All day I've been watching the news show pictures so graphic I've had to look away. This evening they're reading off the amount of money each deceased person had on their person so family can come get it, and posting all the cell phone numbers of phones found on the bridge. Bodies in small wooden boxes are being shipped to local headquarters in military trucks to avoid more chaos at the hospitals, while the news airs footage of the deceased lining the sidewalks so family will claim them. Such a bizarre thing to witness. So different from how it would be handled elsewhere. Most of those killed after the concert at the Water Festival were in their 20s, with so much more life to live.
By this evening we got word that all of our staff, and everyone in our village is accounted for. Answered prayer! 3 guys toward the wooden bridge were there and jumped into the river to avoid being crushed, and they reported that their friends weren't taken in the abulances because they were going to the highest bidders, not necessarily the worst injured. Which is nausiating. Marc, our director, went to the city today to meet with some partner organizations and line up how we can help. Tomorrow we'll send our medical team, but that's all I currently know.
So why do bad things happen? Because they can. But the constant is that God helps us through them. I'm interested to see how those with Buddhist belief come together and cope. I suppose I thought people might go to the Wats today to offer incense or ask the monks to pray on behalf of the dead, but there was none of that. Why? Today, no matter who we are, we are all broken-hearted.
My friend Paet, who went with us to the Festival on Saturday, texted me to ask how he can get rid of bad dreams and a fear that's kept him from sleeping. Of course I recommended asking God to take away fear and protect him from evil dreams or bad memories. Please Remember Paet, who's been on our Hearts for a while now.
(in the time it took me to write this, the death toll has gone up by 43... now well over 400... with 57 unaccounted for, and 350 still in our 4 hospitals. In a place with less than mediocre health care knowledge, God, be the god of healing....)
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