Using Hollywood to teach people about disaster giving
Mike Rea, founder of Give2Asia, calls the 2004 Asian tsunamis the 鈥渇irst global disaster of our time.鈥�
Now an employee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Rea wanted to use the disaster鈥檚 10th anniversary to investigate what had become of the millions of dollars his group contributed, and the many people it aspired to help.
Then he learned that Hollywood was producing its own retrospective (of sorts) on the tsunamis. Even better, he thought, for educating people about a once-devastated land and ways to respond effectively in the wake of natural emergencies.
So Mr. Rea fast-tracked his plans for his 聽to coincide with last month鈥檚 release of The Impossible, a film starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.
Mr. Rea traveled to Sri Lanka in August where he filmed a 鈥渕ini-documentary鈥� called聽聽 He reached out to the producers of The Impossible, who invited him to the premiere of the film and enabled him to interview its director, Juan Antonio Bayona. Mr. Rea also released a 鈥溾�� to the movie; so far, it鈥檚 received at least 12,000 views. (The project is a personal one, not part of Mr. Rea鈥檚 work with Gates).
One of his hopes is to give people a richer understanding of the tsunamis than they can get through聽The Impossible. The film focuses on a white family of tourists whose visit to Thailand is disrupted by the disaster.
鈥淓very single Thai character is at the service of foreign tourists,鈥� says Mr. Rea. 鈥淵ou have no sense that their own lives have been turned upside down. It鈥檚 a missed opportunity.鈥�
His other goal is to help inform disaster philanthropy. Mr. Rea鈥檚 takeaways, in broad strokes, are relatively simple:
鈥� Make gifts not only to the Oxfams of the world but also to community groups. (Or, in the case of New York鈥檚 Superstorm Sandy, 鈥淕ive to Occupy Sandy and community foundations as well as the Red Cross,鈥� he says.)
鈥� Give 鈥渨hen emotions are high,鈥� he suggests, but also later 鈥� six months or a year after the disaster, when it becomes clearer which nonprofits are doing an effective job and still need cash.
鈥� Write checks; don鈥檛 send used clothes.
Mr. Rea鈥檚 trip to Sri Lanka was mostly encouraging. A vocational-training center to which Give2Asia sent $500,000 had expanded its programs and served as a 鈥渟afe haven鈥� during the country鈥檚 civil war, says Mr. Rea. A $50,000 grant paid for 100 people to be trained in culinary skills. He learned that many of the program鈥檚 graduates were thriving in businesses overseas.
With hindsight, Mr. Rea says he wished he鈥檇 done more to help women who participated in the program but chose not to leave their homes and families for work.
Still, he says, the experience taught him that giving to local groups often pays off over the long term.聽鈥滻t鈥檚 a big investment that鈥檚 been sustained after the crash of post-tsunami philanthropic aid died,鈥� he said.
Mr. Rea is plotting next steps for 鈥淭sunami Plus 10鈥斥�� he has two more years, after all, until the storm鈥檚 anniversary 鈥� and he plans additional trips to the region.
鈥� at .
