e are thinking of the post-emergency situation, once the television cameras and microphones have been turned off. Homes and schools, bridges and infrastructure will have to be rebuilt,” writes Father Vincenzo
Baravalle, Provincial superior of the Xaverian missionaries in Indonesia, in a letter from the coastal city of Padang on Sumatra Island.
“It will be necessary to think about fishermen’s boats and nets; seed for rice and limited farming tools, the future of the children and of the other people who have remained alone and of the many other needs that have emerged as a result of the situation,” notes the Xaverian missionary.
The priest cited the concrete example of “a large group of university students here in Padang, originating from the province of Aceh (the province that bore the brunt of last Sunday’s undersea earthquake and tsunami, which claimed over 94.000 lives in Indonesia according to the latest government
officials), who have said that they will withdraw from university because all their relatives have died and there is no-one left to support them”.
This decision could compromise their future more than the long reconstruction in the area devastated by the tidal waves: “Our various groups of friends can help in the reconstruction effort and those of us here in Padang will be more than happy to coordinate activities with the diocese of Medan (approximately 350 miles to the north) and Sibolga (on the west coast of Sumatra),” writes the Xaverian.
“First and foremost there is an urgent need for food, clothes, essential items and medicines. From this point of view, the entire population of Indonesia is making a huge effort to meet this need.” Father Baravalle also reports that the refugees are “in a constant state of panic, as there have been continuous – albeit mild – aftershocks and the sea is still not calm despite the good weather” and that “they are fleeing from the affected areas in the direction of Medan in particular”.
He ends by making a special request for help: “Prayer is needed for us missionaries as well, as it is our witness to faith in particular – over above the material help that we can give – that responds to the frequent question: ‘If God is father, why did he allow all this to happen?’”
(From MISNA - Xaverian News)