Dhivehi Observer News | South Asia | Maldives

Sad times for all Maldivians

DO correspondent - 27 December 2004

It is a sad day for us. Maldivians everywhere grieve not only for their own but for the many others from neighboring Sri Lanka, India and South East Asia who were the unfortunate victims of this natural calamity, which struck them unawares and left adversity in its wake.

We also grieve for the unsuspecting tourists who graced our soils and had to share this ill-fated incident with us. We collectively grieve for humanity today.

It is at our most vulnerable times that we realize the force of nature and how susceptible we are as mere mortals. It is also at this time when we realize our strength as human beings.

I witnessed the true power of human spirit today. At a time when access to our motherland was disrupted, Maldivians everywhere lent their collective voice and reached out with their hearts just so we could be united with the sufferings of our people. My family and friends in the UK, Malaysia, Germany, Canada were constantly online,
seeking all they could, tuning in to the Voice of Maldives, BBC, Haveeru and sites like yours, because our hearts beat in dread, because we were anxious, because we cared so much. Prayers were uttered.

My maternal grandparents are in Maldives and it crushed my parents and me to think of them in such danger, never knowing what the tide may bring. There are thousands of Maldivians abroad, who are in constant dread just as we are. Thank God for the Internet and SMS; we know that they are ok.

What is most miraculous is how the people have reached out to one another in this time of desperation and need. I am told that at this moment in Male' and the atolls, human philanthropy gushes deeper and stronger than any wave.

On behalf of all overseas Maldivians (who although we are not there in form, are there in spirit), we would like to thank all those who are easing the plight of humankind in the throes of debacle.

I just want my people to know that we are thinking of you; you are not alone in this. Our thoughts and prayers relentlessly flow. May Allah give us perseverance, may we prevail, and may we be protected. God bless.