Post by Wayne Hall on Nov 11, 2010 16:14:17 GMT -5
HELADA ( Hellenic –American Democratic Association) meeting 8/11/2010 19:00
The guest tonight was Natascha Barrymore, founder of Chance International, which helps vulnerable communities in Indonesia.
Natascha went to Indonesia in 2004 when she saw on television the effects of the tsunami. She tried to work as a volunteer for some of the many organizations that hurried there after the earthquake and the tsunami, but was not accepted due to her lack of experience. She took up her back-pack and moved on.
After a number of detours she reached Banda Aceh.
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and the biggest city in Aceh, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia . She opted to go there because Banda Aceh was worst hit due to its position very close to the epicenter of the earthquake. During her journey she met Hamdani, who helped her reach a hospital to hand over the 450 kilos of drugs she had brought from Greece to help those injured.
As the days passed she took over co-ordination of the various medical teams from different countries dispensing aid, and she had access then to the deliberations of the various NGOs, mingling with the international community.
She went, with medical teams, to different villages, taking with her pencils and exercise books so as to commence, after a fashion, improvised lessons to help the children deal with the drama of their lives.
She worked for eight months with only one day off. The founded Chance International and returned to Aceh to continue her work.
When asked if she would have made all this journey if she had known that HAARP had caused the earthquake and consequently the tsunami she replied: “Absolutely, YES!” with considerable passion. Once there she heard about the probability of HAARP having caused the earthquake, but this wasn’t something that appeared to interest her much. She was moreover unfamiliar with the chronic political problems from which the country suffers.
The children are not obliged to go to school. Parents prefer to send them to work in brick factories so that they can earn a little money, but they are free to go of their own accord, if they wish. Natascha gives the impression that she does not interfere in the country’s customs, or in its politics. She wears a headscarf and at her schools children are taught from all social classes and religions. She evidentl y regards Barack Obama as something of a hero.
When I asked if the children learn what to do in the event of earthquakes and tsunamis, she said they most certainly do. The children and Natascha do not however know how earthquakes are caused, or why they occur.
The interest of the audience focused more on how courtship and marriages are arranged in Aceh. .
The meeting lasted for an hour and a half, after which discussions continued at a taverna.
Report by c.c.
The guest tonight was Natascha Barrymore, founder of Chance International, which helps vulnerable communities in Indonesia.
Natascha went to Indonesia in 2004 when she saw on television the effects of the tsunami. She tried to work as a volunteer for some of the many organizations that hurried there after the earthquake and the tsunami, but was not accepted due to her lack of experience. She took up her back-pack and moved on.
After a number of detours she reached Banda Aceh.
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and the biggest city in Aceh, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia . She opted to go there because Banda Aceh was worst hit due to its position very close to the epicenter of the earthquake. During her journey she met Hamdani, who helped her reach a hospital to hand over the 450 kilos of drugs she had brought from Greece to help those injured.
As the days passed she took over co-ordination of the various medical teams from different countries dispensing aid, and she had access then to the deliberations of the various NGOs, mingling with the international community.
She went, with medical teams, to different villages, taking with her pencils and exercise books so as to commence, after a fashion, improvised lessons to help the children deal with the drama of their lives.
She worked for eight months with only one day off. The founded Chance International and returned to Aceh to continue her work.
When asked if she would have made all this journey if she had known that HAARP had caused the earthquake and consequently the tsunami she replied: “Absolutely, YES!” with considerable passion. Once there she heard about the probability of HAARP having caused the earthquake, but this wasn’t something that appeared to interest her much. She was moreover unfamiliar with the chronic political problems from which the country suffers.
The children are not obliged to go to school. Parents prefer to send them to work in brick factories so that they can earn a little money, but they are free to go of their own accord, if they wish. Natascha gives the impression that she does not interfere in the country’s customs, or in its politics. She wears a headscarf and at her schools children are taught from all social classes and religions. She evidentl y regards Barack Obama as something of a hero.
When I asked if the children learn what to do in the event of earthquakes and tsunamis, she said they most certainly do. The children and Natascha do not however know how earthquakes are caused, or why they occur.
The interest of the audience focused more on how courtship and marriages are arranged in Aceh. .
The meeting lasted for an hour and a half, after which discussions continued at a taverna.
Report by c.c.