IRA
LIPPKE (photo far right), an ordinary citizen visiting
Indonesia at the time, was among the first to help
with tsunami
disaster relief in war-torn Banda Aceh. Without
any
previous medical or relief training, Ira and three
friends saved numerous lives in this devastated
region at the earthquake's epicenter. They overcame
numerous
difficulties to reach the town when it was still
almost completely cut off from the rest of the
world. Ira offers us a lesson on how one person can
make
a significant difference as an outside volunteer
in a violent region.
Ira
Lippke, an accomplished photographer, was volunteering
for a few weeks at a Bali orphanage in the city of
Kuta with his brother, Samuel and their friend Scott
McAlvany when the tsunami struck Sumatra on Dec.
26. They had planned to spend their month-long trip
helping the Bali Street Kids Orphanage in Kuta and
use some vacation time surfing and exploring the
area. After hearing about the disaster just two islands
away, they gathered supplies and boarded a plane
to Jakarta to visit the UN and offer their help. "We
just looked at each other and said, 'We need to go,'” said
Ira in an ABCNews broadcast with Peter Jennings. “We
put all of our money together and we bought about
$500 worth of medicine and filled up two big duffel
bags full of medicine, and bought plane tickets."
In
Jakarta they found out from the UN that the Indonesian
government had not allowed Westerners to get in and
were told that their only chance to reach the area
was with the Indonesian military itself. After several
visits to different government offices, they were
able to board the second plane that was flying into
the devastated area of Banda Aceh. Being the first
Westerners entering the civil war torn region of
Aceh in the last two years, they were initially viewed
critically by the other Muslim helpers and warned
to not try anything else than provide humanitarian
help.
Although
they had no medical training, the three men showed
up at a traumatized secondary hospital that was left
after the main hospital had been totally destroyed
by the tsunami, killing almost all the doctor and
nurses in the town. As the three men explained, the
first 9.2 scale earthquake hit the region and all
the first responders rushed to the scene. Twenty
minutes later, without warning, the first tsunami
wave arrived and killed earthquake victims and helpers
alike. Consequently, the whole region was in incredible
need of professional help and medicine with hardly
any supplies or trained helpers left. The three Californians
spent the next 3 days as acting “doctors and
nurses” caring for patients. Working 16-hour
days, they adopted a whole hospital wing. The men
removed the deceased, amputated limbs, disinfected
wounds and distributed antibiotics to the patients
in need. When finally the first foreign aid and professional
help was allowed to enter the scene, they left Banda
Aceh on Jan. 2 after four days of unbelievable work
and experiences and worn out by sleeplessness and
minor sickness.
The
three avid surfers had hoped to get a taste of the
surf along Bali's beautiful coast. But in the aftermath
of the Tsunami, they were single minded in their
determination to cut through the bureaucracy that
delayed US and UN assistance, seeing and attending
to the devastation days before other Westerners arrived
on-scene.
Their
work sets is an example of Citizen Peacebuilders,
who out of their love for humanity and their religious
beliefs decided to help while others perhaps continued
their vacations on Bali. They had an immense impact
in the situation even without previous medical training.
As
Ira Lippke said at his presentation at the “Talking
Peace” Forum at UCI, life should be like a
good photo, with a lot of contrasts of darkness and
light. He said that even living through this terrible
situation he could still see the hope and love in
many people in Indonesia and can say that this experience
has contributed to his life and encouraged him to
become more active in human aid and relief work.
He suggested that the students participating combine
vacations with humanitarian missions in many of the
nicest but poor and needy places around the world. |
Turning
research into action for a safer world
