CDAM MONTHLY MEETING IN FEBRUARY

Please be informed that our monthly meeting will be held on

Date: 17th February 2005
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Bilik Francis Xavier
Church of St.Francis Xavier,
Jln Gasing, Petaling Jaya

Speaker: Rev Fr Mitchel A Joseph
(Director of the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development, AOHD)

Topic: Outreach Ministry to Migrant Workers and Indigenous Groups.


Refreshments will be served.
Please confirm attendance with the Secretary at 012-3070204.

WHERE WAS GOD?

ROME, JAN. 20, 2005 (Zenit.org).- There are at least three lessons to be learned from the tsunami, says the latest issue of the review Civiltà Cattolica.The lessons are: the precariousness of human beings, the need for solidarity and the need for conversion.In the end, these three lessons spring from the answer to the question, "And where is God in all this?" says the article in an editorial.Drafts of the biweekly review are reviewed by the Vatican Secretariat of State before publication."First of all, it must be said that to see divine punishment in natural disasters, because of men's sins, is an error, which puts God, as revealed by Jesus in the Gospel, into question," the editorial states."God is a Father who takes care providentially of all his children, who forgives their sins; in particular, he takes care of the poor, of the little ones, and does not abandon those who suffer," it continues."His Providence consists in the fact that God can draw good for man even from the most painful and tragic situations in which disastrous events of nature place him, as well as from his wickedness and lack of wisdom," the editorial states."The way in which this takes place is a great mystery for us, but precisely because God is good we must think that he would not permit these painful and tragic events if he was not able and did not have the intention to bring good out of evil for men," it continues. "In his paternal tenderness, God was close to each one of those children and saved them in his Kingdom."This consideration leads the review to point out three lessons for contemporary people.First, this tragedy "should remind us of the condition of precariousness in which man's life develops on earth."This fact, the article suggests, should lead one to avoid the temptation planned by "the proud sense of omnipotence that some cultivate in today's world, certain that man, with the impressive powers of scientific progress, will be able to defeat the forces of evil that can put an end to his well-being, health and life."Second, the Asian tragedy "must be a call to solidarity," suggests the review. "The real problem of the countries hit by the tsunami is that of reconstruction.""Unfortunately," it laments, "science and technology do not move in this direction.""Suffice it to think of the enormous sums of money that might serve to give food and education to millions of people who die of hunger and to cure sicknesses, such as AIDS, which runs the risk of destroying a continent like Africa, and that, however, are wasted by the search for and construction of ever more terrible and deadly weapons as if the already existing immense arsenals of nuclear arms, which can destroy the planet many times over, were not sufficient."Third, says the review, the tsunami is a call to "conversion," the article explains, quoting Jesus, in Luke 13:4-5, in his response to news of the deadly accident of the tower of Siloam. To receive ZENIT News Services by e-mail, FREE Subscription at:https://www.zenit.org/english/subscribe.html

TSUNAMI DISASTER IN ACEH

A Report by Dr Andrew Choo


The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on 26th december2004, not only destroyed
cities, resorts and villages resulting in more than 200,000 deaths (the exact number may not be known) but also stimulated a global rescue and relief response that the world is witnessing for perhaps the first time.

The Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia responded in its own way by sending the President, Dr Andrew Choo on a surveillance trip. He accompanied Fr Paul Dass and left for Medan on 5th January 2005 with a load of 370 Kg of medicine and other medical essentials for which they would like to thank the St Vincent de Paul Society of Malaysia.

Here is an account of Dr Andrew Choo’s report:
“ Arriving at Medan the same morning, we were delayed for 2 days due to air traffic congestion and were unable to proceed to Aceh by air. However, we decide to rent a car with a local driver and traveled overland in a journey which took 12 hours. We left Medan at 10am and arrived at the (Jesuit Refugee Service)JRS centre in Aceh at midnight on 7th January 2005.

We were able to tour the devastated areas with a guide the next day. There was total destruction as far inland as 2 kms in certain areas. Most of the destroyed areas were still inaccessible. Only the roads had been cleared for traffic and rescue workers were still recovering bodies from the muddy areas and were bringing them to dug out areas for mass burial.

At that time (14th day after the tsunami) we were told that about 5000 people were still unaccounted for.

The power of the giant waves were so great that it destroyed everything in its path. One solid concrete building with 2 big rooms, kitchen, toilets and hall was pushed 60metres from its original foundation to rest on half of the road. The extent of destruction had to be seen to be believed.

With more than 400,000 people displaced, needing shelter, food and water in a situation where the local government and services had collapsed, it was chaotic to say the least.

These people were put in schools, mosques and whatever shelters available.

