yet another mismanagement example.

This recovery efforts will take unbelievably long time. The money the JRCS gave to the Distribution Committees is supposed to be the first of many such monetary assistances given to the victims up north. I just hope that no money will be wasted while executing this project.

Also, your blog made it look like the JRC did not do anything until they finally transfer the money to the Distribution Committee, but that is not true, either. For this Tohoku Disaster, they have dispatched approx. 550 Emergency Response/Triage/other relief units to date, distributed 125,000 blankets, 26,000 emergency kits, etc. While I am not the right person to determine whether or not the amount of the initial relief efforts were sufficient and appropriate, JRC has done something between March 11 and April 15 for sure. 

Incidentally, I'd like you to know that the money to fund their disaster relief efforts come from their general operational budget. And this is where the majority of criticism on JRC are usually targeted in the non-emergency time.

The Japanese Red Cross Society draws their operational funds from general public like tax. You may have your personal experience that your neighborhood association come around once a year to ask - demand? - for a donation to the Red Cross with typical suggested price of 500 yen per household. The money collected from this effort is the one of the two main income sources for their operational fund. Many people complain about the "compulsory" nature of this fund collection method. I do give this money, but do not agree with the method, either.

At the moment, I am fighting my own company's bureaucracy in getting a proper amount of funding for our CSR efforts in Japan. I have been thinking long and hard about what a hotel company like Marriott can do to make a difference in the lives of these poor folks in the Tsunami-stricken region. I think I found an answer, and am trying to organize a big, company-wide project. But unfortunately, we do not have our own hotel in Japan - all are franchised, you see - and, therefore, we do not have our own employees suffering from the disaster. For my company and the Marriott Foundation, it lacks the usual priorities they look for before funding a project. When we faced Hurricanes in New Orleans and/or Cancun where we have many of our own properties, it was much easier to organize a special relief campaign…. But I will continue my efforts. I will tell you what we will be doing once my effort starts to bear some fruits. 


Thank you so very much, Mr. Kosugi. If I am mistaken about Red Cross efforts, I stand corrected. I commend you on your efforts and think it is wonderful that such a fine organization such as Marriot Hotels have decided to make the effort to do something to cooperate in the relief. I applaud your efforts.

If I made it seem that the Japan Red Cross didn't do any efforts, and they in fact did, then I am wrong. Let me though say that I have been provided with information that was taken by a direct telephone call to Japan Red Cross and some background researching that seems to indicate that they hadn't done anything at all. I am not at liberty, at this time, to name the publication that researched this information for me as I am under the impression that they are going to write an expose about Japan Red Cross activities.


Their information came to me like this:

Mike,

Here is some info that our researcher dug up from calling the Japan Red Cross, and more.

XXXXXXX

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX>
Date: 2011/4/18
Subject: Let me know if you need further info.
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXX>

According the　JRCS’ｓ　PR: The delay in sending out genkin donations to disaster affected prefectures (義援金 Genkin - money will be given in cash to survivors) maybe due to the fact that the Donation Allocation Committee came together on Friday April 8 for their first meeting since the earthquake. (Members include JRC, Red Feather/JCC + reps from 15 prefectures)

Also, the earthquake was large-scale, affecting 15 prefectures so it
took (time) to organize the committee.

First money transfer:
On April 12(Tues) JRCS was requested by the allocation committee of
Fukushima, Tochigi and Nagano prefectures and was then transferred to each prefecture's allocation committee on the 13th: 

Fukushima received Y23 bn (Y23,006,000,000)
Tochigi                   Y252m (Y     252,150,000)
Nagano                  Y  19m (Y       19,500,000)

2nd:
Miyagi (Y15,611,680,000)
Niigata (Y      16,710,000)
Saitama(Y     10,320,000)

I also found a blog site that gives us more insight on this issue - in English.

★http://sarajeans-notes.blogspot.com/2011/04/basic-info-on-gienkin-donations-in.html
Excerpt:

"At 4 weeks nothing has been sent yet - a few main issues
1. Systematic problems - how to verify?
Evacuees often have no ID or proof where they are from, who they are.
City halls have also been destroyed, staff killed - no records to check in many cases in some evacuation centers.

2. Scale issues - this time 15 prefectures have been affected
Some evacuees are housed far from home, no local government
representative to help them

* Kobe EQ damage was concentrated in and around Hyogo prefecture 


So there seems to be some discrepancy between the two stories. Nevertheless, if the Japan Red Cross has done something, I stand corrected thank to Mr. Hiro Kosugi. But, even comparing both sets of information, it seems true that Japan Red Cross has still not gotten any cash directly into the hands of the survivors at this time.



