http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4181693.stm
Diary: Personal tragedies Howard Arfin is a lifelong Red Cross volunteer and international delegate for the Canadian Red Cross, who has worked in disaster areas and war zones such as Iraq, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and the former Yugoslavia. He has in recent weeks been supplying aid for survivors on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. He reports on his experiences in the third of a series of occasional diary entries for the BBC News website. 17 January 2005 There is no escape from the grief all around us. But it's not obvious in the expressions on people's faces, and sometimes I'm shocked to learn details in casual conversations. One particular story comes to mind. Everywhere we work in disaster situations, our job as the International Red Cross Red Crescent Federation is to support the local Red Cross or Red Crescent national society in their assistance to the victims of disasters. We also hire local staff on a temporary basis for basic tasks like driving our jeeps and trucks for relief distributions, and assisting us in coping with the administrative load that comes with our accountability to donors. Yesterday I was driving through the devastated, flattened downtown area here in Banda Aceh towards the remains of the washed-out harbour, where daily we are loading up a fleet of boats with relief supplies for delivery to the many isolated communities down the hard-hit western coast of Aceh Province. Our newly-hired driver asked me if I would be interested in seeing where his neighbourhood used to be. My heartbeat quickened as I asked him the obvious question: did he lose any family members in the tsunami? "My wife and daughter," was the whispered reply. Body bags It turns out the three of them had been several days at the main hospital, up on higher ground, keeping company with the wife's ailing father. On Saturday night, 25 December, he suggested to his tired wife that she go home with their daughter for some rest. She did. The next morning was 26 December. I sat silent and anguished as we sloshed and bumped along what had been the main downtown thoroughfare. My own sorrow for him was interrupted by a fellow who stopped our Red Cross vehicle and asked if we happened to be carrying any spare body bags. We weren't. Our body bags, masks, boots and gloves are being distributed on Indonesian Red Cross trucks from our temporary warehouse. I conveyed my regrets that we had none to give him, and we continued on our way. Story from BBC NEWS: [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
