Elsewhere on the internet it has been suggested that financial donations to the tsunami relief work should be made to the Prem Rawat Foundation as they would funnel the money to the Indian organisation, Raj Vidya Kender, for help in purchasing food, organising delivery to the affected areas, and feeding the people in need. I disagree with this for the following reasons.1. Raj Vidya Kender has no published experience in disaster relief work. They have experience in catering for large crowds in different parts of India, and this could be of value, but I believe this expertise would be better utilised if made available to those organisations that have experience of the specific problems of feeding people in disaster areas.
2. Raj Vidya Kender's website (http://www.rajvidyakender.org/) makes no mention of any humanitarian work done by the organisation, and offers no way to directly make donations to the organisation.
3. Raj Vidya Kender does not appear to be listed in any list of reputable Indian charities I can find on the internet.
4. The Prem Rawat Foundation has no significant experience of disaster relief work, and the murky financial position of its founder, Prem Rawat (who is a multi-millionaire having never had a paying job), suggest that giving to this foundation is leap of faith.
5. There are many organisations with proven track records of helping in disaster zones. There is no reason to risk donating to an inexperienced organisation.
I would add that I know the vast majority of followers of Prem Rawat are altruistic, loving people, who would love to engage in humanitarian work if Prem Rawat requested them to. I sincerely hope that is happening in this situation, and if so they have my deepest respect for the work they are doing.
John.
