Love and Aid to
West Sumatra
Earthquake
Victims

Love in Action
Indonesia
 

By Medan News Group (Originally in Indonesian)

 


A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 on a the Richter scale struck districts and cities in West Sumatra, Indonesia on March 6, 2007, and a chain of continuous tremors followed the main quake causing hundreds of houses to collapse, smash, or become badly damaged. Electricity to some parts of the cities was cut off. To date, the death toll is around 70 with 556 seriously injured.

Upon hearing the news of the disaster, we called two initiates who live in Padang for further information. On March 9, three fellow initiates from Medan Center took a flight to Padang, the capital of West Sumatra. Then the two initiates there took us to a Catholic bishop, who had been helping the victims, to get more information. We also went to meet the government official who knew the situation, to find out which victims needed help the most and what necessity items were required.

Then we immediately purchased the needed items which included milk powder, food for infants, instant noodles and biscuits. Thanks to Master's blessings, when we started packing the items, around 18 local people, including elementary school children and their mothers, suddenly showed up to help.

The following day, March 10, our fellow initiates went to the villages that were most affected and isolated to give the relief items. A total of 1,023 packets were distributed to the victims along with Master's Alternative Living flyer.

The victims were very grateful as we were the first group to hand out relief items personally to them and to share our love with them. With Master's guidance and blessing, everything went smoothly and successfully.

Expenditures by The Supreme Master Ching Hai and Her International Association for Aid to Earthquake Disaster Victims in West Sumatra, Indonesia

 

Description

Amount (Indonesian Rupiah)

Receipt No.

Food (milk powder, food for infants, instant noodles and biscuits)

23,348,000

A1~A2

Plastic bags (for packing relief items), stationery, etc.

246,000

B

Transportation (truck rental)

950,000

C1

Miscellaneous (flight tickets for 2 working team members, hotel & food for working team )

3,597,000

D1~5

Total

                Rupiah:28,141,000
US$ 3,100