From Batavia ship's Blog 30th January 2005:

" '...no matter how much food and water and medicine and tools and supplies anyone brings--things can never be the same again. ...

156 people lived in this idyllic seaside kampung. Residents lived on fish, vegetables, and fruit, and tapped their rubber trees to sell in the city of Calang, 15 kilometers away.

The tsunami hit the village with full force. 114 of the 156 died. 42 survived: 38 men, one woman, and three children. All the surviving men lost their wives and all their children; all the surviving children lost both their parents; and the lone surviving woman lost her husband and children.

The men who survived were out fishing in deep water. It is impossible to imagine what they faced as they paddled ashore in the wake of the wave.

...A month after losing his parents, the three-year-old still cries almost continuously for them. Sometimes he stops to call out for his drowned father, 'Ayah, Ayah,' and then starts crying again. ..."

One person can make a difference.

Please go to http://island-aid.org ...and/or write: island-aid@jdoassociates.biz

Thank you