Making aid donations to 555

How to send money to help disaster victims

Giro 555

is the Dutch national bank account where aid donations are collected

SHO

is the umbrella organisation of ten Dutch aid groups, including the Red Cross, Oxfam/Novib, Terre des Hommes, and Unicef

Where does the money go?

straight to the local offices of the ten aid groups in the disaster area

If you would like to contribute to the Dutch fundraising actions via "giro 555" from outside the Netherlands, this is how you do it.

Your donation should be transferred to the following bank account:

Bank: ING bank NV, Financial Plaza, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Swift code of the bank: INGBNL2A
If you're paying from inside one of the (European) EEPA countries, you use the IBAN number. NL08INGB0000000555 (yes, that's seven zeros).
From outside the EEPA zone, the account number is simply 555.

Clearly state the beneficiary:
SHO,
Mauritskade 9,
2514 HD The Hague,
The Netherlands.

You can also donate using your credit card. Go to the fill-in form on the SHO website (for the time being it's only available in Dutch):

https://www.e-cumlaude.com/secure/d/fondsenorg2/donate.php?charity=Samen...

She works fulltime for an organisation that provides aid to Pakistan's disaster area. But that is not enough for the 23-year-old Dutch-Pakistani Anya Raza. The Netherlands is holding a huge media appeal for Pakistan today. But there are also numerous smaller relief efforts, like Anya Raza’s.

'Dear friends, you might remember that in the past I have collected money for Pakistan. (...) The disaster is immense and clear to everybody (...) If you would like to donate some money, I would be very grateful. Thanks. Lots of love, Anya.'

Ms Raza e-mailed a longer version of this letter to her friends to collect donations for the victims of the floods in Pakistan.

"The biggest flood started on 27 July. A few days later we started collecting all kind of goods. We have already been to the disaster area six times. Not just taking food, but also toiletries, clothing, fans, in other words all kinds of things that make a difference," says Ms Raza eagerly.

Over 1500 Pakistanis have been killed. At least 16 million people have lost their houses and farmlands. Many crops, the main source of income here, have been destroyed. A fifth of Pakistan, an area four times the size of the Netherlands, is under water. The economic consequences are huge.

Bedroom as storage space
Ms Raza has collected around 4000 euros in donations, she says and the money keeps rolling in. She is going to hand in another donation today – from friends in London – to her associate Nasir Khan. They have known each other for years. Mr Khan works at the Dutch embassy, but also has his own marketing agency.

In the bedroom, there are dozens of hygiene sets containing toothbrushes, soap and a cloth to purify water and other things. The authorities estimate that at least 3.5 million children are at risk of contracting skin diseases, pneumonia or other illnesses. Mr Khan’s office is full of clothes donated by a Pakistani factory for a reasonable price. Even the staircase is stacked with aid, in the form of bottles of water and bags of flour.

"Ms Raza collects the donations and I distribute them", says Mr Khan. He takes money and goods with him in the car and hands them out. He doesn’t go to the camps where people are already getting help, he goes to remote spots where aid hasn’t got through yet.

Aid worker both inside and out of hours
Ms Raza was born in the Netherlands, but moved to Pakistan with her parents as a baby. She lived in Islamabad for 17 years with her Dutch mother and Pakistani father, returning to the Netherlands to study economics. Six weeks ago, she was taken on by an Irish aid organisation in Islamabad. So dealing with the disaster is part of her job. Nevertheless, Ms Raza finds it only natural that she should raise funds in her free time.

"After five o’ clock, I have another six hours before I go to bed. And those six hours I just walk back and forth. Yes, I have a roof over my head, I’ve got a hot shower but there are 20 million people who do not have all this. So how can I live with myself if I don’t do everything I can?"

Friends of friends
Ms Raza says her donors are friends of friends. She already had a network, as she had set up appeals for the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 and more recently for refugees who fled the fighting between the Pakistani army and the Taliban. Both appeals were organised with the university where she was studying.

Although she has repeatedly asked for help in the last five years, people do not seem to have become tired of giving. Lots of people want to help, she says, but do not know how to.

"That is how a lot of people think. They do not know who to trust, because there is so much corruption. That is actually why people give me their donations." 

Her donors know she speaks fluent Urdu, the local Pakistani language, and has an extensive network, because she has lived in Pakistan for so long, she says. If it were up to her, she would set up a much bigger operation.

"It makes me really happy. I’m passionate about it. Development aid has always been my thing. And I hope that one day I’ll be able to do it on a much larger scale."