I sent Mr. Kosugi a copy of the mail I had received from the magazine. That mail thanked him and added:

I think this is a wonderful discussion to bring to the public attention. It not only makes people more aware of the hurdles, it might also motivate the government and Red Cross to reform their system to be quicker. Who knows? Anyway discussion is always a good thing.

Perhaps after bringing this to light and then back and forth discussions, something good will come of it.

We'll see.

I am so happy to get this type of well-written and logical rebuttal. I am also quite happy to admit I am wrong when the occasion arises. My only recourse at this moment is to apologize as I suspect that the Japan Red Cross did deliver some blankets and a minor number of goods - so I cannot insinuate that they did absolutely nothing.


I think, though, I still should stand by my final comment that I made in the blog post in question and that is, "There has got to be a better way." 


Let's hope this public discussion will help services such as the government and relief agencies to rethink their methods and to streamline their systems so that those in need do not have to wait even one second longer than is necessary.

Ishinomaki - The Black Water Documentary

After two rough days of editing, our documentary about the relief trip to Ishinomaki is finally finished. I am very proud of this work and think it is a very heavy and gripping story. 

A documentary film about Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture one of the hardest hit areas of the March 11, 2011 tsunami. This documentary deals with the city, the people and relief efforts completed by individuals living in Tokyo to send relief supplies to a center for disabled people in Ishinomaki.

DOUBLE CLICK ON SCREEN FOR HIGH-QUALITY FULL-SIZED VIDEO

DOUBLE CLICK ON SCREEN FOR HIGH-QUALITY FULL-SIZED VIDEO

If the link doesn't work, use this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8B6cCqtt0o

I thank Ken Nishikawa for the great effort at editing this video and believe this is the finest project I have ever worked on.


I hope you enjoy it.

Creating and Doing World Class Work Takes Planning

There are three things I always like to keep in mind whenever I am doing any project. These are things that I find I must force myself to do as they are not easy to achieve. Those things are:


1) If you are going to do it, do it world class. 


2) To do world class you need to plan. 


3) 80% of success i sin the planning.


Ken Nishikawa and I are now in the middle of editing a documentary video about the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster. We went up to Ishinomaki, the focus of our video, last Saturday April 9, 2011. I wrote about that trip and put up photos in my blog post entitled, Japan's Disaster True Ground Zero - Not Nuclear Power Plants:


Being at Ishinomkai and walking around and taking pictures and breathing the air was like a bad dream: Everything was covered in black sh*t and it smelled like a plugged toilet on a dirty, swampy fishing boat; it was like a nightmare.

Whatever you touched - or didn't touch - it didn't matter: the wrenched smell and rancid seawater mixed with the stench of death... It permeated your nostrils and it permeated your clothes.

I think I will have to shower and scrub heavily for a week or more to maybe have a chance to cleanse this putrid odor from my body pores.

It didn't matter what you touched or felt; you started feeling and smelling like the stinking spoiled, polluted ocean and the odor of death.


We shot a few hours of video footage and looked at it all yesterday and spent a few hours wondering just how it was that we were going to put this all together. Seeing Ishinomaki with your own eyes is much worse than TV. We need to capture the nightmarishness, the smell, the atmosphere of the place.


We need a good plan for that. We watched the footage. We threw around lots of different ways to approach the subject. Some of the idea were good, some of the ideas were terrible.


I think, after much discussion, we finally settled on a pretty good idea.


So far, the video is going brilliantly. I expect to have it up on Youtube within the next 15 ~ 16 hours. I will place a link on this blog for you to see it.


The reason why the video will be world class and "BBC quality" is that Ken & I sat down, before starting and discussed for several hours different ideas and ways to approach the problem. Then we came up with what we thought was a good starting point. We're glad we did.


The discussion and planning were a crucial part of the success of this video project... It is necessary for the success of any project.


Are you discussing and planning enough with your staff before you jump into the project or are you shooting from the hip? Remember, 80% of success is in the planning.


Teamwork requires team effort and team opinion.... Don't do like Dilbert's boss says, "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." 

80 Elementary School Children Who Were Washed Away in the Tsunami

Everyday, more and more stories of terrible suffering and deaths have come to my knowledge about the earthquake and resulting tsunami of March 11, 2011.

TEARS IN HEAVEN (INSTRUMENTAL)

I am writing about these things because I feel that the people of the world need to know about the real tragedy here.

It has now been reported in Japanese media about how 80 elementary school students - who had evacuated their school to a designated evacuation area - died when the tsunami suddenly came upon them and washed them away.


I won't go into the details of this. If you want to see the original article, go here. To translate it, go to Google Translation here. There is a video of the aftermath below.

Notice the smashed windows on the second floor of the school. 

