And, we don’t hear much about the tsunami hit areas either. My friend who has just joined the Red Cross in Banda Aceh in Indonesia sent this email to me last week:

“The scale of the devastation in the area is overwhelming. Mass graves evident on the way from the airport. Vast areas of land, which have subsided. Areas where only foundations remain. Over a hundred and fifty thousand people died in the city of Aceh and surrounds and nearly half a million people have been displaced. A massive generator, which was anchored off shore was thrown three miles inland and is still there. It has become a tsunami tourist attraction, with associated photographs being taken next to it and make shift cafes set up beside it. Construction everywhere. There are over 200 NGOs here, with about 1500 expats or boolies, as they call them here. Even with all the money that’s been raised its going to take a long time to replace all the infrastructure. Some have moved into new homes and some are still in camps.”