Hi Dennis
Great idea setting up the message board. I have sent you various update emails about what I have been up to since January. Have you received them?
Best wishes
Paul

Hi Paul!
Long time, no see! Yes, I have received your emails concerning all the incridible stuff you have done over the past months. Respect! It is truely great work. I am happy that you are able to all that. Myself, I had to take a little distance from it all, I am following it all closely though, but I suppose the several weeks of hand-on work in the temple and the following month on Sumatra have left deeper scars than I initially thought. All is fine though and I just hope that this message board can be a tool for us to communicate to eachother and that all of us will start to use it frequently again. Only we know what we have really experienced and we might be of some help to eachother, if needed. Paul, lots of strenght to you and I hope we will meet here more often on the board. Dennis

A few reactions I have received so far (I have kept them anonymous for they have not reacted to the message board directly, but perhaps something for all of you to think about..

1.
Dennis, I was in the morgue slugging bodies around,
real grim, but I am doing ok with it, no problem. A
Doctor told me said it wouldn't be normal for someone
to go through such an experience without having a
mental impact, but then indicated such would likely
not occur with me, and as such there is nothing wrong
with not being normal, I'm just simply not normal.

I have done a few talks on the experience, even put
together a powerpoint presentation. I put a face to
your name, but that's ok, if you want to run anything
past me, feel free, I'd be happy to share some
feelings lend a hand where I can.

2.
I don't really know what to write, but I helped an embassy at Phuket Airport
and we started a fund-raising campaign afterwards.
I was glad to help and it didn't really bother me until 2 month ago, I can't
even think or talk about it without getting a shiver. It makes me very quiet
when I hear people taking about it.

Are you coming back to Phuket one day?

I don't know what to expect from this e-mail, but anyway nice talking to you and take care

3.
Thanks for your e-mail (even though I am not really one of you). I went to the message board right away. It is a very good idea to share your thoughts and feelings. Hopefully this will help you and everybody else. Everybody who I meet keeps asking me about the Tsunami, I always tell your 'story' because I wasn't really involved. So I think of you a lot because still many people ask. I will fly into Phuket on 24th December, for two weeks. Maybe it's the best thing to actually be there that day...

4.
Good to hear from you. I think i still have the Sean Paquito
list of Team 3 - i'll look it up and fwd anything i have to you soon.

5.
It was a bad place but good people were trying to do the right thing. I keep focusing on the positives despite once in a bit having some difficult memories. I can't pretend I am hear trying to help people. I am trying to see if I want to live and work here but my time in Asia has certainly changed my view of western life.

I have not seen or heard of most people to be honest. I keep in sporadic touch with some and hear updates about others. I read your message re the board and think it is a good idea. I suspect a lot of people have things to share even if they are not comfortable sharing with people who were not there.

6.
maybe it is better not to go to Thailand. Why don't you meet some of the other volunteers and spend the day with them? Maybe somewhere in the mountains, far away from the ocean. It probably gives you more strenght when you guys are together. I really hope things will get better for you soon! I would love to help you but I do not know how. If there's anything I can do, please let me know. If you decide to stay away from Thailand, I will go to the temple and light some candles and incense sticks for you.

Some reactions so far, I hope we can all start talking about it.

Dennis

dear all,
the work in the temple was one of the hardest and one of the easiest things to do for me.

the things i have seen and done are not really things you like to talk about. just because 1) it is not nice to talk about it and 2) nobody has a clue what you are talking about.

I met with several of the people I worked with in Wat Yan Yao. I guess I am lucky, living in Thailand and being able to contact some of the Thai people I have met there. And it is good to be with them and talk things over. Just because they know, they have been there. So, I think it is great for all of us, who are not able to share this with some one who knows, to use the message board for this. Great idea Dennis.

i am happy to say that most of the people I spoke with over the last period in Thailand, are doing fine and they carry the memory of Wat Yan Yao as a very precious and important thing with them.

As I do. It has been one of the most powerfull experiences in my life. I met some truly amazing people there and I am gratefull to have been a part of that.

For me, there is no pain, no hurt, no bad dreams. just a memory of a very special experience.

I hope that all of you, who have this same experience but to whom it may be a burden, I can be of some help.

You can always contact me personally.

hang in there and remember the beauty you saw when the horror was there.

Be strong and proud of what you achieved and use this strength to go on and know that what you did was done with you heart and feeling.

love
ingrid

ok i'll send abt wht i've been writin abt tsunami memories and abt friends there, but not now cuz i hav many tests to take.
i miss Thailand muz...hope 2c u guys there

will get in touch asap

luv u all

Dennis and all the people I met during my tsunami relief work.

I have been lucky that I was not in S.E.Asia at the time of the tsunami. However I came to Thailand Jan. 1 to help out and I am still involved in tsunami relief work in Aceh, Indonesia. I have been working with the victims now for about 10 months. It is satisfying to be able to help, although there are also many frustrating days (especially when dealing with officials). Maybe because I was not there when it happened, and I did not know any of the victims personally, I do not feel a negative psychological impact, but who knows what I will feel in the future. My story is too long to write here, but if anyone is interested you can take a look at my site: http://dinyvandeloo.bebo.com (no www.). Dennis, Ria, Lies, Michael and all the other people I have met during this past year, you will always have a special place in my heart.Let's stay in touch.
Love. Diny.

Hi everyone. Dennis - I think this is a great idea to share this stuff. I find I am focusing on my time at Wat Yan Yao more as the tsunami date gets closer. I am still in Cambodia but am going to try to make arrangements in the next few days to get down to Wat Yan Yao for the memorial. I expect I will be in BKK for a day or two as well. Hope some of you will be at the temple or at least in the vicinity as it would be great to see you again.

In some ways, my time there was the best of my life and in some ways the hardest but I find regardless that I can never really let my time there go away completely from my thoughts.

The bonds that were created there are pretty special to me. Everyone that put their time in and worked so hard to try to help those in need is certainly a person that I feel lucky to have met.

Keep well.

David

Hi David! Good you are able to make it for the memorial where it all happened. Myself, I will be flying to Amsterdam for Christmas (living in Finland again now) and will attend a memorial there. Now that the 26th is getting closer and closer, I am sure we all start to feel the same feelings again. But a sense of pride and satisfaction is also there. We worked as a team and will be conneced forever.
I have been talking to a psychologist for half a year now and she says the best option is to talk about it as much as possible, if possible. I have only been able to share my stories and memories for the past weeks with close friends and family.
I hope to be able to go next year and visit the temple Wat YanYao for the 2nd annivesary, I have to. Take care my man and hope to be able to stay in touch with you!

What is everybody else's feeling, now that 26.12 is getting so close? Hope to see your reactions here.