Injured Volunteers Update

Dear Friends, GURFATEH

A few days ago, Veer Harbans Singh Noor from Baltimore, USA, wrote in the the Gurmat Learning Zone forum:

“We wish and pray for fast recovery of the two volunteers of the GS-WoM, all praise to them and all others who are involved in the noble task of helping the Tsunami victims.”

The two brave volunteers of the GLOBAL SIKHS-WAVES OF MERCY are recovering. Captain Marius J W Bogaard, 48, is already back in action after being treated on the German warship Berlin. He is back on his yacht, Sean Paquitto II, berthed on the waters outside Paroe, Aceh.

His fellow Dutchmen, Johannes A van Leewen, 51, is now on his way back to Malaysia. The burn injuries he suffered do not allow him to carry on with the mission.

Both of them sustained the injuries when in a small explosion when clearing a coastal road in the village of Paroe, about 20 nautical miles from Banda Aceh, at 6.30 pm, Jan 22 (Saturday). A few hours later, they were airlifted to the German warship.

“Capt Marius has been an inspiraion all this while. He is the one who kept us all on our toes,” says Malkith Singh, chief de mission of the first mission to Aceh. “It was a true example of selfless service, sewa in the true sense of the word.”

Another volunteer from mission, Dr Ranjit Kaur, who was hospitalised upon her return from Aceh, has now fully recovered. She was running a fever upon her return after a hectic duty tour of some 10-days.

“I have good news,” Harvinder Singh, director of operations told the mission's operations meeting on Thursday night (Jan 27). “Her blood tests are negative for malaria and all other diseases. But she was recorded positive for compassion, positive for love, positive for selfless service.”

God bless all the volunteers.

—Habhajan Singh