We humbly thank you

It has been obvious from the beginning that the devastation caused by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami was simply too enormous for Indonesia to deal with alone. The huge death toll, the massive destruction and the hundreds of thousands of people now forced to live in refugee camps are simply unprecedented.

Indonesia is not alone: The tsunami also brought untold deaths and destruction in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Maldives, and on the opposite end of the Indian Ocean, in Somalia and Kenya. But there is no doubt that Indonesia, particularly the province of Aceh, suffered the worst because of its close proximity to the epicenter of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake.

No country in the world has ever had to deal with devastation of this magnitude.

Amidst all this, Indonesia, and the people of Aceh in particular, can find comfort in the fact that they are not alone in their struggle to overcome the grief and to rebuild their lives.

As the scale of the calamity became understood last Sunday and Monday, the international community rushed to assist the people of Aceh. The Acehnese have not been alone in coming to terms with the reality that their lives have been turned upside down by a catastrophe beyond anyone's control. And now, more than one week later, as they begin to rebuild their shattered lives, they should also know that the nation and the rest of the world are with them.

Thanks to global media coverage and the technology to bring the news and images of the disaster to people's living rooms almost instantaneously, the cries for help from the people of Aceh, India and Sri Lanka -- the three countries worst hit -- were heard loud and clear all across the world.

The scale of death, destruction and displacement of people is simply beyond the imagination of most people. But one thing most can comprehend, to some degree, is the suffering that people go through after losing loved ones, their homes or their livelihood.

The global response to the Indian Ocean disaster has been, to say the least, fantastic, and equally unprecedented.

Some countries and governments reacted spontaneously. Others took longer before they realized the full extent of the devastation. But in all, upwards of $2.3 billion worth of humanitarian relief has been raised or pledged from governments and international organizations. Japan leads the pack with $500 million and the United States follows with $350 million. But Germany is planning to top all that with a pledge of $668 million.

It is not solely governments, the various agencies of the United Nations and non-governmental relief organizations have responded with unprecedented generosity. The public in many countries have been touched by what they saw on their television screens. They too have donated generously. Some governments have pledged to match every dollar that their citizens donate for the Asian disaster.

The United States is now fully involved in this global movement. President George W. Bush and his predecessors Bill Clinton and George H. Bush visited the Indonesian Embassy in Washington on Monday to reassure Indonesia of American support. The two former presidents have been tasked to lead a private fund raising drive that will further bolster U.S. assistance. President Bush has ordered flags in government offices be flown at half-mast to mourn the deaths all over the Indian Ocean rim.

And there are the humanitarian operations either jointly or individually conducted by the military from Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Germany, Pakistan and India to bring desperately needed relief supplies to victims and survivors.

The emergency summit in Jakarta to discuss the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the stricken areas today presents an opportunity for Indonesia to express its great appreciation -- not only on behalf of the people in Aceh, but also for the victims in other Asian countries -- for all the help and the expression of solidarity, given in the wake of the disaster, by people and governments of the world. Not all those generous countries are represented today, but given the presence of a horde of international media, the message will get to everyone.

The magnitude of the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami has made us humble of the powers that nature has over mankind. But we are even more humbled by the generosity shown by the people all around the world.