Vigil in Jakarta
A prayer vigil is being held in Jakarta tonight.
Masli, the husband of Ida, a school friend of 'Er Indoors, has rung Ida from Banda Aceh to say that there is no trace of their house or their daughters. Inside were Yuli, 24, wife of Abral, and their year old daughter, Novi, 22, due to graduate as a doctor next year and Cut Nong, 12, awaiting school results in order to enroll in junior high here in Jakarta.
Hope has been extinguished.
Most of Abral's family is missing as well. He was in Medan on business when the tsunami struck.
We never saw Ida's granddaughter, but Ida, Masli and their daughters visited here several times, the last time being Idul Fitri last year. Another daughter, Dewi, remained in Jakarta and stayed with us for six months to complete her schooling whilst the rest of the family ran a restaurant in Banda Aceh.
This feeling of loss is shared by many, many thousands of families across Indonesia and in the other affected countries around the Indian Ocean.
It is impossible to find adequate words.
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