2005-03-22
8:38 p.m.
A Memory of Meulaboh
Here's something which I wrote awhile back, after I returned... Doesn't sound like much, but well...
A Memory of Meulaboh
After hearing much about Meulaboh from the team that went there in January, I was eager to visit the much talked-about city myself. And so I obtained permission to tag along with the first medical team going out to the city in February. I wanted to see for myself what we, as Singapore Red Cross (SRC), could do to fulfil our mission statement.
Approaching Meulaboh in the RSAF Chinook (one of the last few flights!) via the sea, the first sight that greeted me was a shoreline littered with remnants of trees and buildings.
We were brought to Temasek House, accommodations which we shared with Mercy Relief, a Singapore NGO. Nice, I thought to myself. I was prepared to stay in a tent. Living in a house with safari beds, bathrooms and cooking facilities was certainly a bonus.
One of the first tasks that we set out to do was to pay a courtesy call to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Big sprawling white tents greeted us on arrival at the IFRC camp. The Health Delegate in Meulaboh, Ms Ross, who was seconded to the IFRC from the British Red Cross, greeted us.
So the medical team set about its business. The team was paired with a Health team from our Indonesian counterparts, Palang Merah Indonesia (PMI). For David (another volunteer) and myself, we undertook the task set to us: to identify possible projects for volunteers of the SRC.
I visited the Meulaboh General Hospital one afternoon. The doctor on the SRC medical team is a general surgeon, and assisted with some surgeries in the Operating Theatre on occasions. I had the rare opportunity of being able to observe an osteo myelitis procedure. A boy of 17 had an infection that had affected a bone in his leg. I stood and watched as Dr Lee and Dr Cahyu hammered away at the bone. All this while the boy was awake � they only used local anesthetic! The hospital was in short of certain supplies and equipment like gauze and tubes, so the doctors had to improvise.
Our medical team, together with Mercy Relief, also found the time to clean up the Operating Theatre and the ICU blocks. I made a mental note to myself that this was one area that our volunteers could help with.
In the course of our work, David and I also found the time to visit Ground Zero, as they call it. The area most devastated by the tsunami. As the sight of buildings half ripped apart, trees torn from their roots or snapped in two, people (yes, survivors) walking among the rubble, searching for I don�t know what, presented itself, words failed me. I could only soak in the sight of the place that was once the bustling city centre of Meulaboh.
We were brought to the site of the kindergarten, which was swept away by the waves. It was about 1 km from the shore. Images of happy, carefree children skipping gaily in front of the still-standing cartoon-painted walls flashed across my mind�s eye. Now the kindergarten is an abandoned and broken shell.
The driver we hired is a young chap � couldn�t have been more than 23. He told us he lost his parents, sister and her family. The 15 year-old girl we bought our lunch and dinner from down the road from Temasek House lost her immediate family, and had to seek refuge with her aunt (the owner of the food stall). Looking at their resilience, I couldn�t help but wonder where they found the strength to pick themselves up and carry on. I couldn�t help but wonder if we could match up to, let alone better them. I found no answer.
With the passage of time, Meulaboh may remain just a wisp of smoke in our memories, but for those whose lives were turned topsy-turvy by the Boxing Day tragedy, it would be a scene forever etched in their minds. The wounds inflicted on these people may never heal, and I count myself lucky that I can be given the opportunity to do my one small bit for humanity.
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HUMANITY
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours, in its international and national capacity, to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and lasting peace amongst all peoples.
The text under the Fundamental Principle of Humanity includes the following elements:
it recalls the origins of the Movement: "born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield";
it recalls the double dimension of the Movement: the national and the international one;
it defines the mission of the Movement: "to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found";
it defines the purposes of the Movement:
to protect life and health;
to ensure respect for the human being;
to promote mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and lasting peace amongst all peoples.
The consequences of the principle of Humanity are not so much boundaries and guidelines for the action, as the other Fundamental Principles are: the principle of Humanity is rather a constant reminder of what the objectives of the Movement are. The principle of Humanity expresses what the Movement places beyond anything else: the need to act in order to prevent and alleviate human suffering.