Indonesia (Work diary: Dec. 28)
The Indonesia Chapter of
the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation airlifted 12 tons
of relief goods, including rice and other daily necessities,
from Jakarta to Aceh Province on Dec. 28, 2004.
A five-member mission, headed
by Sugianto Kusuma, left Jakarta's Halim Airport at 4 a.m.
aboard an F-28 aircraft. During a refueling stopover at
Medan's airport, Kusuma made an telephone call to Master
Cheng Yen, founder of Tzu Chi, to report the situation.
The relief materials brought
to Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh Province, included one ton
of rice, 25 boxes of instant noodles, 500 bags of washroom
articles (towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste), 248 bottles
of ointment, 185 sheets, 20,000 small cases of pain-relieving
pills, 256 bottles of salve for skin disease, 50 raincoats
and 10 pairs of boots.
As no volunteers and vehicles
were available in Banda Aceh at this moment, those relief
materials were to be handled by local authorities.
Volunteers in Jakarta have
also prepared the second batch of relief goods for earthquake/tsunami
victims in Aceh, including 50 boxes of instant noodles,
19 bags of sheets and 40 bags of rice. The Tzu Chi headquarters
in Taiwan is also ready to send blankets to Aceh.
After returning to Jakarta,
the volunteers said that they saw many people gathered at
Banda Aceh's airport wanting to leave Aceh because bodies
of victims could be seen everywhere. Many survivors were
bare-footed and in pajamas.
The volunteers gave
the address of Tzu Chi's chapter in Medan to the fleeing
survivors, asking them to seek help from Tzu Chi volunteers
there. Tzu Chi will provide temporary housing there for
the victims at two places. One is at the square of Polonia
Airport and the other is at the open ground of the Medan
Chapter.
