Earthquake and Tsunami nearby

At 4 pm this afternoon I got an sms from a friend telling me she was glued to the tv.  I checked out BBC and watched in horror as a tsunami ripped through the northeast and eastern coast of Japan.  The announcers were saying that the entire Pacific coastline needed to be on watch, as well as Indonesia (especially Sulawesi and Papua) and the Philippines.  What is really sad is that although I can sit in the comfort of my home, on my couch in the middle of the island of Java (south of Sulawesi), and watch water destroy parts of a nation north of us, I know that there are areas within Indonesia that may not even be aware of the dangers ahead.  Many of the isolated village communities within Indonesia have warning systems, but as shown when the last tsunami hit Indonesia, sometimes those systems are in disrepair.  It's my prayer that all parts of our nation and those Islands to the east of Japan will become aware of the potential tsunami.  Right now they say that Australia is also to be on the alert as its waters may rise and swell within the next 7 hours.

What is really ironic is that I am in Indonesia and my parents are 1/2 way across the world, yet the movement of water between us is a potential danger to both of the islands we live on (Vancouver Island and Indonesian islands).  I phoned my mom at 4-something p.m. our time, and although it was 1-something a.m. her time, she didn't mind.  It's amazing how good it is to hear a loved-ones voice even though you know that the chance of them being harmed is slim (Canada hasn't been put on the alert so far, according to our news here).  I love skype.

Our prayers tonight are for those still waiting to hear news about their nation and the tsunami possibly coming their way, as well as for those in Japan who have been hit already.  Lord, have mercy.

"Back from the Ashes of Merapi" by Amelia Merrick

Below is a piece written by my Canadian friend, Amelia Merrick, interim national director for World Vision Indonesia. She has the privilege of traveling quite a bit throughout the islands of Indonesia, and unfortunately she also has opportunity to witness some pretty sad, overwhelming events. Many of these events are caused by natural disasters, such as one of Indonesia's most recent ones, the eruption of Mount Merapi in Jogjakarta. Merapi is 8 hours from us by train, one and a half hours by plane.

"Children greet me as I open the car door at the Kali Adem Displacement Camp. To my left is a group of boys hanging around a small leaf-less tree while they read comics together. A couple of girls sit off to the side peeling and placing stickers in their activity book, enthralled by the delicate and colourful images. A large blue tent is to the left and from within the tent I hear children’s laughter. Three university students, with cool printed t-shirts and funky hair styles are in the tent, showing a dozen pre-teens how to take photos and play guitar. If I didn’t know better, I would think this were summer camp.

But moving inside the long and hot community centre I am instantly brought back to reality. This is a Displacement Camp where 400 people from Kali Adem, a tiny dairy village at the very top of Mount Merapi, are now without homes, cows or fields. Mothers, fathers, grandmothers and babies sit on rolled mats, colorful walls of neatly folded clothes mark out their family’s space. A few drinking glasses, weathered school books, motorcycle helmets and beaten card-board boxes that safely store the last remains of their belongings are stacked in the 4 x 6 space they now call home. Fresh laundry - faded jeans, bras and underwear, children’s pyjamas – are strung across every window pane and doorway.

I go to meet the village leader – she is a slight woman draped in a shiny purple head scarf. She shows me a picture of her village - it is a whitened moonscape, lava has covered their entire village. It looks like a desert dusted with ash, or like a barren field after a heavy snow fall. There is no evidence of homes, cows or fields. It is just grey and dusty. Before I can write down the name of this fragile village leader she breaks into tears. I have been to dozens of Displacement Camps but still there are never words to comfort someone who has lost everything.

I speak to Ibu Suyami (38) and Ibu Dartoyaho (55) and they tell me they are confused. They have moved seven times since Mount Merapi starting spewing its noxious gases. Their first Displacement Camp is now singed black, the boxes of emergency supplies burned by the hot volcanic cloud. The second Displacement Camp was too crowded. They are like “The Fish out of Water” – being transferred from one cramped bowl to the next, on a desperate journey to find a place that can hold them. Though this community centre is too small for their village they are glad that they are have settled amongst their neighbors again. At least they are together with friends and family.

Ibu Suyami and Ibu Dartoyaho tell me that they have lost everything – there houses are gone, their cattle are dead. They don’t have a plan, they don’t know what comes next. They are bored living in the camp. They miss their work. The children want to play soccer again.

It was over a month ago that they ran from their villages, and while they are glad to be alive they long for an end to this terrible nightmare. Sadly, the world has already woken and the people of Mount Merapi are quickly being forgotten as we move into our busy day." 

http://www.worldvision.ca/give-a-gift/Crisis-Child-Partner/Pages/SavingChildDisasterVictimsinIndonesia.aspx

Thanks for reading, and thanks Amelia for letting me "borrow" your post.

Very Random Bunny Trails

We are a few weeks past Matt's 15th birthday and a month and a half until my baby girl turns 13. Where does the time go?? Today Abby is staying home from school, sick with a sore throat, cough and slight fever. The funny thing is, I had to practically tackle her to the ground and put her back into bed to get her to stay home from school. At one point I thought she might defy me and head to school when I wasn't looking (she was already in uniform when I discovered she's not feeling well), and my first thought was "How do I discipline for THAT?" What would I do? Go to school and report to her teachers/principal that "Abby refuses to stay home from school!" That scenario made me laugh, but fortunately she crawled back into bed and there she still lies.

I'm sitting in a corner of her peaceful, green and turquoise room (photos of new paint jobs to come) and thinking about all that's going on in the last while. What it comes down to is that we're busy and the skies are constantly bringing new, LOUD thunderstorms. That's a summary in a nutshell.

