Mission Six Rearing to GO

Kuala Lumpur (March 03, 2005): The sound of masking tape stretching and chatter in the conference room made me open the door and take a peek. It was evident, yet another exuberant GLOBAL SIKHS-WAVES OF MERCY team was ready for its “Tour-of-Duty”.

Members of Mission Six will be leaving for Aceh on March 7th.

In the conference room at the Sabha House, the headquarters for SIKH NAUJAWAN SABHA MALAYSIA, some of them were getting their vaccinations, while others were busy packing much-needed items to send along.

Global Sikhs Logistics coordinator, Kishore Kumar explained that the various individuals plus Perkim [Islamic Welfare group - editor] and Yayasan Salam Malaysia [a Malaysian version of Peace Corps] have donated religious paraphernalia, baby food, tin food and toiletries. “Yayasan Salam Malaysia gave us Family packs comprising food, soap, sweets, under-garments and sarongs,” he said, adding that the 260 packs will be distributed to destitute families.

Kishore said there were also 6 stretchers, masks, medical and surgical supplies among the goods donated by Yayasan Salam Malaysia. “The children will not be neglected as there are some school workbooks, 800 pairs of canvas school shoes and 200 pairs of sandals.”

Mission Six – consisting of 16 people - is expected to reach Sabang, Pulau Weh – the base camp for the GLOBAL SIKHS-WAVES OF MERCY relief mission for Aceh – on March 8th.

Currently, the six volunteers of Mission Five are in their second week in Aceh and will be returning home next week.

One of the members of Mission six, Harminder Kaur said now the Aceh mission is focusing on promoting public health at the displaced people’s camps.

“We’ve been meeting regularly and gathering as much information to facilitate our work in Sabang,” she said.

[Harminder Kaur has been writing about her family's involvement in this mission. Her husband, lawyer-cum-kirtania Harcharanjit Singh has just returned from his Aceh stint. Now while he looks after Charanqamal Singh, it is Harminder Kaur's turn to go. - editor]

By Darshan Kaur

Global Sikhs-Waves of Mercy: Background

WHO WE ARE

GLOBAL SIKHS-WAVES OF MERCY is the name coined for the international relief effort to help the earthquake and Tsunami victims in Aceh, Indonesia. It is an informal grouping of Sikh and non-Sikh organisations worldwide that want to assist in the relief mission. While the mission platform carries the name Sikh, it is open to people from all races, religions and nationalities. We have, both on the mission and at the headquarters level, volunteers from various races, religions and nationalities.

Partners
The mission is spearheaded by Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (Malaysian Sikh Youth), a Malaysian-based 41-year old youth organisation. This is a registered NGO in Malaysia and has performed various community projects in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region. Website: www.snsm.org.my

Its key operational partner is the WAVES OF MERCY, a group of Langkawi-based sailors who have rallied together to make the ships available to carry forward the mission. It is led by Captain Hugo Crawford. Some of the sailors have lost their boats in the tsunami incident. Website: www.wavesofmercy.com

Its main international partner is the UNITED SIKHS, an international NGO with chapters in Europe, America and Asia. It has sent five of its members to Kuala Lumpur for the relief work in Aceh. In separate missions, UNITED SIKHS have also sent their members to Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Website: www.unitedsikhs.org

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

• Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE), Washington, USA
• Guru Gobind Singh Foundation (GGSF), Washington, USA www.ggsf.org
• Gurmat Learning Zone. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/learning-zone/
• The Association of Sikh Physicians for Involvement, Response and Engagement (ASPIRE), USA
• Naujawan Sabha Melbourne, Australia
• Dya Singh World of Music

MISSION

Our mission is to assist in the humanitarian relief operations in Aceh, Indonesia, in the most effective manner as possible. Funds raised and assistance rendered will go towards achieving the objective.

24-HOUR COMMAND CENTRE

GLOBAL SIKHS operates a round-the-clock control and command centre n Kuala Lumpur. Tel: ++ 603 - 2283 3713

FEEDBACK: aceh-relief@snsm.org.my

DONATION