Students come together

"We care, we share," said Tarita Lubis, a student of psychology at McGill, as she prepared pamphlets and black felt flowers with her friends from McGill and the Indonesian community in a small apartment on Dr. Penfield Ave. on December 31. The black flowers have a white centre symbolizing hope and five petals outlined in white wool to represent the links between the students and the communities suffering in Indonesia. They are the emblem of the solidarity and fundraising effort of the Indonesian Students' Association in Montreal, PERMIKA.

The students' fundraising is being done in cooperation with the Indonesian embassy in Ottawa. They have collection boxes at McGill at the Daycare Centre, the Copy Centre, McLennan Library and at the Institute of Islamic Studies. The students' group has also raised funds for the disaster victims at mosques in Montreal. On December 31, $1,500 was raised at Friday prayers. "We have provided receipts for the donations and will keep people informed about how the money is used to help the victims," said PERMIKA president Munaspriyanto Ramli, a lecturer at the State Islamic University in Jakarta, who is doing a master's degree at McGill's Faculty of Education.

As well, McGill student groups have formed the Student Society of McGill University Tsunami Relief Fund, which will collect money on behalf of OXFAM Quebec.

They will ship a crate of emergency relief supplies including clothing and non-perishable food items to Sri Lanka in the coming weeks. Donation boxes will be located around campus.

PERMIKA can be reached at 286-4237 or 963-7743. For more information, or to donate to or join the students' relief fund, contact Sameen Shahid at 398-4944 or cs@ssmu.ca.

with notes from Ida Ahdian