First Shipment Going to Bay of Bengal, India

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. – Clear Path International, known for its aid to landmine accident survivors in Southeast Asia, is using its medical equipment donations program to get aid to tsunami victims along the Indian Ocean.

In collaboration with Universal Aid Society in Canada, Clear Path is sending a container of hospital beds and mattresses to Chennai (formerly Madras) on the Bay of Bengal on the east coast of India.

The relief shipment is the first of several Clear Path hopes to send to the tsunami-stricken region. The organization is also working through local contacts in Sri Lanka and in Indonesia to identify medical equipment and supply needs in those countries, both of which are affected by the presence of landmines as well as the damage from the tidal wave.

The hospital beds and mattresses going to India are a donation from the Mennonite Retirement Community in Dallas, Oregon, east of Salem. The receiving organization in India is Help The Children, which will use the equipment to help rebuild Chennai’s medical infrastructure. The shipment is scheduled to depart Oregon on Jan. 26.

Chennai was one of the cities hit hardest by tsunami along the Bay of Bengal. Thousands of residents in the area were swept to sea by the tidal wave and its fishing fleet was devastated. Cement foundations were all that was left of many of the homes long the coast.

Clear Path International is an independent 501 c 3 nonprofit serving landmine accident survivors, their families and their communities in Southeast Asia. Through its medical donations program, it provides medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in mine-affected countries.

During the past three years, Clear Path has sent 26 forty-foot containers and smaller shipments of medical relief goods to Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Jordan, Iraq, Thailand, Peru, Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Uganda and the Philippines.