Tsunami Krant

Yesterday morning, after dropping Dhanu off at school, I went to Dirk (nearby our place) to do a quick shopping. After paying, I arranged my stuff at one of the tables provided for that purpose and saw that there's a box full of papers on each table. Title of the paper: Tsunami Krant - Een Jaar Na De Ramp (= Tsunami Paper - One Year After the Disaster - the first image here is a scan of the first page). It's given away for free, on behalf of the cooperating aid organizations. I picked one up rightaway, and flipped through the pages once I got home. Seems like the purpose of this paper is to let everyone (especially those who have donated to GIRO 555) know what happened to the financial aid, how it was distributed, and some resulfs of the contribution.

I really appreciate this publication. Because, indeed, after (almost) one year, people start to wonder about the situation at the damaged areas. Especially those who could only 'watched' from a distance and have no chance to be directly involved in the recovering process. At the top section of each page are FAQ and news sections. Moreover, there are figures of aid portions received by each country and of contributors, reports accompanied by photos. Most of these are touching.

I haven't had the chance to read thoroughly, but some articles cought my interest - such as how children, in their spare time, would draw about their horrible experience (drawing can be a therapy, you know). I would love to see their drawings, I hope somebody gathered these works and display them for the benefit of these children. Another article is about children who lost their parents (illustrated with a photo of a little girl with very beautiful, round, clear eyes), who are in need of paternal attention. My thoughts rightaway ran to my kids and how I would like to hug them right now. Underneath the main photo at the cover page, an article titled Mom, Dad, I'm still alive - why are you still crying? makes me think how rich I am to have a complete family with me, plus the luxury of a proper place to sleep and enough food to eat everyday.

At the last page, is the Kinder Tsunami Krant (= Children Tsunami Paper), containing, among others, an article titled De kinderen van Atjeh lachen weer (= Children of Aceh laugh again), illustrated with a photo of two boys on a pair of swings (second image in this entry). These swings and playground are among numerous facilities built by the money from Giro 555. One boy said that they're so happy with the new facilities, that they kept playing eventhough it rained. Children, indeed, have all the rights to be happy. And to think that some kids are never satisfied of their abundant expensive toys.. Another article is about Rachmat Tsunami, an Acehnese baby who was born during the disaster (the third photo is the baby with his parents). The parents told the story of Rachmat's birth - how the mother gave birth on the roof top of the father's office building during the tide, with help from no one, and how the father ran downstairs when the tide was low, to fetch some necessities from a fridge. How the father had to find something sharp to cut the umbilical cord of the baby and, in the end, had to use his car keys. Wow. I'm really impressed by their experience. In this last page, there's also a child's drawing, picturing a house that is almost drowned by the high water level.

I would suggest to anyone who reads Dutch (and lives in Holland) to get a hold on this paper, take it from a local supermarket. Perhaps it can do to you what it did to me: exercising my emphaty and making me wonder, again, about humanity and the purpose of life..