Schapelle's Letter Home -- Who's Helping The Others?

"I believe I WILL BE coming home soon, I have too much support from so many people for the courts to convict and with such an ABSURD case..."

She must have amazing strength; I don't know I could remain as positive for as long as Schapelle has, her courage and faith strong in this letter to her mother, written almost a month ago. And I can't help but wonder if any of the hundreds of Australians currently in Indonesia "assisting" in Banda Aceh (with the thousands of others there) have bothered to visit Schapelle too?

There are so many others in need at the moment. Why does the world rush to the aid of some, and not others?

In Indonesia alone, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people not affected by the tsunami who still face daily threats of violence and war, of poverty, lack of education and disease. My own mother was there for two months prior to the tsunami in December, travelling with a missionary group providing aid to the badly burned children, orphans and many, many other in Maluku, victims of the horrific, ongoing violence between Christians and Muslims.

She travelled with an amazing woman, a young missionary, who has been emailing back with updates on their situation. I quote here from a couple of her letters:

"Just want to let everyone know a little about my experiences in Banda Aceh and surrounding areas. It seems the whole world has gathered in Aceh - Estonians, Cubans, Russians, French, Spanish, Pakistanis, Singaporeans, Americans, New Zealanders, Germans, Japanese, Australian and Malaysians to name just some. The place is a tsunami of aid - food, medicines, clothing, health workers and aid groups. In fact so much money has been given that many aid groups will struggle to find reliable ways to get it to the people."

"...One day I sat in a car with my sister (who also came). We talked about the masses of aid that was there and how easy it was to get tonnes of goods in. We cried together for the people of Maluku who also suffered a great tragedy but have had little assistance in comparison. I felt if only I had a portion of that aid how many lives we could touch. I thought of my faithful band of Indonesian workers not having enough dressings for burns patients and of the tonnes of medical supplies pouring into Aceh. The Indonesian government have made it so easy for the aid to pour into this area, but it is so hard just to get a little extra baggage for medical supplies for our brothers and sisters in Maluku."

The abundance of aid and money pouring into Banda Aceh highlights just how little there is elsewhere. Sudan and Cambodia are two other nations desperately in need of our help. Where are their saviours?