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From Xaverian Mission Newsletter by Fr. Rudolph CiroiDec. 25, 2010
Indonesia: Christmas in the Aftermath of Volcano Merapi’s Eruption
Fr. Rudolph Ciroi works in Yogyakarta in Indonesia. In this letter he shares with us some of the effects of two earthquakes and a tsunami and the Church’s response.
Dear Friends, It’s Christmas Day! With joy in my heart I am writing because for
me this year’s Christmas is a very special one. I began in October 2010 with the
aim of bringing donations from many benefactors to Padang, Indonesia. These
funds were for the reconstruction of houses destroyed by the earthquake of more
than two years ago.
One disaster after another: most recently at ten o’clock in the evening a
horrific shudder vibrated everywhere and another earthquake rocked Padang.
Fortunately, there was no physical damage; but many people ran to the hills for
fear of a tsunami. Soon afterward, the news arrived that a tsunami indeed hit
the islands of Sikakap and Sipora (Mentawai), destroying several villages with
hundreds of victims. Thus, your donations have been used for the damage of the
quake two years ago and for the most recent one, including provisions to rebuild
homes in Padang and for aid to the Mentawai Islands.
We hadn’t finished distributing this aid when the terrible news of the eruption
of the Volcano Merapi arrived in Yogyakarta, the city where I live. I
immediately rushed to return home, but I had to wait three days because the
Yogyakarta Airport was closed. I finally arrived to a tragic situation: dozens
of people were dead and some villages completely destroyed.
Three days later, a second eruption, more terrible than the first killed more
victims, destroyed villages some eighteen miles from the volcano. There was a
insidious white coat of ash everywhere and on everyone. Over three hundred
thousand displaced people had to take shelter elsewhere.
During this past month, emergency shelter has become the home for about forty
orphans who have been displaced from their school, situated in a charming area
about three miles from the summit of the volcano. Their center is completely
gone.
Would You Like To Help?
Please send donations to:
Help for Victims of Merapi
c/o Fr. Frank Grappoli, SX
12 Helene Court
Wayne, New Jersey 07470
Phone: 973-942-2975
Moving Toward Reconstruction
One of the first things we did was to organize ways to bring water to their
homes, so that even though they are living far away in temporary housing, people
can eventually return to cultivate their fields. Experience shows that this land
will become a more fertile
land.
So we have put in place two aqueducts and now we are now redoing a third. We
started with courage, almost empty-handed. We discussed the projects with many
friends, who never failed to support us financially and technically in the
implementation of these aqueducts.
We have had the cooperation of some Muslim youth centers, and because of this, I
am convinced that dialogue with Islam, not based on theory but based on love of
neighbor, is possible and very fruitful. The Church indeed sees Muslim and
Catholic cooperation as a catalyst to overcome poverty.
So dear friends, this Advent and Christmas has been one of the most significant
of my life. It seems so similar to the journey to Bethlehem where Christ was
born in poverty in order to bring hope to the poor.
There is still much to do! Would you like to help too? I know that the economic
crisis is hard, but it is the widow’s mite that makes miracles.
