Indonesian center
gets aid from isles

The tsunamis dealt extensive
damage to the Islamic institute

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia » The director of the graduate program of the Islamic institute in Banda Aceh, Amirul Hadi, arrived late to the meeting with Hawaii's East-West Center.

He had been searching for his wife and two children, missing for nearly a month now, since the earthquake and tsunami here.

"I'm still crying, but one time you have to stop crying," he said Saturday. "Aceh has not disappeared. Life goes on."

On assignment Star-Bulletin reporter Craig Gima is traveling through Southeast Asia to report on tsunami relief efforts.

The state-run Institute Agama Islam Negeri was hit hard by the disaster. There is extensive damage throughout the campus, including the library, administration building and classrooms.

But recovering from human loss will be a lot tougher. The center lost 22 lecturers and 16 staff in the earthquake and tsunamis that followed.

The waters rushed through the faculty housing complex on campus when many were still in their apartments. Because it was Sunday, there were no classes at the 5,000-student institute.

"I kept thinking about how bad we felt and how bad we were hurt by the flood in Manoa," said Terry Bigalke, director of the education program at the East-West Center in Manoa. The damage here is a hundred or a thousand times worse, he said.

Bigalke and Muhamad Ali, a University of Hawaii and East-West Center graduate student from Indonesia, met with university officials here in Banda Aceh to see what the Hawaii center can do to help the institute. They plan to visit Syiah Kuala University, another higher education institution here, today.

The East-West Center has raised about $250,000 in Hawaii for tsunami relief efforts. About $120,000 is being distributed for immediate help, including $30,000 to WALHI, an Indonesian environmental group that is helping out in Sumatra, and $30,000 for Uplift International, which is providing medicine and supporting local doctors. The rest will go to long-term projects to help rebuild tsunami- and quake-damaged communities.

Bigalke said some of the money raised could be used to replace books and computers for the institute. The center is also thinking about setting aside slots in its leadership and academic programs in Hawaii for Banda Aceh faculty and students.

Hadi, a former Fulbright scholar, would be a good candidate for an East-West Center program, Bigalke said.

At this weekend's meeting, the rector of the institute, Rusjdi Ali Muhammad, talked about his plans to reopen the institute as soon as possible.

Bigalke said Muhammad felt strongly that getting back to work and some semblance of a normal routine was the best way for his staff and students to recover from the disaster.

During the meeting, Muhammad repeatedly put his hand on Hadi's shoulder and reassured him. "Everything comes from God and returns to God," Muhammad told him.

After the meeting, Hadi said that colleagues from all over the world e-mailed him and asked him what they could do to help.

"Just pray for me," he said he told them. "Just pray for my strength and my future. I'd rather we pray together."