Bruce Campbell Adamson PO Box 1003 Aptos, CA 95001-1003

Susana Bachman was Walking on Water When She Felt Tidal Wave Beneath Her ! Without Harm:

CLICK HERE FOR SUSANNA BACHMAN'S WEBSITE. She has taken some beautiful photographs.

CLICK HERE FOR SUSANNA BACHMAN'S TIDAL WAVE PHOTOS.

Quake and Tidal Wave News - Latest from Susanna Bachman

Photo of Me too Large yet it is very sad to see such a young boy in this state. I tried to save it and could not open the photo.

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:21:37 +0700
From: susannabachman <susannabachman@mac.com>
To: bca@got.net
Subject: hi bruce. thanks for posting my stuff!!!

"Me" is 2 1/2 years old. His father was killed by the tsunami and now his family is living in the temporary housing "Baan Moo" on the hill.
We took "Me" into the local doctor and the prognosis is not very good.SIZE="+1">

He was born with serious glaucoma and now its infected since the tsunami. Ive offered to take him, his Mom "Be Ah" the widow of Jeng
and one of her friends to see the best eye specialist in Bangkok. That is, IF I can talk her into it. She is very afraid to travel. She has
never been any where in her whole life and now she is alone. Its a 50/50 chance they can save his eye.

Today at the doctors office, the grief of all this finally struck me. I had to sit down, but I stayed calm. Now tonight, I am home, writing to you on my fancy computer and it doesn't seem fair.

We've given Be Ah a week to think about it and besides she cant leave until the elections are over on Sunday. Unlike America, everybody wants
to vote. If they agree to go , I may ask again to raise some more money for the specialist (You will hear from me on that one). Hospital care is good and inexpensive here but eye surgery specialist could chew up all my remaining funds.

I also had a meeting with the local school where I taught years ago. Thanks to all of you I've promised to pay for a computer network
specialist to get their network up and running. I'm also in the process of doing a fundraising event with my friend Skippy Comins in
Santa Cruz. We are in need of school books and supplies to build a library at the high school. I will let you know after we talk to the
airlines and courier service on how to get the supplies here.

Meanwhile friends are calling me up on the phone, as tourists are beginning to trickle in from Scandinavia, That's a good sign for Ko
Lanta.

Tomorrow I'm driving to Trang (the mainland) to help buy a boat for one of my neighbors.
Bye for now!

Love Susanna

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Dear Friends, We are OK. Luckily we were on our boat in Deep water when it hit. (And we still HAVE our boat) 3 tidal waves at 10;40 am dec 26th. Much bad news and devestation. Here in Old Town, the newly constructed pier is washed away-- See photos from my friend ricardo.

http://www.do-ww.com/photo-album/thailand/lanta-2/quake/quake.htm

I lost Half of my new house too. Truck OK. Many people still missing.. Very sad. Im still sleeping in higher ground until its safe. I will write later. But I lost my computer. xxx Susanna
-12/27/04

Still cleaning mud and sand. More neighbors are starting to show signs of stress and tears. But this is Thailand so you still see mostly smiles. My 8 year old neighbor  "A" is still sleeping near the front door for a fast escape. The kittens under the house are fine.

My good friend Eugene came over to look at the new house Im building. Unfortunately, the cement poles are messed up really bad, so the WHOLE wood part of house needs to come down to be rebuilt.
Yet, I still feel lucky as the news from Eugene in Krabi is the whole town is a nightmare of death. Hundreds of bodies are decomposing in the Sun.  The whole town smells of death.

Back here in Old Town Lanta Neighbor, Buch has been out looking for bodies in Phi Phi. Ricardo and I are raising money to give away.  Tess (who lost her new little longtail boat, it was found in a tree) is buying appliances and giving them away. And I am wearing a dress my Thai teacher friend  gave me in a care package.  Tomorrow is New Years Day and we will start the distribution process.  Thanks to all who have helped I've raised about $1500 USD as of today. Love to all.

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A Donation to Susanna Bachman can be made as follows:

Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 19:13:46 +0700
From: "Susanna Bachman" <susannabachman@mac.com>  View
Contact Details 
To: "Ken Knobler" <kenknobler@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Old Town Lanta Update

I decided to send this to a few people whom might be
interested in taking up a small collection from our friends and send
along to me. (with-out the red tape)

My account number is
861 347 1478

Washington Mutual Bank  (checking account)

I will use my ATM to withdrawal from this account and
keep a log with pictures of the people Ive chosen to help.

If you choose to help THANK YOU!
If not, thanks for listening. If you do choose togather some money and
forward it on - Please send me an eMail so I know!!  Once I recieve the eMail I will distrbute the money or buy goods.

Love from Thailand
Susanna
http://www.worldwatercolors.com
--- Susanna Bachman

im still cleaning and trying to find computer access. The divers are out looking for bodies. Two people
died about 100 yards from my house still missing..

Ken, thank you so much!!! I  really need a point person like you.

