Day 3 (22 October 2008)

Today I met 11 year old Rizal Fahmir from the village of Lamklat, 6 km from Banda Aceh. He was badly traumatised following the tsunami but thanks to the TALO project is beginning to come out of his shell and rediscover his childhood.

Rizal lost his father when he was just three years old in the conflict between GMA fighters and the Indonesian government. His mother remarried and Rizal stayed with his grandmother. Life has been tough for this little boy and meeting him was a very moving experience for me.

He and 25 other children with similar stories were taking part in a TALO drawing programme.

The children chose thier three best pictures which they gave to me to pass on to the children of Scotland as mark of their friendship . This has been a great day for me.