Bermuda has demonstrated its generosity and compassion in an almost unprecedented way in response to the Asian tsunami, where the death toll has now reached more than $220,000.

Almost $1 million has been given to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and other charities, and it is impossible to know how much may have been given to overseas charities. Bermuda-based businesses and their staffs have also been extraordinarily generous, with companies like ACE and Bacardi giving. American International Group, which has a large presence in Bermuda, has also given millions.

It is particularly touching to see children and families giving small amounts that they have raised themselves; the spirit behind such donations means as much or more than the amount being given. This has once again shown the selflessness of Bermuda and Bermudians and the awareness that, not matter what our problems, we are far better off than almost anyone else in the world.

Of course, Bermuda has been called not once but twice this year to respond to disasters, having already given hundreds of thousands of dollars to countries in the Caribbean hit by hurricanes last summer.

Some people have apparently grown concerned that Bermuda?s generosity might leave the Island wanting when the next disaster strikes, either here or abroad. It may also be that the vast amount of money sent for tsunami relief is larger than that raised for the hurricanes.

Both questions raise hard questions about the price of human compassion. One would hope that the world will not experience a catastrophe of the same scale as the tsunami, and as hard as it may sound, the Caribbean hurricanes ? as devastating as they were ? were not on the same scale.

How do you put a price on 200,000 deaths? But when there is another disaster ? and there will be ? Bermuda will respond again.

The incredible generosity, in Bermuda and around the world, brings its own challenges. Bottlenecks in the affected countries mean that not all the aid gets where it is supposed to go when it is needed. Perhaps more importantly, reconstruction from a disaster of this magnitude can take years and the donations that have been made should be used for long term recovery and not simply for emergency supplies.

Accountability is important as well, both for the recipients and for the donors themselves. Making sure that aid goes to the people who need it, and not into the hands of middle men and profiteers, must be part of the aid agencies and coordinators? function.

Making sure the money that has been donated goes to the afflicted people and not administration is another. Countries that have offered billions of dollars must fulfil those pledges. That is something that has not always happened in past disasters; as the initial shock and wave of sympathy recedes, so does the interest in helping the afflicted communities.

Just as Grenada and the Cayman Islands face a still lengthy recovery period now, so do the countries affected by the tsunami.

This work does not pull the world?s heart strings as the suffering and drama of a tidal wave or hurricane does, but in the long run it may be more important than the immediate outpouring of aid that follows a storm.

That is why it is important that Bermuda not forget the victims of the summer?s hurricanes and that it continues to watch and monitor the situation in Asia, and especially in Indonesia, which was hardest hit and of all the countries affected, virtually the least equipped to deal with it.

Just as the Bermuda Regiment is going to help the people of Grenada this year, so we should not stop helping the people of Asia who have been affected by the tsunami.