I'm keeping a log and will send pictures and stories
after the new year.

The red cross brought us some supplies like food and
clothes yesterday... most of my neighbors have come
back to sleep at home .. accept the ones who have NO
home...they are camping.

all my love to you skippy and alana.
Susan

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 Lanta Fund Part 2

Ett is a 46 y/o carpenter and family man. He worked for us briefly building my pole house. He and his wife have always greeted me with warmth and a smile. Ett's house was swept into the sea and he lost everything, all that's left is the front door. I have not seen his wife since the tsunami hit, I know she is not hurt, I assume she is just too afraid to comeback home, and really come back to what?
I gave Ett a donation of cash; He has since purchased wood posts and beams and begun rebuilding his house.

Son and Uma live right next door to my pole house. Uma, 36, was born with a severe leg disability. She can only get around in a wheelchair and mostly crawls around on the floor. Her husband  "Son"  35, is a paraplegic. He had a horrible motorcycle accident when he was 20 y/o and is bed ridden. (He's been waiting for a wheelchair from the government for over 3 years, but that's another story) They met in a government hospital in Nakorn Si Thammarat and fell in love over 15 years ago. During their stay in the hospital they were both trained to become seamstresses. They have been working in their little house here in Old Town making and repairing clothes for the past 5 years. They even had some of the biggest resorts as clients.
Can you imagine the horror of a huge wave crashing through their house and NOT being able to run away?  Luckily there was only minor damage to their house but all of its contents were ruined. Including their sewing machine.
Tess and I got together and decided to help. Tess cleaned out their whole place and got them a new bed (extra firm for Son) Uma was even able to pick out the color of their new floor. (Floor in Thailand means a big piece of vinyl lying on the floor) I located the nearest Singer sewing machine shop in Trang, and purchased them a brand new Singer sewing machine. Our phone hasn't stopped ringing with words of thanks from Oma and Son.

Maan was out fishing in his tiny 10-foot long tail boat off Klong Nin Beach. That's on Ko Lanta's west coast. Old Town lies on the east coast. Maan was tossed and tumbled but miraculously only had minor scrapes and bruises. His little boat alas was torn to shreds. The next day he and his whole family rushed over to help us clean up. The kids laughed and played games while we cleaned for 3 days straight.

Trang shopping update: I purchased many Makita power tools: A circular saw, 2 power drills, a planer, 5 hammers and 1 sledgehammer. Theses tools will be used to rebuild many houses and then given to a needy local Thai carpenter at a later date.

http://homepage.mac.com/susannabachman/Tsunami/PhotoAlbum23.html

Thanks go out to all of you whom have generously donated to our Lanta Fund. I will add more stories and photos of Old Town, Ko Lanta in the following week. Lots of love - Susanna

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THIS WAS WRITTEN BY RICARDO WHILE I WAS IN MALAYSIA GETTING A NEW VISA AND REPLACEMENT COMPUTER.

Ricardo, Buch, Tess and I are "the westerners" living here in Old Town on Ko Lanta and working together on many relief efforts.  Thanks to all of you for your support.

Lanta Fund Report
January 20, 2005

What a difference a few days makes around here! I am happy to report that a great deal of progress has been made in the past few days with respects to assistance to those whose fishing boats were damaged.

After being introduced to "Sin", a former Thai NGO researcher who arrived on the island a week ago by Tess, one of our local heroes, I was--in the span of 24 hours--shepherded up and down the western coast of the island and introduced to local village leaders (of fisherman communities) that had extensive damages to dozens of their boats. (Sin is not connected to any government agency or NGO aid effort, but a very competent and energetic Thai national who took it upon herself to introduce foreign funders to those fisherman groups she had already encountered. She's a far cry better organized that what the official disaster relief coordinator has been on this matter.) The first group I encountered were already hard at work, in a highly coordinated (yet grossly under-funded) effort to repair 30 boats from their community of Klong Dao. Tess and Ben ("Buch") had already visited these people the day before and had supplied them with some power tools and basic supplies. The expensive wood was what was needed next, and plenty of it. So, after witnessing their efficient work methods, and after discussing their boat restoration needs in depth with Sin and the village head, I immediately approved and paid for the purchase of enough wood to repair 8 traditional longtail fishing boats (3 that had just been done on credit, plus 5 more.) After the wood had been delivered and the work crews busied themselves with their restoration work, I continued south along the cost with Sin and her American assistant, Bill, where we were introduced to other village heads who desired to create a similar boat repair site as the one in Klong Dao (the one I had just funded and left.) Here in Klong Kong there were 13 damaged boats and no resources to begin restoration. Sin, Bill and I asked the village head what he would require and after producing a shopping list, we agreed to help get him started with enough material for a few boats and the necessary power tools. (Once his crew proved themselves effective, we would fund many more.) Then for the rest of the day, we met with other village heads who had similar boat repair needs. However, since these folks had yet to take an active lead in the restoration of their boats, we've decided to concentrate on the two other sites along with yet another potential one which was visited the following morning .

