Today'S (Jan 24) daily briefing for the Global Sikhs-Waves Of Mercy will be special. Almost all the team members from the first mission will be present at the 8.30 daily brief at Sabha House, headquarters of the Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia.

The briefing will be led by the first mission's chief de mission, Malkith Singh, who is also a SNSM vice president.

The mission, initiated and organised by the Sikhs in this part of the world, has been successful in getting humanitarian aid and relief to the victims of the Dec 26 earthquake and tsunami.

Unlike the other aid agencies, the GLOBAL SIKHS-WAVES OF MERCY were more mobile due to the ships at their disposal. This allowed our team members to access villages that were hard to reach, especially on the West coast of Aceh, where roads were badly damaged.

The Aceh relief mission's current concerns are as follows:

1. Assisting in bringing about normalcy in Pulau Weh, north of Banda Aceh, where the team has set up its headquarters. GLOBAL SIKHS-WAVES OF MERCY is the only aid agency on this island;

2. Assisting the villagers of Paros. This group of villages' first contact with the outside world was with our team members on board the Sean Paquitto II. That was 20 days after the disaster. They still require a lot of medical and logistical assistance;

3. Sourcing for more relief items, including medicine;

4. Transporting the relief items direct to the needy villages;

5. Providing long-term assistance (for example providing boats to fishing villages, to enable them to stand on their feet again);

6. Collect funding to continue the mission.

For those of you in Kuala Lumpur, do drop by. Fateh.

—Habhajan Singh (on behalf of GLOBAL SIKHS)

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/

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