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OTHER WAYS TO GIVE: Make a donation by check, wire transfer or securities transfer. Click here to learn more.

VISIT THEIR WEBSITE: http://www.afghanistan-parsa.org/

To date, EMC ® has recognized 35 projects with Heritage Trust grants and, through the broader EMC Information Heritage Initiative program, has donated more than $35 million to help advance the conservation of information heritage globally. Founded in 2007, the EMC Information Heritage Initiative program recognizes organizations and individuals that protect and preserve cultural information from around the world through digitization, allowing readily accessible online research and education. In conjunction with the program, the EMC Heritage Trust Project recognizes and supports local people and projects that practice and inspire the digital stewardship of the world’s information heritage.

This year, EMC’s Heritage Trust Project will accept applications in 10 countries: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, and United States. Applications will be accepted from May 8—June 14, 2013.

The EMC Heritage Trust Project grant recipients are selected based on the following criteria: potential size of the audience that would benefit from access to the information they are seeking to protect; the at-risk status of the information and why it is urgent to digitize; and how beneficial the EMC grant would be to the overall success of the project.

For more information on nominations, visit: http://www.emc.com/corporate/sustainability/strengthening-communities/heritage.htm

EMC’S INFORMATION HERITAGE INITIATIVE RECIPIENT – THE FINCA VIGIA FOUNDATION

On Monday, May 6, the Finca Vigia Foundation announced that under an agreement with the Cuban government, it has digitized 2,000 new images of materials relating to Pulitzer Prize winning author, Ernest Hemingway. EMC, a sponsor of the digitization as part of the Information Heritage Initiative, was on hand during an event in Washington, D.C. to announce the transfer of these historical materials. These new 2,000 join 3,000 brought out of Cuba in 2008.

The original materials, which include letters, passports from 1937 and 1945, telegrams, household accounts, grocery bills and observations on hurricanes among other items, are currently housed at Hemingway’s former Cuban estate. The digital copies of the documents will be available for research at the John F. Kennedy Library later this year, joining its existing Hemingway collection.

EXECUTIVE QUOTE

Jessica Anderson, Director, Community Involvement, EMC Corporation

“EMC’s Information Heritage Initiative enables some of the world’s most culturally important artifacts to be preserved for generations to come. We are honored to work with the Finca Vigia Foundation to bring a glimpse into Ernest Hemingway’s life to the United States. Through EMC’s Heritage Trust Project, we are able support smaller, yet equally important, digitization projects in local communities, increasing the level of knowledge and accessibility globally.

ABOUT EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.

PRESS CONTACTS

Christine Carosella
508-249-1855
christine.carosella@emc.com

AAE, also, provides vocational training, office management and basic accounting, for students in 12th grade to prepare them for the job market, if they wish not to continue with higher education.

DONATE ONLINE: Make an online donation of $10 or more. Add the amount you wish to donate in the box provided below.

OTHER WAYS TO GIVE: Make a donation by check, wire transfer or securities transfer. Click here to learn more.

VISIT THEIR WEBSITE: www.aidafghanistanforeducation.org

LATEST UPDATES FROM GIVE2ASIA IN CHINA:

Casualties and Damage:

• 2,310,000 affected
• 23,959 injured
• 196 dead
• 21 missing
• 25,330 collapsed houses (18,630 rural; 6,700 urban)
• 510,000 badly damaged houses (430,000 rural; 80,000 urban)

In early May, most areas in Ya’an still have a strong possibility of geological disasters (orange alert), while parts of Lushan, Baoxing, and Tianquan Counties face possible geological disasters (yellow alert).

Government Efforts:

• Relief Supplies Management

Between May 1 to May 3, the Civil Affairs system collected: 2,443 tents (102,945 in total), 141 quilts (224,761 in total), 140 folding beds (11,890 in total); 55 cases of noodles, 6,766 cases of water, beverage, and dairy, 1,205 cases of other food; and 2 generators.

In addition, the Civil Affairs system has sent out 5,443 tents (92,895 in total) and 141 quilts (216,151 in total). All the folding beds, noodles, water, beverage, diary and other kinds of food were also sent out. The 2 generators were settled.

• Hygiene and Epidemic Prevention

Between May 6 and May 12 the Health Department of Sichuan Province conducted mass vaccination of HAV and MMR in 342 centralized sites with over 50 people each in Lushan and Baoxing County. Local authorities with the support of the national and provincial governments are in charge of hygiene and epidemic prevention in other disaster-affected areas.

• Medical Order Restoration

In 21 disaster-hit counties, slightly damaged medical health agencies are returning to service. 106 hospital tents, 1 mobile hospital, and 2 prefab house hospitals have also been set up. Local and external personnel are jointly carrying out general diagnosis and treatment, focusing on patient visits and mental health services in centralized sites. There are accumulatively 125,452 beneficiaries of visits and 41,654 people have benefited from mental health service.

