covering disaster

[clay dube]

Please share your thoughts about coverage of the Dec. 26, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and their aftermath.

We're monitoring this coverage and also offering original articles at http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu

One of these articles is an account by the first Western journalist detained in Aceh: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=19734[Edit by="Clay Dube on Jan 15, 6:15:19 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

This magnitude of this disaster would be incomprehensible in fiction. We have to
face the reality that if something this heinous could happen, it eclipses anything
we could imagine. Yes, I have seen over and over again how the forces of nature
move the plates on the ocean floor to make this horrible tragedy happen. But I
cannot accept that as the only reality. I am not a religious person, yet I find myself
questioning God. How could this happen? But somehow,somewhere there has to be
a spark that was the impetus to trigger the beginning. And I repeatedly question why?
Some people say there is no answer, it is purely an act of nature. I find myself having
trouble with that.
The coverage has been extensive and so heartbreaking. Each time I see another
child or member of a family that has lost everything, I want to fly there and somehow try to make it better. I have been in contact with people I knew in Thailand and fortuanately
they were in Bangkok when the Tsunami hit. But every single one of them knows of
someone that was affected by a loss on a personal level.
I hope that the people who hate us to much will see how deeply this catastrophe has
affected us as individuals and as a nation. And begin to understand who we really are,
and the lies they have been fed are just that. I think we will see a great influx of people
from these nations arriving at our shores.

[Anonymous]

In reading Audrey Desiderato's article, "I Was One of the Lucky Ones. I Lost Nothing," I felt compelled to try and understand what she must have experienced at the time that the tsunami hit. She was on a diving trip off a Thai island and fortunately surivived.

I'm not sure how being a survivor of such a terrible disaster changes your life forever, but I appreciated Audrey's words of compassion in the paragraph below:

Those who survived still don't have homes, clean water, food, security or health care and the result will be more people dying. We cannot forget about these fundamental human necessities just because the immediate effects of the tsunami have passed. Denial of these rights is embedded in politics and we must keep pressuring our governments for continuing help. We cannot turn our backs on this situation until conditions are in place for reconstruction, which will take many years. It is imperative that aid continues to flow in and that aid goes to the right places and reaches those that most need it. Please don't forget that the suffering continues and we belong to the privileged population of the world with the economic and political means to help.

I think this last sentence is very important. Because of our economic and political affluence we have to help those less fortunate. It is not something we are being asked to do, but it is embedded with the responsibility of wealth.

http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/article.asp?parentid=20716%5BEdit by="ldriscoll on Mar 16, 5:50:32 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

An incident like this tells us one thing about mother nature, and that is be prepared at all times, because even if you think that it won't happen, it might. I am still unable to believe that an area such as this that is so at risk to tsunami waves would not have some kind of warning system installed so that their populations could be prepared to meet a disaster with a consequence like this. I realize that the countires are underdeveloped, but now they do have their warning systems, and they have protected themselves somewhat from this type of natural disaster. I also believe that we need to help these countries restore their life structures, and help them rebuild their industries so that they can continue living, and existing in this modern world. I wish them all the prayers that I can give, and the best for the future.

[Author]

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