In such a chaotic situation, it was fortunate that the TNI(military) , the only organization on hand in the area that has personnel, equipment, skill and capability was able to provide immediate assistance to the victims of the disaster. Looting was quickly brought under control. It seemed some people removing jewellery from the dead bodies were shot.

Aceh was in a desolate state. The streets were deserted at night. People were seen clearing their premises of mud and debris brought in by the giant waves.This is a slow process since heavy machinery is not readily available except those from the military. The restoration of Aceh back to normal in the business centre will take a month or two.

The rehabilitation of the refugees to the state where they can be on their own will take anything up to 2 years.

In the meantime, the global NGOs are playing a vital role to treat the injured, provide food and shelter, bury the corpses, build facilities for drinking water and sanitation to prevemt outbreak of infectious diseases.

From what we have seen, food, medicine and clothing are ample in Aceh. What is more important immediately is cash. The refugees need cash to put themselves free from total dependence on camp provisions. The sooner this can be done the sooner they can be on the road to stand on their own.

The road to recovery will be slow as Aceh is facing civil emergency rule and the role of the Indonesian military is very strong. Thousands of Acehnese have died in the conflict between the army and the Gerakan Aceh Movement (GAM) This political conflict will continue to impede not only recovery but also long term progress for Aceh. There is as yet no sign of any reconciliatory move.

As we have said earlier rebuilding will take a long time. The Catholic Doctors will continue to monitor the situation there. We will respond should there be a need for our presence. We are happy that we have established networking with the JRS and also Perdhaki (the Catholic Doctors in Indonesia).

We would like to express our thanks to JRS both in Medan and Aceh for making our trip comfortable.

ACEH-A report from CDAM team

Dr Andrew Choo(Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia) and Fr Dass have just returned to Malaysia from their recent trip to Aceh to assess the Tsunami Situation first hand. They left for Medan on 5th January 2005 and have just returned a few days ago. Following is a brief report on the current situation based on our discussion with them:
1) The problem in Aceh is still chaotic and the logistics problem has yet to be fully sorted out. Aid and supplies are still stuck in the airports in Medan, Subang(KL), Bangkok and Jakarta. The German medical team still has a mobile operating theatre stuck in Bangkok
2) Transport to Banda Aceh is still limited. Flights from Medan to Banda Aceh are fully booked. Dr Choo and Fr Paul waited 2 days in Medan and could not get a flight and instead they hired a van and brought their supplies by road, a journey that took them 12 hours.
3) Banda Aceh is full of Aid Agencies and many medical teams from all over the world. The main problem is getting these teams to the severely affected areas which is the West Coast. Most of the severely injured have been airlifted to Medan or Jakarta. Dr Choo ran a mobile clinic one morning. He saw about 60 patients but only 2 of them were actual tsunami survivors.
4) The severely affected areas are the West Coast of Aceh Province which is still inaccessible by road. Only recently has aid been able to reach the 2 largest coastal towns of west Aceh which is Calang and Meulaboh. Even then these 2 towns are only accessible via helicopters, light aircraft or via a road from the southern part of Sumatra. A return boat ride from Banda Aceh to the coastal villages on the west coast may take 5 to 7 days. The villages along the western seashore of Aceh have mostly disappeared. The survivors are now living in their relatives’ houses, public spaces or temporary shelters. There are many public buildings destroyed, including schools, hospitals markets and government offices. Nobody knows when the infrastructure can be rebuilt and repaired. It appears that they are in dire need engineers and others to repair roads, bridges and provide proper sanitation and safe water supplies.
5) It would be useful to have proper contacts with a local agency who know the local people and the geography in Aceh. It was fortunate that Dr Choo and Fr Dass were with the JRS in Aceh. There were some French and German doctors who also had to seek the help of the JRS office in Aceh. The JRS have been working in Aceh since June 2001. Over the years they have played a significant role in assisting the displaced persons in Aceh. Their present goal now is to respond to the needs of the Tsunami and earthquake victims, especially in remote areas in order to help the people restore their lives. Their current activities are directed towards improving things like health and sanitation, education, trauma healing, supporting local NGOs and restoring normal life. They have appealed for aid and donations can be sent to: Account Name: Yayasan JRS Indonesia, Account Number: 0372 197 101, Bank Name: Bank Central Asia_Sudirman Yogyakarta, Address of Bank: Jl. Sudirman, Yogyakart, Indonesia, Swift Code: CENAIDJA

