Two Years Ago Today.President Clinton, whose two-year term as the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery ends this month, has delivered
his final report. In it he stresses that the extraordinary efforts witnessed so far will need to continue for years to come.
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As we have learned in other parts of the world in the wake of disasters of this scale - from Kobe to New Orleans, Tangshan to Bam - rebuilding the physical, social and human capital of shattered communities takes years."
Two years ago I wrote the following:
Vigil in JakartaA 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. 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.
Most of Abral's family is missing as well. He was in Medan on business when the tsunami struck.
Hope has been extinguished.
We never saw Ida's granddaughter, but she and her daughters visited here several times, the last time being Idul Fitri last year. Another daughter, Dewi, 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.
UpdateAbral has married Dewi.
Ida is fostering 3 Acehnese orphans
Masli died in September. We think he died of a broken heart.
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