Those were broken due to the waves of the tsunami.

I can't help but the cry about this. I cannot stop the images going over and over in my head of poor 5~6-year old little boys and girls (up to 12-year-olds) crying in stark fear and panic as the ocean engulfed them. They followed the directions of their teachers and stood out on open ground fearing the earthquake. Little did they know that the tsunami was coming. At that school, the waves of the tsunami, by the way, reached past the second floor of the school building. Those waves were over about 5.5 meters (about 17 feet) into the air. Three and four foot tall children did not have a chance against waves that high and a tide moving at more than 60 miles per hour.


There was no where for them to run and no where for them to hide.


Oh, how they must have suffered and cried for their parents. What a terrible horror this must have been.


I pray to God for these children and their parents. I'm sure that those wonderful boys and girls are in heaven. In a place where there is no pain and they can be happy. 

Aftermath at Ishinomaki Ookawa Public Elementary School

My friend's and I made a trip to Ishinomaki the other day to bring relief supplies to the handicapped and to the aged. You can see photos of the devastation here in Japan's True Ground Zero - Not Nuclear Power Plants. Ken Nishikawa and I will be making a documentary video of the trip and plan on finishing it this week. 

I will never forget that trip to Ishinomaki and still haven't be able to grasp and comprehend everything I saw and the extent of the destruction and misery and pain. I cannot put into words what we witnessed.

I probably never will.


We can't help these children anymore but we can help share the love as there are many many more in need whose lives have been destroyed and who lost loved ones.... 


You can also help to share the love by taking this time to hug your own child and telling them that you love them.


-------

Original News Stories:


http://net-news-jp.jugem.jp/?eid=1368


http://pop-rin.seesaa.net/article/192830278.html

Charity Concert in Shibuya a Great Success.

Last night we held a charity concert in Shibuya and it was a smash success. Thanks to all who attended, performed and contributed. I do appreciate it.


The charity donations for the event:


Red Cross Japan..................................... ¥237,863
Ishinomaki disabled persons center:.............¥88,491 
Grand Total:..............................................¥326,354

A photo of me after counting the proceeds for the Ishinomaki relief trip: ¥88,491!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

The relief caravan to Sunnet Hagomi (facility for the disabled) in Ishinomaki will depart Saturday April 9, 2011. For information about Sunnet Hagomi see here (sorry Japanese language only!): http://www.wam.go.jp/wamappl/hyoka/003hyoka/hyokekka2.nsf/aOpen?OpenAgent&JNO=0400000006&SVC=0001265 We were able to collect ¥88,491 to help pay for the rental of a two-ton truck and to pay for gas expenses and supplies.


Sunnet Hagomi handles support for all disabled and aged in their area and will receive our supplies and then distribute them to the needy from there. Timo Budow has arranged everything with the police for road clearance and made the arrangements with Sunnet Hagomi.


Thanks Timo!


I also want to thank Mr. DiMuzio and the great folks at St. Mary's International School in Tokyo for helping us to make our relief trip a successful endeavor.


We will be bringing these supplies to Sunnet Hagomi:

For kids:  cellophane tape, gum tape, magic markers, pens, color pencils, crayons, paper, scissors, stationery items.

For adults:  shoes , long boots, rain boots, etc.

We will also be bringing along a supply of diapers for children and adults.

I will have more information, a report and a documentary video about our trip to Ishinomaki next week.

Once again, thanks from the bottom of my heart to all who have pitched in. 

------


Here is the information about the show last night:

George Williams, Taro Furukawa and I will be hosting a charity concert for the benefit of the people who have suffered during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami crisis. This is in cooperation with BAM! (Monday ~ Friday nights from 9 pm ~ 11 pm on 76.1 InterFM) and the good folks at InterFM along with the venue and the bands. Entrance is free and it going to be a lot of fun and we get to help out. 100% of the proceeds will go to Red Cross Japan and I hope to raise an extra ¥50,000 to help finance a DIY relief supplies mission (pay for truck rental and gasoline) to Ishinomaki on April 9, 2011.

Everyone is welcomed. The entrance is free. Donations boxes will be inside. 

Today! Sunday 4/3 Doors open at 4 pm Start 5 pm @ Shibuya The Game

Shibuya The Game: http://www.shibuyathegame.com/SHOPINFO

Bands Appearing:

Who The Bitch

Moja

Poni Camp

Bliean 

DJ: Wakaan

Entrance is free!!!! Thanks to 76.1 InterFM!

