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Heartache for Survivors in Tsunami-Hit Indonesia
Supri Lindra | October 28, 2010

Villagers wrapping bodies in plastic in the tsunami-hit village of Muntei Baru Baru village on the Mentawai Islands. (Reuters Photo) Villagers wrapping bodies in plastic in the tsunami-hit village of Muntei Baru Baru village on the Mentawai Islands. (Reuters Photo)
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WhizzWr
10:48pm Oct 28, 2010

@Mauricereg

"Faith-based societies, by contrast, in their inability to understand science and reality could never even conceive of that attempt, and if everyone believed in a god-created doomsday,they would perish."

I'm sorry, IMHO that's just a mere naive, and over-generalized assumption.

Unfortunately, world isn't divided to rocket scientists and people with faith.

Putting that aside, whichever Deity one prefers to worship, having "lies about how the world works" and faith DOES matter at the times like this. You know, when you are a mother and you lost your baby like Ms. Chandra did, Scientific explanation about Tsunami won't help at all. Believe, me.

All your other statements are easily debatable, but it's out-of-context seeing this is not a public discussion board.

mauriceg
5:17pm Oct 28, 2010

@mamaku: I don't wish to sound insensitive at a time of grief, but.. these disasters are entirely natural, requiring no intervention from the deity of your choice.

Indonesia's location is at the junction of two sets of 'tectonic plates' which are moving relative to one another. Simplistically, when they scrape together, we get earthquakes. Volcanoes are cause by build-ups of molten rock (magma), deep beneath the Earth. Weaknesss in the overlying rocks allows that magma to come to the surface, usually under pressure. This area is referred to as the 'Ring of Fire'.

When a potential 'killer asteroid' is on target to hit the Earth in the future (and that is when rather than if), I hope that no-one is talking of divine retribution or insufficient piety.

Right now, advanced nations are figuring out how to try to prevent that happening through the application of technology. Faith-based societies, by contrast, in their inability to understand science and reality could never even conceive of that attempt, and if everyone believed in a god-created doomsday,they would perish.

People need education, not faith and lies about how the world works. That's one of the reasons Indonesia remains backward.

Valkyrie
5:08pm Oct 28, 2010

mamaku: You serious about protesting to the alleged "creator?" Your heart may ache but it's an idiotic post, I dare say.

Get off your backside and go to the affected areas and lend a hand instead. The "Creator" will endow you with much blessings.

Believe me, "mnamaku," I too, am deeply sad with what happened but I don't go around blaming the Almighty.

Actually, you can protest, you know? I am not too sure what faith you're worshiping but in any faith there's

a process called "prayer." Try meditating and convey your protest through your prayers.

Having said the above, I wish to inform you that what happened was a natural disaster and such occurrences have been around for centuries.

I am a Christian and I feel you've probably been reading a lot on the prophecies of Isaiah?


mamaku
4:05pm Oct 28, 2010

it is my heartache too to read this. if only i could protest The Creator who made this disaster ...


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Muntei Baru Baru, Indonesia. Exhausted, confused and hungry, 20-year-old Indonesian housewife Chandra trudged barefoot through her tsunami-wrecked village in a desperate search for her missing baby.

“I sifted through rubble, looked in collapsed houses and in the temporary shelters but there’s no sign of him,” she said, tears welling up. “I know he’s dead but I keep praying he’s still alive. I’m so tired. I’ve not eaten for two days ... I have no appetite.”

Chandra was one of the survivors after a huge wave triggered by a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake Monday ravaged the remote Mentawai islands off the west coast of Sumatra, killing 343 people and leaving 338 missing.

Disaster response officials said bodies were being found on beaches and coastal areas in the Mentawai island chain, which took the full force as the tsunami washed away entire villages.

Chandra said she was separated from her husband and six-month-old son as they were trying to flee the tsunami when it hit their coastal village in North Pagai island, one of the two worst-hit in the Mentawai group.

“I survived because a coconut tree fell and kept me from being swept away. My survival was a miracle from God,” she said.

Her husband’s body was found by locals and buried along with dozens of other villagers in a mass grave on Wednesday.

The tsunami had flattened their village of Muntei Baru Baru, destroying more than 70 mostly wooden houses, a school and a church. Left behind were skeletons of houses, fallen trees and a fetid mud pool.

Survivors said they had almost no warning that the three-meter wall of water was bearing down on them, raising questions about whether an early alert system laid down after the 2004 Asian tsunami had failed.

An AFP photographer who came to North Pagai aboard an aid ship saw hundreds of villagers being treated at a medical clinic, many requiring stitches to open cuts suffered as they were tossed around in the roiling sea.

Like Chandra, dozens of villagers are still trying to come to terms with the tragedy.

Many scrabbled through rubble to look for missing relatives while others, dazed by the disaster, sat under coconut trees awaiting news from rescuers.

Chandra said she did not know what the future holds.

“I’ve no intention to rebuild my house. I now live alone, I don’t know what to do,” she said.

“Whatever happens, I’m not going to leave this village. This place is the burial place for my husband and baby.”


Agence France-Presse