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oh it's so sad. can't believe i'm not going to this office anymore after i leave today. everyone was so sweet. they made a little farewell party for me in the brainstorming room, complete with a little cake and a goodbye card. some who couldn't make it to the little party emailed, called, and came to my cube to say goodbye personally, even those that i don't really know that well. we'll be meeting again tomorrow night for some farewell drinks at felt...
it's 140,000 and counting. do whatever you can to help.
donate a few dollars or help in other ways...
what to donate?
At this moment, money is the best thing to donate. It is easy and gives flexibility for the local officials to purchase the most needed things. It is reported that there is a backlog of aid goods distribution to Aceh, because of the lack of transporting vessels, as well as the difficulties in reaching the regions due to mud, debris and bad infrastructure. However, in a few weeks there will be needs for non-cash donations for the victims of tsunami.
what are the items, apart from money, that are needed?
Initial items that you can consider donating (in kind or money to purchase) include:
suggested format for non-monetary aid to aceh:
Purchase plastic buckets (pails, ember), with handle and top. Fill each bucket with small quantities of a variety of the most urgently needed non-food supplies (see list above). Write the contents of each bucket on the outside of the bucket, neatly in permanent marker pen, in Indonesian. Drop the bucket(s) off at donation drop-off points. Restrict contributions to supplies and brand names that an average member of an affected community in Aceh would be able to use without any further explanation or training whatsoever. Contribute only supplies that will be easily understood and are familiar.
This format allows transportation of pre-sorted essentials to the stricken areas in Aceh. It is waterproof (once taped shut at the drop-off points by volunteers), pre-packed and durable. The goods are likely to get into the hands of individuals in the field more quickly, and in better condition than other formats. It precludes sorting in the field, in conditions which are not conducive to such processing (wet, muddy, disorderly). It allows easy distribution of a variety of most-needed supplies in a usable format and quantity directly to individuals and households.
as of january first, i'm officially homeless. everything's moved out, and the keys were safely slid under the door. it was sad leaving my apartment. i spent my last night there savoring the peace and quiet, thinking that would be my last night spent alone in my own place. and then it would be countless nights spent at family's and friends' where it would be impossible to be alone, even when i want to.
now my apartmentt is just another empty room for rent. ready for another person, another story. add a few more weeks, and it will only be a distant memory in my head. i would start to forget how the sun rays wiggle their way in the morning through the nice wooden blinds that open up to the alley below... or how comfortable it is in the summer to sit smoking on the cozy ledge of the far-left window while observing the neighbors across the street... or the way the ancient iron heater would make loud clanking noises when it first started to heat up at night in the dead of extra chilly new england winter...
after a few years (or maybe even months!), my entire life in boston would just be another episode past, consisting only of blurry snapshots of randomly collected moments out of tens of thousands of seconds, minutes, hours, days i spent in this city... while the rest of them would just dissolve somewhere in my brain, disappearing forever as if they never happened at all.
how surreal! to think that i'm actually leaving in two weeks...