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One of many coordination meetings with different groups and partners during my time as Programme Manager of Padang earthquake emergency response Can you spot me in that photo? (Photo: Private archive) I have been lucky to be part of emergency response in two (or three) emergencies: Aceh-Nias tsunami Dec 26th, 2004, Nias earthquake Mar 28th, 2005, and now Padang earthquake Sep 30th, 2009. In Nias tsunami relief I took only a very limited role. But after Nias earthquake I had to play a key role for 4 years in all aspects. February this year I started a totally new "life" in the sense without dealing with project management and all related matters. Half a year later Padang earthquake took me back. Although in Padang emergency response I don't play the key role, but I could be a witness of some critical issues need to be learnt. I want to write some lesson learnt from my experience in that three emergencies. For now I want to concentrate on scale of disaster. B...

When Dec 2004 the tsunami and then Mar 2005 the earthquake hit Nias Island, the Diocese of Sibolga decided to institute the Diocesan Caritas of Sibolga. Since the March 2005 earthquake Caritas Sibolga has provided emergency and reconstruction relief in communities throughout Nias, with the accompaniment of Caritas Italy and the support of Caritas Austria and CRS.

This is how Michael Jackson gave a title to his song. Unfortunately many people see the world as theirs and see other people only as guests to this "their" world. But "we" are the world, you and me. As long as there are people who suffer under discrimination, the world is still "theirs" and not "ours". Therefore sing with me the song of Michael Jackson: We Are the World .

Promoting the culture of life. How? Does it mean, asking for forgiveness even when heart is already wounded? Or does it mean, to send away all the "bad spirits", which destroy the sense of togetherness among us, which tear away the peace between us. In a world, where the culture of death spreads away like virus, we need to promote the culture of life even more. Therefore sing with me the song with Michael Jackson:

Two weeks ago I visited Capuchin friary Yohaneum, Sibolga. As soon as I entered the gate, the feeling of shame overcame me again. I've had this feeling for a while now. I had the feeling of entering a 4 or 5 star hotel and not a house the Capuchins who count themselves to the poor and deliberately live in poverty. Slowly I felt a conflict inside me or better a contradiction. Read more ...

Nias Island belongs to the Province of Nort-Sumatera, Indonesia. But culturally Nias doesn't show strong affinity to other cultures in Indonesia. The language, the megalith culture, the concept about ancestor, to mention some of the main differences. I wrote a short introduction into Nias culture for a German audience a few years ago. Click here to read the article . Note: 1. I come from Nias Island, studied in Germany, live in the UK. I know Nias not only from books or from stereotypes.

Our modern society is a contradictory society. This can be observed in peoples minds about the role of the TV in their life. Everybody blames the TV for violence and sex abuse in the society, but almost every family has at least one TV. Are we a species of being, who like breeding their own enemy under their own blanket?