• Secondary Disaster Investigation

By 4:00pm on May 1^st, 9,491 geological hazards had been investigated (2,425 spots in Ya’an) which threatened 139,545 people’s lives and property to varying degrees. 1,470 geological hazards (802 in Ya’an) were recently found to threaten 74,648 people’s lives and property to different degrees.

Efforts from Civil Society:

In the resettlement stage, the pace of disaster relief efforts is gradually slowing down. NGOs continue to conduct disaster evaluation and assess disaster-hit areas to deliver needed supplies. At the same time, NGOs provide psychological guidance and care, especially for children, by organizing games, films, and teacher psychology training, etc. They also launched school-rebuilding programs to resume classes for children as soon as possible.

Special Concern on Safe Water Use, investigation by NGO

After the earthquake,  Ya’an Water Security Group began water security tests and water purification equipment collection in disaster-hit area under the “China Water Security Plan.”

This mainly involves coordinating supplies, on-site investigation and on-site water quality examination.  By April 28^th, first-round of observation and investigation showed that:

a)     In Lushan County and Tianquan County of Ya’an, villages and towns use spring water as their main water source. The post-disaster water source is bottled water. Conservatively estimated, 56% of the 350,000 disaster-affected people in temporary housing consume 2 liters of water for each person every day (4 bottles, 500 milliliter per bottle). Thus, over 700,000 empty plastic bottles are discarded in disaster-hit area every day.

b)     The quality of the water source was not greatly affected in disaster-hit areas. The water is expected to meet the standard of drinking water in the emergency phase after purification and boiling. (However, the conclusion needs the test and comparison on water sample after the purification equipment is set up).

The Ya’an Water Security Group is composed of specialized volunteers from NGOs of environmental protection and provide water quality monitoring, water purification equipment, and water supply service, etc.

Drinking water security is the most vulnerable link in the post-disaster area, particularly in the densely populated settlement area. A clean water source could reduce the rate of disease outbreaks. Children in schools are the most vulnerable group in this area. Therefore the first priority in post-disaster recovery should be laying clean pipes and providing high-quality drinking water to sites such as schools and hospitals.

Local Partners in China:

Many local Give2Asia partners in China are currently responding to the disaster, including

• NGO Disaster Preparedness Center (NGODPC)*
• China Social Entrepreneur Foundation (YouChange)
• China Women’s Development Foundation (CWDF)*
• China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA)*
• China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF)*
• China Beijing United Charity Foundation (CBUCF)

*Give2Asia partner for Sichuan Earthquake 2008 relief and recovery. DONATE ONLINE: Make an online donation of $10 or more.

OTHER WAYS TO GIVE: Make a donation by check, wire transfer or securities transfer. Click here to learn more.

DONATE FROM HONG KONG: Make a tax-deductible donation by check or wire transfer from Hong Kong. Click here to learn more.

LATEST UPDATES FROM GIVE2ASIA IN CHINA:

Casualties and Losses:

• 2,310,000 affected
• 23,959 injured
• 196 dead
• 21 miissing

Government Efforts:

• Government has resettled 237,000 victims.
• 23,959 injuries received treatment in Sichuan, including 6,144 hopitalizations. As of April 26, 4,633 of injured had been discharged from hospital and 794 had been transferred to city hospitals
• Ministry of Civil Affairs has appropriated RMB 1,725,000,000 to Ya’an Earthquake Relief, with an additional RMB 36,420,000 received in donations. Also appropriated were 55,636 tents, 215,306 beds, 0ver 15,00 clothes, over 10,000 folding beds, and 2,239 tons of food and drinking water.
• People’s Liberation Army and militia reserves have sent over 13,000 soldiers, to carry out search and rescue and to safeguard 18 towns in Lushan and Baoxing County.

Efforts from Civil Society:

• Service stations have been built in resettlement areas and distribution of funds and materials has begun.
• NGOs have also programs to secure safe drinking water and to re-start education programs in stricken areas.
• An interactive Yiyan Public Welfare Map was launched on the evening of April 23 on both web and mobile platforms, to allow local people to upload information about needs in their location at any time.

Local Partners in China:

Many local Give2Asia partners in China are currently responding to the disaster, including

• NGO Disaster Preparedness Center (NGODPC)*
• China Social Entrepreneur Foundation (YouChange)
• China Women’s Development Foundation (CWDF)*
• China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA)*
• China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF)*
• China Beijing United Charity Foundation (CBUCF)

*Give2Asia partner for Sichuan Earthquake 2008 relief and recovery.

DONATE ONLINE: Make an online donation of $10 or more.

OTHER WAYS TO GIVE: Make a donation by check, wire transfer or securities transfer. Click here to learn more.

DONATE FROM HONG KONG: Make a tax-deductible donation by check or wire transfer from Hong Kong. Click here to learn more.