Charity Concert Today in Shibuya

George Williams, Taro Furukawa and I will be hosting a charity concert for the benefit of the people who have suffered during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami crisis. This is in cooperation with BAM! (Monday ~ Friday nights from 9 pm ~ 11 pm on 76.1 InterFM) and the good folks at InterFM along with the venue and the bands. Entrance is free and it going to be a lot of fun and we get to help out. 100% of the proceeds will go to Red Cross Japan and I hope to raise an extra ¥50,000 to help finance a DIY relief supplies mission (pay for truck rental and gasoline) to Ishinomaki on April 8, 2011.

Everyone is welcomed. The entrance is free. Donations boxes will be inside. 

Today! Sunday 4/3 Doors open at 4 pm Start 5 pm @ Shibuya The Game

Shibuya The Game: http://www.shibuyathegame.com/SHOPINFO

Bands Appearing:

Who The Bitch

Moja

Poni Camp

Bliean 

DJ: Wakaan

Entrance is free!!!! Thanks to 76.1 InterFM!

Open Letter to All Sensationalist Reporters and Bloggers

I get so much paranoid tabloid-level sensationalist nonsense coming across my desk these days that I have decided to give up replying to each one and have decided to write this open letter to bloggers and "real" reporters on both the Internet and MSM.


Dear Friends,


This is an attempt to ask you all to do a little soul-searching and be a little bit more responsible in your writing and what you publish. I am not directing this to anyone in particular as these are unique times in our lives and I can see how I might even be guilty of what I am complaining about. So, please bear with me and take my words to heart and understand that, not just for you, these are words that I want to reflect upon myself too...

In these days of poor reporting and just plain bad information it is not useful for us to be adding to people's worries and fears. When we don't know the story all we can do is to stick with the facts. 


Let me repeat that: Just stick with facts. These are thing we know to be true: Fear mongering, innuendo, and sensationalism are doing no one any good.


Write to your hearts content, but if you are going to write "End of the World" type of content (like on Journalist Wall of Shame) then it might be best to state that it is so. Even Orson Wells' masterpiece, "War of the World's" was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938 and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. It was billed as drama!

Please be more responsible with your writing. I am trying my best to do so also. I think it is my duty (as a former newsman and host of CNN "Newswave" on JCTV until 1990). As a former B-grade news caster, I have seen a lot of crap reported as truth from "reputable" news sources. I have myself been guilty of doing that sort of reporting too! It is a shame that Internet news sources - the supposed alternative - would be found completely guilt - in many cases - of the same crime as the old school mass media.

Before you write about how this nuclear accident has ruined Japan or life in this country, consider facts:

At the end of WWII, Japan had over 2 million dead military and nearly 1 million dead civilians. Her cities had been carpet bombed into ruin. The economy and people were in shambles. Yet she recovered. 

Today? Not to downplay the suffering of those affected, but the disaster in Miyagi and surrounding areas is bad, but, in the long term view of things, merely a blip on the screen of Japan. Had this accident happened in Tokyo where 65 million people live (as opposed to the 750,000 in Miyagi), near the Tokai or Hamaoka reactor – that might result in a real catastrophe.

So far the numbers of dead from the nuclear reactor are: zero. One crane operator died at Fukushima when his crane collapsed during the earthquake. The numbers of dead, injured or missing from the earthquake and tsunami are at over 27,480. That is the real crisis.


Japan will soon recover from this mess. What she probably won't recover from - and what few write about - even those who claim some sort of economic expertise - is Japan's debt problem and her aged population. Now those things Japan may not recover from for a long time and those things are going to kill a lot of people.

If news reporters or bloggers want to report on the true crisis then write about those poor old folks, men, women and small children.

At the least, Mr. & Mrs. sensationalist reporter and blogger do something positive by doing the minimum and placing information on how to donate and help relieve the suffering of those people somewhere on your blog or in your article.

This continuation of the sensationalism, scare mongering and fear - along with an attitude of sorrow is doing no one any good. We need to get our lives back together. We need to be positive and grow.

Making excuses for why you ran away, scaring people, living in fear and anxiety are not the symptoms of a healthy mind. For the good of those who have suffered and lost loved ones and for our own good and the good of our families, we must return to our daily lives - and not feel guilty about it. We must laugh again and go out and have fun. We must get back to normal. We must be positive. We've got to get the economy rolling again.

Fear, anxiety and worry are not signs of mental health. Laughing, going out, being happy, enjoying life? These are signs of a healthy mind.

I am not advocating that everyone write "Happy Happy Joy Joy" all the time. But I am advocating responsible reporting and blogging and I am advocating that you stick to a subject that you are expert at... and, at least, post on your blog or article information as to how people can get off their asses and help those suffering up north as opposed to paranoid nail biting and worrying about the end of the world.

If you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the problem. 

You can find information on how you can help with the relief efforts at the very top of this page. Thanks.