In 1981, I was working in Galang Refugee Camp in Indonesia. Mely Bonifacio, the UNHCR Representative invited some of us to sail with her to the Kuku Refugee Camp. We made the 20 hour trip from Tanjung Pinang on the Seasweep which was operated by World Vision.

The Kuku Camp was located in the Indonesian Anambas Islands east of Malaysia. If I remember correctly, there were 2000 Vietnamese refugees in the camp at the time. We took them supplies, and carried 200 people with us back to Galang.

Kuku was both beautiful and brutal. There was ongoing abuse by the Indonesian military, and just a month before our visit a refugee boat had sunk within sight of the camp drowning everyone on board.

We were only on Kuku for several hours, and I took these photos then.

That night on the Seasweep, everyone was invited down into the steamy hold for a "Special Program". There was some guitar music and singing. Then a World Vision representative using a Vietnamese interpreter, spoke to the assembled refugees. He told them that they would never see Vietnam again and described to them how difficult, lonely, isolated, and hopeless their lives in their new countries would be. He explained that their only hope was to accept Jesus as their personal savior. He was greeted by stunned silence. Many people cried, and some of us walked out.
Những hình ảnh trong blog này do ông Gaylord Barr chụp. Ông Gaylord là người thầy khả kính của rất nhiều dân tị nạn. Ông đã rời Mỹ quốc để đến giúp người tị nạn tại Galang từ 1980 đến 1982.
Chú thích tiếng Anh do ông Gaylord viết, được tạm dịch qua tiếng Việt


THE PICTURE POSTED HERE IS PUBLIC, HOWEVER IF YOU USE IT PLEASE GIVE IT CREDIT AS COURTESY TO GAYLORD BARR

Thursday, June 4, 2015

A tribute to our friend and teacher


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Saturday, May 30, 2015

A tribute to Gaylord from John Duffy

I received word that Gaylord Barr passed peacefully this morning at home in the company of family and beloved friends. If you knew him, you knew Gaylord as a kind, generous, compassionate, and beautiful soul. When he listened to you, and he was always willing to listen, he made you feel you were the only person in the room, the only possible person on the planet. And his dry wit could leave you laughing so hard your sides hurt.

But those words do not capture Gaylord's passion for justice and his lifelong indignation at injustice. Wherever he lived, in Morocco, Indonesia, the Philippines, Roanoke, he was on the side of the less powerful, the refugees and immigrants. So many loved him, and he loved them back.

I will miss my friend but forever be thankful for the time we shared, and for all he taught me. Horseman, pass by.
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Sunday, September 8, 2013

Video clip: Kuku Refugee Camp - Indonesia 1981

In 1981, I was working in Galang Refugee Camp in Indonesia. Mely Bonifacio, the UNHCR Representative
invited some of us to sail with her to the Kuku Refugee Camp. We made the 20 hour trip from Tanjung Pinang on the Seasweep which was operated by World Vision.

The Kuku Camp was located in the Indonesian Anambas Islands east of Malaysia. If I remember correctly, there were 2000 Vietnamese refugees in the camp at the time. We took them supplies, and carried 200 people with us back to Galang.

Kuku was both beautiful and brutal. There was ongoing abuse by the Indonesian military, and just a month before our visit a refugee boat had sunk within sight of the camp drowning everyone on board.

We were only on Kuku for several hours, and I took these photos then.




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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Sea voyage to Kuku Island- 1981


In 1981, I was working in Galang Refugee Camp in Indonesia. Mely Bonifacio, the UNHCR Representative invited some of us to sail with her to the Kuku Refugee Camp. We made the 20 hour trip from Tanjung Pinang on the Seasweep which was operated by World Vision.


Mely, Deb, Elliot, Joan, Katya, Sukarno, Hadi, and others
on the Tanjung Pinang pier waiting to board the Seasweep.
The Seasweep

Mely Bonifacio


Sukarno and Hadi


The Anambas Islands, Indonesia... from the Seasweep

Our first view of Kuku Refugee Camp

The Anambas Islands, Indonesia... from the Seasweep


A refugee boat approaches to unload supplies and to ferry us to the camp.

 

 

unloading supplies





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Monday, July 15, 2013

Kuku refugee camp - The scenes

The Kuku Camp was located in the Indonesian Anambas Islands east of Malaysia. If I remember correctly, there were 2000 Vietnamese refugees in the camp at the time. We took them supplies, and carried 200 people with us back to Galang.

Kuku was both beautiful and brutal. There was ongoing abuse by the Indonesian military, and just a month before our visit a refugee boat had sunk within sight of the camp drowning everyone on board.

We were only on Kuku for several hours, and I took these photos then.





















people stayed in Kuku for only a short time. Everyone would be moved to Galang. 


Calling names for the trip to Galang.

people stayed in Kuku for only a short time. Everyone would be moved to Galang. But Kuku wasn't necessarily the first stop for many of the people. Indonesians living on other island in the Anambas Islands had been provided with radios by the UNHCR. If a boat landed on one of the other islands...authorities would eventually be notified (hopefully), and the people would me moved to Kuku...and then on to Galang.



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Sunday, July 14, 2013

Kuku refugee camp - The People

People stayed in Kuku for only a short time. Everyone would be moved to Galang. But Kuku wasn't necessarily the first stop for many of the people. Indonesians living on other island in the Anambas Islands had been provided with radios by the UNHCR. If a boat landed on one of the other islands...authorities would eventually be notified (hopefully), and the people would me moved to Kuku...and then on to Galang.














Thanh








Thai left Galang before the other cousins. And unlike the others, he had been accepted for resettlement in Australia. The day he left was heartbreaking for everyone, especially the cousins he had shared so much with.






Khuong







I met these 4 cousins... travelling without their parents... at Kuku. A month later, Khuong (in white) found me at school in Galang. He and his cousins had just arrived.



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