clipped from: www.abc.net.au   

News analysis We can send probes to the fringes of the solar system. Swap instant messages with friends on the other side of the world. So surely we have some hi-tech help for the hundreds of thousands of people in Burma and China. Right?

China earthquake survivor

The short, sad answer is 'no'. In the early 21st century, disaster relief bears a remarkable similarity to that of the mid-20th century, and even before.

"I used to be an aid worker in Mozambique, back in the 80s," says Oxfam's Ian Bray.

"I had to travel all the way from Mozambique to Harare, all day in a Land Rover, just to send a telex back to my operations here in Oxford. Now I can quickly phone our people.
"But the basics remain the same. People still need food, they need clean water and sanitation, they need something as mundane as soap and buckets to wash their hands after defecation to break the cycle of disease. You can't email that to them."
Trucks or boats
remain the method of choice for getting help to
cyclone-ravaged Burma and quake-hit Sichuan