‘Sembako’ means a lot to tsunami victims

By Muhammad Afiq Mohd Asri

BANTEN (Indonesia), Jan 10 (Bernama) -- ‘My gratitude’ and ‘thank you’ are among the words most often mouthed by the victims of the Tsunami which struck the Sunda Straits on Dec 22, when Malaysian volunteers came to give humanitarian aid to them.

When they were encountering difficulties to obtain sembako (nine basic items), after being struck by the disaster, many volunteers unceasingly gave them aid.

Sembako is a local language referring to items of basis needs of residents such as rice, sugar, cooking oil, milk, meat and chicken eggs.

Each time a car or van came with humanitarian aid to Sumur or Taman Jaya 2, small children were seen running after the vehicle to get aid. The grimy faces and ragged and dirty shirts were their conditions and those of the families who waited for aid from the volunteers.

Words could not describe the situation because they were destitute, so much so, that the Bernama journalist sent to cover the aftermath of the Tsunami for six days, also shed tears and felt their pain.

One of the thousands of Tsunami victims, Endang, 45, said she was overwhelmed when Malaysian volunteers from Global Peace Mission (GPM) came to give sembako here.

‘’I thanked them (GPM volunteers) for giving me sembako and schooling items for my children. Only god can repay your deeds for the aid,’’ said Endang who had two sons, aged seven and nine years.

Endang said that with sembako and the schooling items she received enabled her children to go to school and this really enlivened them.

Endang’s house, located on 30 metres from the Sumur beach fringe, was among those swept away by the swift Tsunami.

Another victim, a fisherman, Dimitri, said he could only express his gratitude to god over the aid given to him.          

‘’Thank you to the Malaysian volunteers for the aid given. All my children’s schooling items were washed away by the Tsunami. My three children cried and were very excited when they receive the schooling supplies. They are in high spirits again to go to school,’’ said the father of three daughters, aged eight, nine and 11 years.

Dimitri’s house in Taman Jaya 2, was among thousands which were destroyed with only the stilts still standing when they were slammed by the powerful waves.

On Saturday, the GPM volunteer team bought sembako and schooling items at Rau Market here.

GPM mission head, Shahrir Azfar Saleh said all the schooling items were given to 108 primary school pupils and GPM also bought 60 women prayer shrouds and 120 women’s undergarments.

Members of the public keen to contribute could do so via www.billplz.com/peduliselatsunda or deposit into Global Peace Mission banks at Maybank Islamic account (5642-2161-1602); Islamic Bank (1402-30100-29224); and Affin Islamic Bank (1051-9000-2871).

Five people comprising two representatives from GPM, Bernama journalist Muhammad Afiq Mohd Asri, Bernama News Channel journalist Siti Zanariah Nor Zin and cameraman Mohammad Hafiz Ahmad Kamal also took part in the mission.

The Tsunami, which struck the Sunda Straits on Dec 22, occurred due to undersea earth movements after the eruption of the volcano Anak Krakatau.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) of Indonesia reported that, until to date, more than 400 people were killed and 30,000 lost their homes.

-- BERNAMA