I was tsunami Relief Coordinator for Saddleback church when the earthquake/tsunami hit Indonesia December 26, 2004. I brought volunteer teams and distributed funds collected by our church. When I saw the Japan disaster it brought back so many thoughts and pictures in my mind of when I set foot in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, a few weeks after the disaster struck Indonesia and other parts of SE Asia.
The tsunami destroyed 90 miles of coastline, going inwards anywhere from 1 to 2 miles, wiped out buildings, homes, and everything that came in its path at 400+ miles per hour and as high as 60 feet, can you imagine something like that coming at you?
There were many times I just stood on the beach in Aceh and tried to picture the wave coming at me, how frightening that must have been.
As we helped clean up buildings, homes, streets and build new homes, boats, clinics, invested in local folks with micro financing as a gift, not a loan, my wife Louise and I were so touched by the Acehnese people that we had to find a way to continue helping in Aceh.
We started a small handbag factory with 12 Acehnese in August 2006, today we are so thrilled that we are helping over 400 in Aceh and we continue the work that has been laid before us.
We are currently in Lancaster, PA, and have booth # 2411 at the AQS quilt show, http://ping.fm/vURan that goes from March 16 to 19, 2011 starting at 9 am to 6 pm, March 24, 25 and 26 at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Cleveland, OH, http://ping.fm/4qAYf March 31, April 1 & 2, 2011 in Chicago, IL, held at the Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL, http://ping.fm/HvgoZ and April 7: 5-9 p.m. (Preview Night), April 8 & 9: 10 a.m.-7 p.m., April 10: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the International Quilt Festival/Cincinnati held at the Duke Energy Convention Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, http://ping.fm/DJfI4 If you are in the area of any of the shows, please stop by our Laga Handbags booth and let us know you read my post.
Looking forward to seeing you all very soon.
Best wishes from Lancaster, PA.....
Roy van Broekhuizen
Laga Designs International, Inc.
roy@lagahandbags.com
http://ping.fm/dlAjQ
About Me
- BagMan
- MOVED TO ACTION: Roy van Broekhuizen and wife Louise founded Laga Designs International, Inc. to provide employment and income for tsunami survivors of Indonesia. Two years after the tsunami in Indonesia, Roy and Louise Van Broekhuizen keep helping the survivors of that devastation. They sell handmade bags by the survivors of that deadly event on Dec. 26, 2004. The founders, quit their job to run the business, work out of their condo in Irvine. The bags are mostly traditional to Aceh, the province that was devastated by the tsunami, but with a modern twist.
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