Tuesday
1:40am
I was awoken at midnight by Vicki who is Evan’s assistant. She said there was an 8.2 earthquake in Sumatra. Tsunami warnings are out. A group of us prepared to go to the coast if needed. We gathered around computer and the television, it has been 2 hours and no tsunami yet. The village has been evacuated. We have builders staying at a hotel on the beach. Evan has sent some one on a 3 wheeler to go warn them. My roommate Janet is at the hotel tonight, I am worried about her. There must be chaos on the coast.
If I haven't mentioned earlier we are right next to the airport, there has been many more planes then usual. After 3 hours no tsunami and I went to bed. Thank God.
I went to the village in the morning and worked with the builders. This also enables me to spend more time with the children because they just hang around the construction sites.
I don't think I’ve mentioned the armed military soldiers that watch over us. Whenever we are at the village or refugee camps they are there. A few of us walked over the railroad tracks to the beach today, the soldiers followed us, they carry loaded rifles. Sometimes I will be in the van that picks them up in the morning and they are armed, I just don't feel safe, it seems friendly fire (if there is such a thing) kills way too many people. Besides I’ve seen gunshot wounds when I worked at Regions hospital, not a pretty site.
The area of the beach that we had started cleaning is now history, the tide is high and the water is rough there is trash every where, from toothpaste, toothbrushes, clothing, plastic, glass, styrofoam just about anything you can think of. Broken dolls, balls, just way too much to deal with today. It appalls me how the people just dump their garbage in the rivers and oceans. I must remind myself that this is all they have ever known. I have mixed emotions today, a strong sadness for the children their poverty and fear of tsunami. It really is sad.
The soup kitchen that our organization built for the people is full of flies and filth there is no value placed on cleanliness.