Posted By Dr K Y Chong

A message from Fr Dass in Aceh

Fr Dass from the JRS(Jesuit Refugee Service) is presently in Aceh with the Medical team led by Dr Andrew Choo from the Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia. He has this to say regarding the Tsunami Disaster in Aceh:
“I have been in Banda Aceh for a day now and 2 days in Medan. I spent today moving around and looking at the devastated areas and the camps of the displaced people. The extent of the devastation is true to news reports; the tsunami had reached, in some places, to 8 miles inland, reducing everything to rubble. Local volunteers are still looking for more bodies for mass burial and corpses in body bags lie along road sides awaiting collection. At the same time, Banda Aceh is overflowing with aid workers and stockpiles of food and medicine are bottlenecked at airports and ports in Banda Aceh, Medan, Jakarta and even Bangkok & Kuala Lumpur.
The problem is not with material aid but with logistics and distribution.
Over the last 5 years there has been an overt military conflict going on in Aceh. A year ago all international and most national NGO’s were asked by the military to leave Aceh. JRS was one of the very few groups that remained and maintained a presence. This is because JRS is both international and national. As national, it is local as well, because a good number of its staff are themselves Acehnese. Moreover, and more importantly, JRS has over the years established trust with the local community. It has successfully maintained a apolitical position. When the tsunami struck and huge international agencies took over the action, small local NGOs and civil society groups could not find a place to figure in that larger scheme of things. They were too under sourced and under funded to be able to do very much but it is they who are the locals and the ones who know the geography of the land, the reach of the disaster, the people now and later. Anyhow they have decided to band together and form a group of local NGOs and have approached the JRS to act as a bridge between them and others, especially the international NGOS. Since then the JRS office has been their base and they have been working with the JRS, particularly in accessing the more remote areas around the west Coast of Aceh that has been neglected by the media and aid agencies.
I feel that we,from the outside, should help to build the local groups up. They in turn can later help their own. We help them so that they can contribute to, and even take the lead in building up their society with a sense of ownership and dignity. We do this through our trust in their connection with the JRS.
I would suggest 3 phase of help to them: the immediate, the intermediate and the long term.
In the immediate term, all material aid-food, clothing and medicine- that is being channeled to Aceh through JRS be placed in the hands of these local NGOs fro action and distribution. JRS has to depend on them to distribute the supplies because JRS itself is overstretched in its work of connection and coordination. We also enable them to function more effectively on their own. This would mean helping them, to set up their own coordination and support facilities. The long term commitment would be established after a mutual evaluation of needs and aims among ourselves JRS and the local NGOs.This could take place 6 months from now.
In conclusion the crux of my suggestion is that we help the local Acehnese NGOs to build themselves up. This is a real need on the ground, both in the immediate crisis and beyond. This will allow our aid to have a greater meaning as this people struggle to get up once again and rebuild themselves and their society”

Tsunami Disaster-An update on the Malaysian medical team in Medan/Aceh

Dr Andrew Choo and his Medical team have arrived safely in Medan yesterday. Thanks to the help from the staff of Air Asia , 38 boxes of medical supplies and aid were cleared through customs without any hassle. The supplies are now with the JRS office in Medan. The real work shall now begin and I will keep you posted on this website on the progress of our medical team. Please pray for the safety of our team in Medan.

Posted by Dr K Y Chong, Malaysia

MEDICAL TEAM for RELIEF WORK IN ACEH

The recent earthquake and tsunami in Aceh and Northern Sumatra has caused widespread damage and has created unprecendented turmoil and hardship for the unfortunate people there. We the Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia and its members have decided to send a medical team to Banda Aceh and nearby Medan where there is now a refugee centre.
Our medical team headed by our president Dr Andrew Choo will be leaving for Aceh on Thursday 6th Jan 2005. We will be working with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Aceh. Rev Fr Paul Das from Church of St Francis Xavier in Petaling Jaya(PJ), Selangor, Malaysia, will be going with us. He is in charge of the Jesuit Refugee Service in PJ and Kuala Lumpur and will be coordinating our relief efforts with his counterpart in Aceh. Dr Choo will be able to give us a clearer picture in a few days time.
We plan to have a few medical teams in rotation to relieve Dr Choo who will be there for 10 days. Each team will stay for between 7 to 10 days and we need voulunteer doctors, nurses and aid in the form of antibiotics, vaccines, ORS, antidiarrhoels etc. Cash donation will be most welcomed as we may need to be there for more than a month and this will incurr a lot of expenses.
You may send your donations to "CATHOLIC DOCTORS ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA" together with your full name, address, email or fax number. We will issue a receipt to you.. Please contact our secretary Dr Assunta Devadass at Tel: +6012 -3070204 or Dr Anthonysamy at +603-42572875 or email us at cdamail@yahoo.com for more details or information.