International

Aid Efforts Stymied by China, Myanmar Tragedies

By Alix Spiegel

Published May 16, 2008 at 1:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Two catastrophes have struck this month — the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. As the death tolls in these two countries mount, so does the need for aid.

But Myanmar has been reluctant to let relief workers into the country, and China says it will accept foreign aid on its own timetable. So where does all that leave charitable contributions?

How do people give if they want to help victims of the disasters, and where will their contributions do the most good?

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International

Alix Spiegel

Alix Spiegel has worked on NPR's Science Desk for 10 years covering psychology and human behavior, and has reported on everything from what it's like to kill another person, to the psychology behind our use of function words like "and", "I", and "so." She began her career in 1995 as one of the founding producers of the public radio program This American Life. While there, Spiegel produced her first psychology story, which ultimately led to her focus on human behavior. It was a piece called 81 Words, and it examined the history behind the removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

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