Unforgettable Faces
An ADRA International envoy tells of his moving
encounters with tsunami victims

BY SANDRA BLACKMER, NEWS EDITOR FOR THE ADVENTIST REVIEW

In the wake of the tsunami tragedy of December 26, 2004, staff members from Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) have been tirelessly mobilizing and organizing their largest response ever to a natural disaster, providing much-needed aid to survivors in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India. Frank Teeuwen, ADRA's bureau chief for disaster preparedness and response, just recently returned from an inspection of tsunami-devastated areas of Thailand, and agreed to share his experience with the Adventist Review.

AR: "Frank, tell me your impressions of the situation in Thailand. What are the conditions like for the victims there?"
FT: "It's a terrible, devastating situation. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Total destruction. The people are grieving because they have not been able to find their loved ones who are missing. The stench of the dead is unbearable. There are walls of buildings totally covered with pictures of those who are deceased. Watching the people as they look for their loved ones is heartbreaking.

"Most of the bodies were brought to the local temple, which is located several miles inland. The bodies of foreigners were being refrigerated in 40-foot containers so they could be transported back home. It was a chaotic situation. I saw maybe a thousand empty coffins, just sitting there waiting for bodies to fill them. And I knew that all those coffins would be filled. And I saw the faces of people who were grieving. They were unforgettable. It was a very sobering sight. "When a body is found, everybody rushes to the scene because maybe it's a loved one. At first all the bodies were put on trucks, and the people would follow the vehicles because perhaps their husband or wife or child was on it. The only thing I could do was pray, "Please, Lord Jesus, come quickly.'" "How would you describe the first scenes you witnessed after getting off the airplane in Phuket?"
"What stood out to me at the airport were the many embassy stalls set up so officials could assist people from other countries who were looking for missing relatives and friends. I thought about how the atmosphere must have been much different just a short time before: it was Christmastime, the tourist industry was in high gear, and travelers would have arrived feeling very cheerful and optimistic. But what I experienced was very somber." "Where did you go from there?"
"To some of the smaller villages, and the tragedy and grief I saw there were heartbreaking. The people are left with nothing, and they were already poor to begin with. It was like entering a different world. The devastation can't be described. Everything is gone. Military personnel are cleaning up debris. "I visited one small village where about 1,000 people live-originally there were maybe 200 or 250 houses there, and the livelihood of the residents depends on fishing. There were only five houses left. The rest were all gone. People are devastated.

"I then went down to the lagoon in the village and watched as the water was pumped out. The stench told me the lagoon contained many dead bodies.

"What I saw in that village made a lasting impression on me. You can never be the same again if you have seen the faces of those people.

"But then, of course, I was also reminded of life. I watched the kids playing. I played some soccer with the children, and saw their smiles. There were tears, but there were also happiness and resilience. The kids still have fun, but they don't have any material possessions left."

"Is there a story you can share of an individual victim or family whom you met in Thailand?"
"I talked to a fisherman sitting next to what was left of his boat, which had been thrown from the ocean maybe half a mile inland by the approximately 500-mile-an-hour tsunami. He told me that on that Sunday morning he had said to his wife he was going to the market to buy two CDs. His wife replied, "Oh, you don't need to go now. Why don't you wait and go tomorrow." But he replied, "No, no, I want to go today." So he left for the market. When he came back, nothing was there anymore. His wife, his children, his home-all gone.

"Then he said, "You know, don't give me a house. Don't give me a blanket. Don't give me food. Just give me a fishing boat so I can go out again and support myself." He had no family left, no home, but he didn't want handouts-just the tools to make a living again.

"This person tells the story of most of the people there. They don't want handouts. They want the tools that will help them pick up the pieces of their lives and go on."

"The needs of the millions of victims must seem overwhelming. How is ADRA coping with the magnitude of these needs?"

This disaster response is unprecedented in ADRA's history. It's a multi-country operation, which requires a lot of coordination. The command center has been set up in Bangkok, which is coordinating the operation. That way we can make sure that each tsunami-affected country will have the staff and support it needs. "The income to ADRA from private donations worldwide is also unprecedented. Donors have been extremely generous. "Two Adventist hospitals-Medan Adventist Hospital in Sumatra, Indonesia, and Phuket Mission Hospital in Thailand-have played a major role in responding to the victims. They've been overwhelmed with patients, and ADRA is now helping them to restock their supplies. They are to be commended for their excellent work. "This is a new challenge, and it's taking all our personnel and much of our resources to meet it." "Besides donating money, how can Adventist Church members help?"
"Pray. Pray for the affected people. Pray for our workers. Pray for the church. Pray that we will be an extension of love and encouragement to the victims.

"But don't forget there are also calamities in the neighborhoods where we live. We pray for people far away, and that's good, but get involved in your local community. There are people suffering, hurting, grieving, struggling with illness-so don't pray only for the people "over there." Let's do the job wherever we are."