Global Natural Disasters and Salsa Dancing

This summer, news of global natural disasters such as the heat in the Russian Federation and the growing casualties of water floods happening in Asia, India and Pakistan, are not dominating the headlines. The chairwoman of the Dutch national aid relief organization said that her organization cannot start a national relief campaign to help Afghanistan right away because of the vacation period.

The fifth edition of the India International Salsa Congress will start tomorrow, Friday August 13, 2010. Hundreds of Salseros and Salseras from over thirty countries will travel to Bangalore and enjoy a great Salsa weekend in India. At the same time Ladakh, also an Indian city, is experiencing the consequences of a major natural disaster.

The following raw footage was made only 5 days ago, directly after the water and mud floods had stopped.

At the time of the footage, the number of dead people in Ladakh was an estimated 103. China News reported yesterday of 166 casualties and hundreds of “missing” people in this city drowned by water and mudslides. The distance between Bangalore, a city in Karn?taka, India and Ladakh, the region in the Indian state of Jammu and Kasjmir, is an estimated 2,352.68 kilometers, or 1,461.89 miles. Chances are many of the Salsa dancers 'shaking it' at the India International Salsa Congress will know about this situation. But, the world press and international celebrities have yet to react the way they did on previous occasions. They were all very effective in supporting and organizing many rallies, benefit gala evenings, music concerts and national televised actions to help the victims of the 2004 Asia Tsunami and the earthquake in Haiti last January.

The situation in India's neighboring country - Pakistan - is even worse. Yesterday, the United Nations launched the biggest aid appeal in its history. The U.N. said earlier this week that nearly fourteen million Pakistanis have become victims of the flooding, mudslides and extreme rainfall happening in the northern part of the country. In comparison: there were five millions victims of the 2004 Asian Tsunami and the number of victims in Haiti is an estimated 3 million. The money coming in to help Pakistan, 29 million euros and 69 million pledged, bleak in comparison to the staggering 1.2 billion euros pledged for 1.5 million victims after just ten days of the earthquake disaster happened in Haiti.

Salseros and Salseras attending the India International Salsa Congress 2010 can help by :

1. Uploading their videos with interviews, comments and Salsa dancing on YouTube and
2. Putting a link of their videos on their own social network pages accompanied by a plead for help and a bank account number of an organization aiding these countries.