The tsunami effect
Oddly, I find myself grieving for a woman I barely knew.Orapim Milindasuta was the Thailand Managing Director at Procter and Gamble. I met her a couple of times and exchanged a few words over training sessions. She was an amazing woman - the first Thai and the first woman at that, to head the P&G Thai Organization after 15 years of expatriate male leadership. In between a hectic work schedule and her personal life, she even found the time to volunteer and build schools for those less fortunate.
When the tsunami hit, she was having breakfast with her best friend at a resort in Phang Na. As the wall of water came crashing down, one grabbed hold of a coconut tree and was saved... but could do nothing as she watched her friend being swept away by the angry waves. Orapim's body was found 2 days later, about 30km from where she was last seen.
Just 1 of 155,000 victims... and it already seems too much.
As more tales of the human drama are told, I am also incredibly saddened by the sheer helplessness those who were in that situation must have felt. The friend who had no choice but to hold on; The mother who had to choose to let go of either her 5 year old son or her 1 year old baby to survive; Another mother who, knowing she was dying, chose to give up her 9-year old twins to a stranger to save them.
The tsunami is a tragedy not just of villages being wiped out, of parents knowing unnaturally early the pain of losing their children or of suddenly orphaned babies. It is also the tragedy of these horrific choices.
And for me now, the tragedy of 1 woman's death.
posted by moan @ 9:02 PM
1 Comments:
*sniffsniff* So touching! You really have a way with words. I wish I could write as well as you. At least through you, the world will know Orapim Milindasuta and the impact she made on other people's lives. May she rest in peace.
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