Lightning Strike & Great News for Gomo Cousins

Normally tropical storms give some warning and we unplug our equipment but Thursday night we were hit by the first strike. I took a medicinal zap from the metal body of the project's new Powerbook and everything went black as the air was sucked from our ears. It was very very close and could have been much worse. Both our Macs lost their modems and we are working on the back-up pc.

Expect some delays answering mail until we check on parts availability in Jakarta and Singapore. Skype is functional but AIM/iChat is off line.

WARNING - CONTENT MAY SHOCK

10 year old Soterian Laia has horrific burn scarring

ELM - NWM volunteer Lisa Friesen has had a remarkable meeting with Shriners in Hawaii and they are keen to treat Enawati (13) and Soterian(10) in Hawaii. These Gomo cousins were seriously burned in a kerosene lamp explosion while living in a tent and they will both require extensive skin grafts and a long period of rehabilitation in the US. UVI and GBI are focused on raising funds for airfares and living expenses for the girls and a legal guardian, Soterian's father, Handy Laia.

Enawati's burns are extensive

Lisa has worked hard over the past few months and last week she had a wonderful meeting with Shriners Hawaii. They are excited to be able to help the girls and have other Indonesian children under care. Hawaii has many advantages over mainland US for the girls. It is more tropical and being an island culture, we are confident they will feel more at home.

See http://www.notseennotheard.com for more fundraising options or donate via our ELM Donations Pay Pal account with a note that your funds are specifically for the girls treatment.