Amid the devastation, news of hope from home - a son is born Eds:
\nRETRANSMITTING to correct Irwan Firdaus' byline.[ ---[ UNDATED:
\nsatellite phone.[ By IRWAN FIRDAUS= Associated Press Writer=
\nBANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -<\/p>\n
Amid devastation, news of hope -- a son is born<\/p>\n
Irwan Firdaus
\nAssociated Press\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
I've seen many tragedies in Indonesia, from the slayings of 1,500
\npeople in East Timor in 1999 by Indonesian troops to battles
\nbetween Christians and Muslims that killed nearly 10,000 in the
\nMaluku islands.<\/p>\n
Nothing prepared me for what awaited when I arrived in
\ndevastated Aceh province from Jakarta to report on the tsunami's
\naftermath. I never imagined such utter destruction was possible.<\/p>\n
Everybody I spoke to had lost at least one relative or friend.
\nMany lost several. A doctor who rushed from Jakarta to check on
\nfamily found only one of his 25 relatives who had lived in the
\ncoastal town of Meulaboh before the waves flattened it.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have any more tears to weep,\" one survivor told me.
\nThe tragedy took several of my close friends, including a
\njournalist who often provided stories to The Associated Press
\nfrom Banda Aceh, Muharram M. Nur. His house was demolished by the
\ninrushing sea and he is presumed dead; his wife is hospitalized
\nand their three daughters were still missing two weeks after the
\ntsunami.<\/p>\n
When the earthquake hit, Muharram had immediately contacted
\nAP's Jakarta bureau and then raced to a prison reportedly hit by
\nthe quake. The waves swept in after he called.<\/p>\n
I lost a friend who got married in November and spent his
\nhoneymoon in the couple's home village in Aceh province. Arief
\nRusli and his wife were swept away on Uelele beach, where they
\nhad been walking when the big waves roared in that Sunday.<\/p>\n
Another Acehnese friend was Rufriadi Ramli, a lawyer who was
\noften a source for stories on human rights abuses in the region's
\nlong-running separatist conflict. He hasn't been heard from since
\nthe disaster.<\/p>\n
Thoughts of other places were swept away by the devastation.
\nOne had to deal with the grim here and now -- bodies in rivers,
\npieces of flesh on roads, expanses of shattered buildings, the
\nfear of disease outbreaks, hunger among the many homeless.<\/p>\n
Then, suddenly, I learned of a new life coming -- my first
\nchild. My wife in Jakarta called early on Jan. 7 to say she was
\nabout to give birth.<\/p>\n
I felt sad, nervous and confused.<\/p>\n
After three hours and several phone calls from my sister came
\nnews that brought a smile to my face despite the apocalyptic
\nscenes around me. My wife had given birth to a boy.<\/p>\n
I rushed to the airport for the flight home. It should have
\ntaken only a couple of hours, but the trip stretched over 17
\nhours because my jetliner was diverted first to Malaysia amid the
\nhuge number of relief planes flying in and out of Aceh.<\/p>\n
In the frustration of the delays I consoled myself with one
\nthought: My wife and son were safe and healthy.<\/p>",
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