Official mission like the volunteer opportunities in Southwest Asia

[Kalista]

official mission like the volunteer opportunities in Southwest Asia:

When the Military offer the civilian employees to volunteering opportunities in Southwest Asia. Would you take these opportunities to go down to Southwest Asia?

I am willing to go down to tsunami to help those victim Deaf people? However, it is especially the children who lost their parents. That would be very risky and challenge job to do this. I am not sure if I would be courageous to do this job to face with thousand people died. Southwest Asian is screaming for help and no home, no water, no clothes, no shower, no family, no food, no medical assistant, etc….

If you are interested in volunteering, send them your resume and they will forward to higher headquarters to review your physical and expert to deal with emotional people. If it were an official mission like the volunteer opportunities in Southwest Asia, then yes, you would be paid and living arrangements taken care of.

I am very ambivalence to send my resume to the headquarters. It is scared to seeing thousand people died on the ground. What is more, there is concern about the outbreak sof diseases amongst survivors. Recently, the children dying from pneumonia. I do not know if I could handle this kind of job for 90 days.

*sigh* Some of my colleagues and I were discussed about submit the resume to see if they will accept us or not.

By the way, American Chopper wouldn't let me go. Let see and wait... I got alot of report about Southwest Asia at my work. It is very tragedy to seeing more children died due to lack of medical assisant. They are waiting for home to adoption.

 

[Reba]

The other problem is, Indonesia and some of the other countries involved, don't want Americans and Europeans to come to their countries. Indonesia told America that all workers must leave their country by March. They said they don't want foreigners helping them. They just want the money.

 

[Gemtun]

The other problem is, Indonesia and some of the other countries involved, don't want Americans and Europeans to come to their countries. Indonesia told America that all workers must leave their country by March. They said they don't want foreigners helping them. They just want the money.

Reba -
I read about that last night. I don't understand why they wanted all relief workers to leave? Is it because they are paranoid about foreign influence on Indonesians or what? Why are they being not gracious about international aid? Perhaps you know more about this?

I would love to come down there to help out with the deaf population too.

 

[Kalista]

The other problem is, Indonesia and some of the other countries involved, don't want Americans and Europeans to come to their countries. Indonesia told America that all workers must leave their country by March. They said they don't want foreigners helping them. They just want the money.

Obviously, they are not trust American because of Iraq war. They are too parnaoid. Let see and wait ! Japanese president sent 1,000 soliders down there to help with victim people.

 

[Reba]

Reba -
I read about that last night. I don't understand why they wanted all relief workers to leave? Is it because they are paranoid about foreign influence on Indonesians or what? Why are they being not gracious about international aid? Perhaps you know more about this?

It is mostly political reasons. Indonesian Muslims are against Americans and Europeans in any Muslim country, especially since the war in Iraq. Also, the Indonesian government is ashamed that they can't take care of their own people. They are afraid that they look weak to their people, and they might lose their government power. They have many political struggles happening there.

The poor people there are thankful for the help. It is their government that has the bad attitude.

 

[Kalista]

It is mostly political reasons. Indonesian Muslims are against Americans and Europeans in any Muslim country, especially since the war in Iraq. Also, the Indonesian government is ashamed that they can't take care of their own people. They are afraid that they look weak to their people, and they might lose their government power. They have many political struggles happening there.

The poor people there are thankful for the help. It is their government that has the bad attitude.

That is interesting... I did not know that Indonesian Muslims live that country.

 

[Reba]

That is interesting... I did not know that Indonesian Muslims live that country.

Here is some info about religion in Indonesia:

source: http://home.swipnet.se/~w-15266/indons/instant/religion.htm

Islam
It is widely thought that Islam came to the northern tip of Sumatra sometimes during the 12th century and spread south and east until it had conquered the whole of the Indonesian archipelago. It it supposed to have come with muslim merchant trading with the courts on the long coastline. Therefore it became a trading religion, as opposed to the traditional hindu-buddistic religion adhered to by kings and princes.
It was not until Islam came in to the inland courts on Java that the religion started to spread with some speed. At the end of 14th century all kingdoms on Java was muslim and the remaining hindu kingdom fled to Bali.
Today, the most hard-core of the indonesian muslims lives in Aceh, the northern tip of Sumatra, where Islam is said to first take hold. They have always been fierce fighters, giving both the Dutch and the Indonesian state a hard time. Aceh strived for a long time for an independent Islamic state and has today a special status.
Going further south to Java the biggest islamic organisation today is Nadhlatul Ulama, NU. Their version on islam is a more relaxed one, building on traditional values as much an the Islamic scriptures.
Generally, Islam was a important political force during the dawn of nationalism from around 1900. One of the most important movement at that time was the modernistic Muhammadiyah established in 1912. The modernistic school wanted to purify Islam from local tradition (adat) and return to the original source of Islam, the Quran and the Hadith or Sunnah. They also wanted to modernize the Islamic world, often with ideas from western science.
Muhammadiyah took on its at first small shoulders to work in the modernist direction, but met resistence everywhere. It was not until 1925 when the chief of the Minangkabau on Sumatra recognized Muhammadiyah that the organisation grew, but then it almost exploded. In 1935 it had 250 000 members.
During both Sukarno and Suharto, the demand of a Islamic Indonesian state has been thoroughly subdued, even though some outbursts of violence has occured from time to time. Today, the situation is at best unstable. During the demonstrations from 1997 and up until Suhartos resignation, a lot of violence has occured, mostly against the Chinese (being a double threat, religious and economical), and the state didn't react until the state itself was threatened, and then it was to late. The demonstrations had grown from beating of Chinese to an general uprising against the appalling situation facing many of the Indonesians today.
So, Islam is still a political force today, even though politics in Indonesia takes mysterious ways...