This morning Buch, Poy (Sin's friend and right-hand assistant) and I returned to the highly effective Klong Dao site. In the span of a day, they had already used up the wood from the previous day and I approved and purchased wood for 5 more boats. I was also introduced to the master boat builder, one of three that has been working diligently on repairs since the Tsunami. The two other master craftsman had returned home after labor credit had been exhausted, so they could find paid work to help feed their families. (BTW, unemployment is fast becoming the next disaster around these parts.) Fully understanding the need for these master craftsmen, I went ahead and paid the monies due to him and his two colleagues (they lived in the village with the one who stayed behind) with the understanding that the two others would return. This was extremely helpful, not only to the boat repair work, but to the families that depend on these guys for survival. Afterwards, I was taken to the Ban Saladan area where a smaller, but no less encouraging, boat repair effort was underway to restore a dozen boats. The group had no money or proper tools (a hand axe and saw, hammer and box of nails was it) and only a little wood. But they were hard at work nonetheless and when our interpreter, Poy, informed the village head that we would cover the cost of their materials, wood and purchase their tools, it turned an already successfully pleasant morning into one more wonderful. We immediately drove the Ban Saladan village head over to the highly successful Klong Dao repair site to meet his counter-part and to see what they were doing and with what tools. After an hour of discussions, we were able to produce a shopping list of supplies and tools needed for a shopping excursion off the island tomorrow morning.

</fontfamily>Much of The Lanta Fund money is now either spent or committed to. But, one of our members, Natalie of Switzerland, has been able match what the Lanta Fund has already spent and will be taking up the purchases and expenses from here on, along with several others of our committee. There is still some monies left in our fund, but we'll hold on to that until Monday where we will be meeting with a group of women whose husbands were lost in the Tsunami. (These women, all poor mothers, are Muslim and depended dearly on their mates for survival.)
We will report again soon on our progress.

Susanna
www.worldwatercolors.com

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San wa dtee Ka,
I just returned from a walk around "the hood" and I'm very happy to report how much positive energy I witnessed. Everybody was out working in full force. Houses are being repaired and long tail boats too. My lovely Thai neighbors are no longer looking despondent and scared, but strong-minded and determined. The clank of hammers have been banging away all day, and the load roar of long tail boat motors coming to life. The tools I purchased earlier are being used to repair boats, so once one family is finished with them we will pass them over to another. I was so happy to see the 1st long tail boat sitting out back ready to go fishing! Have a look. http://homepage.mac.com/susannabachman/Tsunami/PhotoAlbum25.html

There is still much work to do and everyday a new calamity and a few moments later a solution. It's the way its been going on for weeks now. Ups and Downs, Politics, flared tempers, smiles and giggling children ...you name it.
I've got a few "heart" projects brewing in my head. Like getting our friends wife (now a widow) set up in some kind of business and working with the local school on repairing their computers. We are still working full speed on boat projects with Bill (from America) for the Sea Gypsies and things seem to be moving ahead.  I will keep you posted.

Over on the west coast of the island the resorts and restaurants are suffering since there are NO tourists.  My friend Junie, owner of Time for Lime cooking school organized a big photo shoot and invited the international press to get the word out that Ko Lanta is open and ready for business. Keep yours eyes out for that in the papers.

I would like to now acknowledge all of you for your quick and generous donations.
Big thanks goes out to the following donors: Denise and David, Jamie J., Gail J., Jon B., Bruce A., Skippy and Kenny, Terry H., Eileen F., Don M., Kate H., The gang from Shelley's Fitness: (Shelley, Dave, Karen, Cheryl, Del, Tina, Phyllis, Ann, Tish, Chris, Gail, Larry, Heidi, Susan, Madeline, Jean, Kevin, Dora, Gisele, Cathy, Ruth, Miki, Nancy, Charles, Pat, Claudia and Jim) Michael and Janet M., Kathy G., Caysee K. and Andrea, Joe and Sherri Z., Cindy S., Minoo R., Ty E., Kerstin and Roget (Kerstin's Boss too!) Ellen T., Robert M., Rita W. Suzanne and Ted, Steve B., The Girlpope, Mary and John, Fran M., John S., Zarin R., Rob and Marty, Joanne and Fergus, (Joanne's Mum) Craig and Ricci, Khorshed R., Leah and Necdec, Marya B., Jodi B., Tom Co., Steve H., Clarkie (and real skate magazine). Barbara L., Phyllis C., Michael P., Jeff W. and Karl, Matt and Michelle, Susan and Paul.  Also, Jenny P. for website help and Duane L. for a loaner computer.

One final note:
During my walk today, I came across 4 kids playing on a tsunami damaged mattress. Directly across the street from them all of the houses had been totally destroyed and yet these kids were having the time of their lives jumping on a mattress. Remember how fun that was? After they saw me they quickly posed for this picture. I wanted to end this eMail with this image. Enjoy.

Love Susanna