helping the tsunami victims to clean up their houses

i met E at the church at macalister road, then together we went to tejani clinic at tanjung bungah to meet the others. we found out that the house we were going to start doing our cleaning up was behind the lane somewhere near tejani clinic.

when we reached the first house (on the beach front) which we were going to help clean up, there were already about 10 people there, all from our catholic church.

i’m proud to say that there were 5 of us SSVP members helping, of which 3 were from my own conference. if notice have been given earlier, more SSVP members would have come.

this first house is owned by a chinese family, the head, an old man by the name of mr N. his house has 4 persons staying in and next to his house is his mother’s house. there was also a small kind of shack in front of mr N’s house, of which mr N told us that it was destroyed completely, whereas the houses of mr N and his mother were not destroyed but it was a terrible mess inside the house. it was filled with mud. i did not spy any furnitures or things in the house so i assumed they must had been cleared up already. anyway, some of us were outside, helping to clear the debris while some of us were inside the house helping to get rid of the mud.

two men will scoop the mud onto pails, and when the pails were full, we ladies would carried the pails outside and dump the mud on the sand. luckily there were many of us ladies so we did not have to walk many rounds to dump the mud. when we finished this job, we went outside to help the men in clearing the debris that were piled up outside the house.

the picture above shows the debris that were strewn around. there were aluminium roof, wooden beams, plastic containiers, pillows, etc. we had to carry the debris to place them on the road, for the MPPP (majlis perbandarn pulau pinang – the city council) to collect them. the owner, mr N was there to let us know which items he wanted to salvage. this means we had to sort out what we picked from the debris as wanted and unwanted.

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as we were talking to mr N, he mentioned about the pile of clothes (kept in a container and bags) that he had to wash at a friend’s. then A, from our group, told him we could have their clothes washed at the doby for him. he refused at fist saying he could do it himself and didn’t want to trouble us, but A persuaded him and he finally said ok. so we went to pack his clothes onto plastic bag. all the clothes were wet and filled with sands. A, i and 2 others then hop in a car to send the clothes to the doby. there were many of us because we thought we had to shake off the sands off the clothes first before handing the clothes to the doby, but as the doby’s owner is a cousin of A, he gladly accepted the clothes as it was, and said his staff will do everything.

the priest in charge, fr. FD, told mr N that we would help him to rebuild his house. he kept on insisting that he could do it himself but we told him we would be pleased to do us, as the money we will be using, are after all, donations from the parishioners. he was quite over-whelmed at our kindness that he broke down and cried.

while we were working here halfway, a group from the baptist church came. i spoke to one of the ladies and she told me they were at mr N’s house already on monday and helped to clear the things inside the house. they were quite suprised to see us there as she said she didn’t expect anyone to come here to help.

after we finished with this house, we took a short walk down the beach to another house, a house owned by a malay man with his chinese wife and 3 sons. this house, all the things inside the house were still there. this means we had to spend a longer time there. we started off by moving out big furnitures like bed and cupboards. it was the men who did this job of course. while we ladies, clear the small items. some items we just carried them by our 2 hands, while some smaller items we place all of them in a big plastic bag.

as with the first house, we need the owner around to let us know which items they still need them. most of the usable items are cookery like plates and glasses. electrical items though, we advised the owner not to keep as since it is wet and splashed with mud, it might be defective.

when we had finished clearing up all the things inside the house, it was time to clear the mud. this was a tough job… but one that the ladies can do! a few people would scoop the mud onto a wheelbarrow, then someone had to dump the mud outside. and after clearing up the mud, the ladies wash the floor with water and ‘lidi’ broom to really clear up the mud.

clearing the debris at the 2nd/3rd house. you can see me in both pictures. 🙂

while some people were doing the job inside the house, some were outside clearing the debris. the debris here were more difficult to clear since there were many tree trunks stuck with other items. there were lots of long beams and aluminium roof to be removed. there was also a huge fishing net which seemd to be get caught some of the beams. we had to use a ‘parang’ to cut the fishing net to ‘free’ the beams.

another picture of the same place. in the foreground, is none other that the back of yours truly. you will notice on the left 2 men carrying a mattress, while the shirtless man is pushing a wheelbarrow filled with debris to be thrown at the side of the main road (for the MPPP to collect). on the right are the items that the owners wanted to salvage, which we had took them out from inside the house.