You may have heard of the various tragic natural disasters that have occurred here in Indo in the past week. There have been 2 earthquakes and consequent tsunami in some islands off of Sulawesi (wiped out 20 villages), Mount Merapi has erupted (8 hours by train from us) and is threatening to do it again, there is constant flooding in Jakarta (doesn't harm us but is devastating to many families in the slums), and there has been a drought somewhere in Indo since February. Here we sit in our little Lippo bubble and watch the news, read the papers, and it's not overseas, it's right in our own backyard. The best we can do as people untrained in disaster relief is to send money for those who know what they're doing, and to pray for those who are involved, victims or rescuers. Not a whole lot different from back home. Once and a while an opportunity comes up where a group of people volunteer to go into a community and help rebuild. We haven't participated in anything like that yet but would like to.

It truly is amazing that as the world seems to be in chaos all over, life in its beauty and simplicity still goes on. Here in Lippo we just received some very heartwarming, exciting news from a young couple that moved here in July. They've been married 9 months and have just found out that they're pregnant. With twins. They've gone from calling their baby Peanut to calling them Peanut Butter and Jelly. That's pretty cute. They do ultra sounds here extremely early, and at 5 weeks they were already able to tell that there are two fetuses. Incredible!

This news has brought me to realize that there are very few twins here in Indo. With a population of 14 million in Jakarta alone, you'd think you'd see them all over. When I begin to list my friends either with twins or who are a twin, it's pretty big for our Cdn population! Kathleen, Dale, Tara, Stephanie, Renkemas, Lois, Maura, Sarah & Bethany, Rebecca's new grandbabies coming (boys!!), the new pastor who came when we left...and those are just the ones off the top of my head, and not including the ones I grew up with in school! BTW, 5 of those listed are from the same church. I know that we don't drink the water from the tap here in Indo, and we do in Canada, so that must be the answer.

Speaking of water and earlier, rain, I just have to fill you in on the most recent weather patterns here. We have had some of the loudest, windiest rainstorms here that I've ever seen. Just the other day, Tris was at the golf course and I was sitting on our foyer floor, looking outside, when 3 bolts of lightening came down in front of me, two doors across from our house, and hit a lightening rod. With those bolts came some earth-shaking, teeth-rattling thunder, and, I must admit, a few screams from within our home. Screams of "omygoodnessdidyousee/hearthatitwasincredibleandsoscaryithitthelighteningrod!!" amongst some laughter. Our helper came into the foyer with dinner-plate sized eyes (JUST like the dahlia), and our driver ran into our kitchen, not wanting to go back outside. Needless to say, I cancelled the appointment I had been heading out the door to. As for Tris at the golf course, he heard the same and picked up his ball (without putting, even!!), grabbed his clubs, and headed for cover.

It's never boring here, and there's always a story to tell.

Thanks for reading.

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! Aunt Sam arrived 8 days ago and although we haven't gone too far from home we have kept busy. Matt's 14th birthday was on Thursday but he and Abby were at retreat, and so Matt, Abby and Sam all arrived at our house within one hour of each other. Within 5 hours of her arrival, we took Sam to Eastern restaurant, one of our favourite local Chinese food places, and we celebrated Matt's birthday there. The pretty box he's holding is my sad attempt at wrapping his birthday gift. There was actually nothing in it but a note, which said "this is an invisible wii key." We had his Wii game rekeyed for Indonesian Wii games so now he has even more playing options.

The same afternoon that we got here there was an earthquake which registered 6.5 on the scale. I don't think that there was any damage (I think the epicenter was between two Indonesian islands) but we felt the shaking.

Because of the last 2 earthquakes we've had some cracks grow in two corners of our cement home. Thankfully the school sent a repairman and our home is safe once again. I had expected him to just fill the holes with cement and was pleased when he took apart the crack, made a hole, filled it with the appropriate materials and repainted right away. I took this photo to show you how our home is made...rebar, bricks and cement, with tile floors and ceramic roof tiles. If you look carefully you can see the workman's fingers poking through from the crack on the front of the house through to the crack on the side of the house.

Mostly what we've been doing together with Sam is seeing the local sights...very local, as in Lippo Village local with a few trips into Jakarta...and getting Sam pampered. So far she's had a mani, pedi, cream bath and massages. I think she's enjoying it! One day we spent floating and tanning in our friend's backyard pool and it was just like being on holidays somewhere in our own private pool. Speaking of holidays, Sam and I head to Bali for 2 nights this Tuesday.

I mentioned that it was our nephew Tristian's birthday on October 18, but I wasn't able to put up a photo because I didn't have a recent one. Since then Jen has sent me one and this is what he looks like as a 9 year old, and this is the weather they're experiencing in Bavaria, Germany right now!

Tris' update is that he is working hard at strengthen his shoulder muscles and although they don't look like he'd like, the muscles are improving and it looks like the surgery was a success.

Thanks for reading.

No Earthquake Here

I received a call from a concerned relative last night, wondering if we'd experienced the .8 earthquake that has been reported in Indonesia. So far I haven't heard much locally (I'd have to leave the house for that) but another Canadian relative has told me that 2 hospitals collapsed as well as many other buildings. The earthquake shook the island of Sumatra, not our island of Java, and my hope is that the buildings that were destroyed were smaller. Jakarta is the biggest city in Indonesia and has the biggest hospital buildings. In a smaller, less populated location, chances are that the hospitals are much smaller and so are the buildings. That's my hope, anyways.

I just want you all to know we're okay and that we are safe.

Thanks for reading.