Mennonite Central Committee

Life must go on

January 12, 2005
Abang Rahino

Their grief is our grief, writes MCC Indonesia worker Abang Rahino, and we must all work together.

I wonder whether tears have meaning in the midst of this chaotic situation caused by that 8.9 in Richter scale earthquake followed by the 20 to 22 meter-high tsunami that struck the land at more than 240 kph in speed. Does our crying help those dazed survivors who wander around the city and countryside, seeking their beloved ones? "Why should we cry and for what?" said Pak Haji Mohammad Daud, a survivor from Banda Aceh who lost his lubricant shop in the Peunayong business area. Every time those empty faces pass in my mind, I tear up but promptly wipe it off, realizing that tears are empty of value this time. Can prayer be helpful? Oh yes ... for God is our refuge, the Psalmist said. But we need to do more than simply praying.

Ibu Ira, a midwife who used to serve in Lhok Nga district in the southwestern side of Banda Aceh, was found by a team of volunteers from YEU (Yakkum Emergency Unit), one of MCC's partners to respond the disaster. She was dazed, even though trying to maintain her faith that her beloved ones were survived. She kept asking passers-by whether they found her husband and her two little children while she was wandering along the road at Banda Aceh, about 18 km away from Lhok Nga. She kept grabbing out the only picture of her baby she has from her handbag, showing it to anybody she hopes would know and find her cutie one. Of course no one even tried to respond, for they lost theirs also. Hundred of thousands of people, spread in thousands of kilometers of area, hopelessly dazed in emptiness.

Ten of thousands of people lost everything, including their beloved people. Tens of thousands of children lost their parents, their siblings, probably their future, if we would not take any effort to help them. The grieving that our brothers and sisters have in the regions of Nangroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) and Sumatra Utara is our grieving too. But let's not keep crying while they're trying to keep their lives going on. Let's work together with our brothers and sisters in NAD and Sumatra Utara to make life ... and may the grace of God the Almighty be present there also. Life must go on, and we need to support the ongoing efforts in keeping it in the entire affected areas of NAD and Sumatra Utara. Support life, for their lives must go on and their lives are ours also.