when we finished with this house, we move to the house next door, which is also a malay house. all the houses along this stretch seemed to be owned by malays. one malay man, whose house was furher up, near the mosque pointed out his house to us, telling us that half of his house were washed away. well, at this house next door, the furnitures had been cleared but the work of clearing the mud need to be done. well since, some of the house people themselves helped, only a few of us helped them. i was not involved.

the next house next door we wanted to help too but by that time, many of us were already dead tired. further, we were shocked to see this house was in such a terrible mess… the worst of all the other 3 houses we helped out. we did help but only for a few minutes. we were shocked to see part of a tree bark… a huge one… was inside the house. imagine a tree that was broken and fell into the house.

as we sensed that there will be a lot of work to do at this house and we were tired already, we decided to come back the next day. a few, including me, though could not return the next day (i have to go back to work). we call it a day at 4.00pm and went back to the first house (mr n) to discuss further our plans.

it seemed that, the next day, A, from POHD will be coming to ask these people whom we help, what they need. she will compile a list and sought to buy (or ask donations) for the items. aslo, fr. FD and 3 pastors from the baptist church will be returning to that area to take a list of those who need to rebuild their houses.

i am proud to be able to help these tsunami disaster victims. it was terrible seeing their houses being destroyed and the mess inside the house. they are only one family, with a few people, if we did not step in to help, they would have taken days to clean up the mess. as there were many of us (near 20), we finished the work for them in a day. and not only did we help them clean up their houses and the surrounding but we were prepared to help them with essentials like clothes, mattresses, food.

oh yeah, while we were there at the 2nd house (which is near to the tanjung bungah mosque… can see the mosque from the beach), we heard sirens and found out that the governor and his wife were visiting the mosque (and hopefully other areas). we were wondering why on earth visited the mosque when it was not a home with people staying. the governor (or any ministers for that matter) should visit the homes of individual persons to see for themselves the extend of the damage the tsunami caused to their houses.

mr j from POHD told us that a team of police (or rela members?) had set up an operation place at miami beach, the place where victims who are dead will be brought there. he said the job of the police is to surround the dead victim when s/he is brought ashore (to prevent the public from going near). he had a point when he said “why do they bother so much with the dead, when what they should bother with is the living”. the living victims are in sorrow and hardship with their houses being devastated. they need all the help they can get to clean up their houses or to offer them aid. therefore the police/minister should deploy people to go personally to their houses to help them… you know, first hand help. instead it seems that ‘first hand’ help are usually done by NGOs, church-based groups, buddhist societies and so on.

i’m disappointed that today i can’t join the POHD to further help the tsunami disaster victims, as i am working today. and i’ll be working everyday too (except sunday of course) as i do not have leaves anymore. well, unless POHD organise a clean-up on sunday, sorry to say i can’t join them.

while i feel it is good to give monetary contribution to the victims, it is good if one can ‘give yourself’ i.e. offer your time and service to personally visit the victims, help them with words of comfort and help them to to clean up their houses. in works of charity, usually we always say that the easiest to give is money but the hardest to give is yourself (time). yes, it is very easy to sit in the comfort of the home or office and write out a cheque for RM1000 but to really give up your time to be with the victims to see what help they need (esp. physical) is not easy to do. don’t get me wrong, please. i’m not implying it is no good to contribute monetary aid, or please don’t look to me as lecturing or trying to be clever/proud, or self-righteous. on the contrary, i dare admit i seldom give my time to help the less unfortunate directly and personally.

yes, for example, in our SSVP works, i shamefully admit i seldom go visit our ‘adoptees’. i only visit them to give them the monthly regular monetary aid. there you go… see, giving money is so easy for me. apart from this monthly visit to give money, i hardly visit them at all. i’m in the society all right… but more concern with administration works. *hang head in shame*
*and praying that i will change my attitude.*

i’m sure everyone knows this (that it is more difficult to give your time than to give your cash), so i’m going to stop here right now for fear of being look as on old grandma grumbling……. anyway i had written too much already! (ya! like an old gradma yakking away!)

note: for more pictures (30 of them! taken by an amateur me on that day itself.), please click here.