More signs of life

It was our second day in Tibang, and I suppose the news had begun to spread among the villagers that we, the Singaporean aliens, were friendly and were here to help them. Three of the local womenfolk came by our wooden shack after lunch, and stood outside, observing us. They didn't speak much; they just kept smiling. :)

We also saw more children today. Two of them were girls aged seven, Unar and Nurul. Nurul lost her mother and her baby brother in the tsunami, and was herself washed away by the waves. But she was rescued from the turbulent waters soon after, and was now living with her father, her only surviving immediate family member.

Burhan also came back to visit us, and he brought along his other 13-year old friend, Khairllah. Khairllah lived on the far side of the village with his mum and three brothers. His dad and his other siblings perished in the disaster. Some other young boys also came by to look at us, the latest attraction in the village :) Among them were 12-year old Fahkrurazi, who lost both parents and all his siblings and now lived with his grandmother. Like all the other children we saw, he was very quiet but very inquisitive. It pained me to think that for every child that I saw in Tibang, there were many more who were silenced by the merciless waves.

But some were more fortunate than others. We came to befriend 11-year old Suphan and 8-year old Mursalih. Suphan himself had climbed up a coconut tree when he saw the wall of water crashing towards the village. He and Mursalih were brothers, and their entire family - both parents, a grandmother and a third brother - survived the tsunami by divine providence.

Nurul (left) and Unar sitting on the edge of what is left of Nurul's home