We watched the video that started off with shots of donations dropped to the office. That was Tuesday nite’s footages. Followed by some shots of sunrise on the road, then … Here they are…. Unloading half of the truck load in Batukaras. Residents of Batukaras already organized themselves with a proper POSKO with a proper management system. They were quite eager when choosing what they needed, left behind in the truck what they adequately had.

After distributing the aid, our friends left for Bulak Benda, another village next to Batukaras. The village was also blessed by a good size surfable surfing point. I remember we went to that village by taking a half an hour boat from Batukaras. It takes longer time to get there if you travel by land vehicle from Batukaras. Bulak Benda is considerably quite remote. You cant find what other typical tropical tourist beaches usually offer. Here you can feel that the nature is much much larger than you. You are only a single particle..

Many houses at the frontier were destroyed. Causalities were also higher. The boys told us, upon their arrival…. people in the temporary shelters stood up and walked toward the truck. Happiness was shining from their faces. So eager they all wanted to help to unload the truck. I saw on the video tape, an old man hugging a sack of rice on the ground. He knew… tonite he would eat rice… They knew some good hearted people were with them, all the way.

What I heard from the boys… Batukaras and Bulak Benda, and all other villages that were affected by tsunami were not as bad as Ulhee Lhee or Lhok Nga… some areas that were hit pretty bad in Aceh tsunami of 2004. However, the emotional effects must be the same. Counseling is needed immediately to bring them back to the norm. Sanitation and clean water is urgently needed. They might eat 3 times a day of ransom, but they wanted to be able to cook. They need cooking utilities. They also need helps to rebuild their homes and boats. I am sure some of you may have access to attend these issues.

PS: I will update this post with some facts and figures of lost and causalities.

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