Tsunami Up Close and Personal
Bande Ache, Sumatra, Indonesia
The earth shook with the smell of sulfur and the cries of those caught in the path.
The fires began.
Bodies burned, voices cried out for loved ones and then the water. Lives forever changed. Children torn from parents arms. Arms and legs ripped from bodies, lungs filled with suffocating mud. Legs running for shelter, family, hope.
Their collective passing brought the world to attention. Individuals, countries, communities reached out.
Crushed CarCared for, they show their love and gratitude through art. “I love nurses USA. Thank you. People Aceh.” On a T-shirt: “Mercy, thank you all!” as they left the ship to return to what was left of “home”.
A people in chaos, infrastructure lost, roads gone, hospitals buried.
A proud people, these Acehinese, determined to recover.
And an Indonesian government determined to help them regain their dignity, asking us all to leave soon, so they can take over, rebuild this people’s country.
They are survivors.
Lives were not lost in vain; no one will ever be the same again. Life will not be the same.
