Acehnese bond with Katrina victims
Acehnese bond with Katrina victims
Antara, News Agency/Jakarta
The bonds between the child survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Nias island, North Sumatra, and their peers affected by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, USA, have become all the closer through the letters they have sent to each other.
"After receiving the letter sent earlier by their peers in the United States some time ago, the children in Aceh and Nias have responded with a letter to show their sympathy for the children affected by Katrina," the coordinator of the National Committee for the Protection of Children, Rachma Fitrianty, said by cellular telephone recently.
According to Rachma, the letter was conveyed to their friends in New Orleans in conjunction with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to the country a few days ago.
"In conjunction with the state duties of President Bambang and Ibu Ani in the United States, 10 children from Aceh and Nias have sent a letter through the President to their peers in New Orleans," said Rachma.
In the letter, they conveyed their deepest sympathy for the children of New Orleans in connection with the Katrina disaster that ravaged New Orleans recently. They hoped their friends there would be patient and resolute in facing their ordeal.
Two of the children who were conveying their sympathy were T. Muhammad Haris and Dara Maulini, who survived the tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, and are now continuing their studies at a senior high school in Jakarta.
"Thank God, despite the loss of my mother in the tsunami ... I am very thankful that I was given the chance to continue my studies," wrote Haris.
In the letter dated Sept. 10, 2005, he also wrote, "Please accept my deepest condolences on the Katrina disaster in America which has claimed the lives of thousands. May you all be resolute and patient in facing this trial from God."
"We are very thankful to God because we were saved from the disaster in Aceh. We remained resolute although we had just been hit by the natural disaster," wrote Dara Maulini.
Dara expressed the hope that the unfortunate children in New Orleans would persevere and be calm in facing the misfortune. The spirit to keep on living was needed, as all trials and tests were sent by God.
"May the disaster bring us closer to God. And most of all, we send this letter as a sign of our friendship," Dara wrote in the letter.
The letter is a follow-up from the Aceh and Nias Children's National Letter Writing Movement, set up by the President on Feb. 3, 2005.
"We hope the letters can strengthen the bonds of friendship among the children of Indonesian and the U.S., and foster empathy among children for their unfortunate friends," said Rachma.