Indonesians in U.S. work together in relief effort

Elvera N. Makki, Contributor/Houston, Texas

Moments after watching news of the tsunami in Banda Aceh and North Sumatra, Andrew Huang, 53, who has lived in Houston for 13 years, felt it was a call for him to do something immediately.

Acting as the head of the Indonesian Catholic Family in Houston, Andrew contacted without delay a handful of Indonesian organizations in town to meet and discuss ways to help the tsunami victims. His initiative was quickly acted upon.

"With only four meetings each week, we finally came up with something simple, yet effective to raise funds", said Andrew.

It was called the Tsunami Relief Charity Day, a half-day bazaar and auction held in the backyard of the Indonesian Consulate General.

The event was participated in by approximately 10 Indonesian non-profit organizations.

At the event, each organization opened booths and sold Indonesian food to visitors. The Houston chapter of the Society of Indonesian Petroleum Engineers added interest to the event by holding an auction of Indonesian art donated by society members.

All of the money from the food sales and auction was sent to the Indonesian Red Cross and Kompas Humanitarian Fund.

Equipment and facilities such as the stage, sound system, security and cleaning services were provided by the consulate. Publicity was mostly by word of mouth.

"We simply drafted a flyer in pdf format, emailed it to our Indonesian friends and let them forward it to their colleagues at work and their neighbors. We also posted it to several grocery stores," added Andrew.

During the event, a nonprofit dance company committed to community involvement and education through the arts presented several performances.

One was the story of a small family in Indonesia torn apart by the tsunami. The dance expressed the hope that, ultimately, despite the loss and tragedy, hope and unity would see the survivors through.

About 200 people, including Americans, Europeans and those of other nationalities, showed up for the event.

"We collected US$12,853, of which $8,000 came from food sales and the auction. The rest was cash and checks placed in donation boxes at the bazaar entrance," said Andrew.

For Andrew, what mattered most was not the total amount of money raised or how many people attended, but the success of the event.

"Seeing the passion and participation of the Indonesian community in working together to make the event a success, while far from home -- that was priceless."

"I hoped that, ideally, I could fly to Banda Aceh to help directly, and I bet this is what everyone here would have wished. Unfortunately, I have commitments that prevent me from doing that," said Andrew.

In the immediate aftermath of tsunami, Indonesians, not only from Houston but also from as far afield as New Orleans, Louisiana, went to the consulate and donated boxes of clothing.

For days, Indonesian women from the community worked in shifts at the consulate to sort through the clothes and other supplies.

According to the head of the business division of the Indonesian Consulate in Houston, Enda Iskandar Yusuf, 495 boxes of clothing and other supplies were shipped to the disaster relief handling depot in Medan, and should arrive there early in March.

The consulate has also received to date more than $50,000 in cash donations from many in the community.

Iwan Tantu, an expatriate Indonesian, spent two weeks raising funds at mosques in the city, making presentations on the disaster.

The funds collected were transferred to Imaam (a U.S. nonprofit, religious, charitable organization, largely serving Muslims from Indonesia in the Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland areas) and Pos Keadilan Peduli Umat (a Muslim group concerned with issues of welfare and justice).

On the pictures: 1. One of the visitor looked at the mural of Tsunami tragedy in Aceh.

2. Bismo, 9, begged his mother to voluntarily participate in the charity event. By selling cold beverage and giving all the money for the victims, he felt that he also took part in helping.

3&4. A busy day on selling home-made Indonesian cuisine during the bazaar.