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>>>> Dear all,
>>>> The following email is from a teacher at an international school in
>>>> Bangkok. I thought you might find her perspective on the tsunami disaster
>>>> interesting and more personal. At the International school here in
>>>> Belgrade, we had a few kids who are from Indonesia, but thankfully they
>>>> were unaffected. The disaster definitely is on many of the kidsą minds
>>>> though.
>>>>
>>>> Melissa
>>>>
>>>> The earthquake and resulting tsunami have caused, as you all know, a great
>>>> deal of suffering. Unfortunately, Patana School did not escape unscathed.
>>>> Four families were affected by deaths. One of our after-school home
>>>> language teachers and her husband died. One of our teaching assistants
>>>> lost all 3 of her children (all students at Patana) and her husband.
>>>> Another family lost 3 of 4 children. Their 8 year old was a student here.
>>>> Finally, in Year 6, where I teach, we lost Gianluca and his parents. His
>>>> 20 year old sister survived. Even as I write this I can feel the tears
>>>> welling up and the immense sadness that this has caused in our community.
>>>> Along with the deaths, there are many stories of near misses and rescues.
>>>> These too remind us all of how quickly our worlds can come to an end and so
>>>> even while we were all happy to see each other after the break, it was
>>>> accompanied by many tears. Many of our staff were in the affected areas.
>>>> There are stories of cars heading to the beach and being turned back.
>>>> Folks on planes headed towards that area and having to go back. I used to
>>>> think Douglas and Wendy had the worst honeymoon story but I think Keri's
>>>> and Pete's will beat it. I am thankful for the good fortune of those who
>>>> survived. Who would have guessed that being on a dive boat in the ocean
>>>> would have been a safer place to be when the tsunami hit. My friend Yvonne
>>>> tells of diving the morning of the tsunami. Just after getting out of the
>>>> water they noticed a "funny tide", all swirling and such. Suddenly, there
>>>> was no water left where they had just been diving and all that they had
>>>> been looking at was now dry land. When the water came surging back in, the
>>>> fish were all dead. Their internal organs evidently burst from the
>>>> pressure of the wave. Another friend was on a surf board and gives the tip
>>>> that if ever caught in a tsunami on a surf board, paddle like crazy. Jo
>>>> and her daughters had decided to go horseback riding on the 26th and so
>>>> left the beach to go change. When they came down 10 minutes later there
>>>> was nothing left to go to. A friend who was out snorkeling on a boat made
>>>> it to shore and up a hill before the wave hit and spent 5 hours waiting on
>>>> the deserted island until it was deemed safe to descend. Another teacher
>>>> got a SMS text just minutes before the wave hit. Unfortunately, she
>>>> couldn't get away and suffered broken ribs and numerous other injuries.
>>>> She just got out of the hospital a few days ago. The stories of course go
>>>> on and I am grateful that so many returned alive and relatively unhurt.
>>>> The trauma of what has occurred will continue for a long time I'm sure, as
>>>> people report trouble sleeping, nightmares, fears of ever going to the
>>>> beach again, and so forth. Many teachers, such as on of our Year 6 teachers
>>>> who helped rescue others, aren't even ready to talk about their
>>>> experiences. Even for those of us who were not on the beaches, it has been
>>>> an emotionally charged time. Many who were not effected wonder "Why me?"
>>>> I know that with time, God's love, and the support of so many people around
>>>> the world, it will get easier. Please keep us all in your thoughts and
>>>> prayers in the weeks to come as the effects of this disaster will take its
>>>> toll for quite a while.
