POSTED: July 12, 2007
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Kistoman's laundry business was literally washed away when the 2004 tsunami hit his village, destroying homes and lives.
Thanks to OBI, Kistoman now has a way to transport more raw rubber to sell. OBI bought the family a motorcycle complete with a sturdy side car to carry the heavy loads.
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By Staci Dennis
THAILAND - Kistoman's laundry business was literally washed away when the 2004 tsunami hit his village, destroying homes and lives.
Thankfully, he and his family survived the destructive waves and Kistoman decided to start over with a new palm tree and vegetable business.
He grew the goods while his wife, Yodvaree, prepared food to sell in addition to working various household jobs.
Even with multiple sources of income, however, they still weren't making enough money to buy food to feed their family or pay for their children's education expenses.
In desperation, Kistoman searched for more work and stumbled on raw rubber being sold from local plantations. This same raw material is used to manufacture tires and other products.
Unfortunately, Kistoman had no way to transport the heavy materials.
"The rubber is very heavy, so I can only sell a small portion at a time," Kistoman said. "I needed transportation in order to haul more products, but I couldn't afford a vehicle."
Thanks to OBI Thailand, Kistoman now has a way to transport more material to sell. OBI bought the family a motorcycle complete with a sturdy side car to carry the heavy loads.
But the help didn't end there.
In addition, OBI gave Kistoman enough capital to help jumpstart his new business. Today, Kistoman earns more than twice what he used to make from his laundry business.
"I couldn't believe Operation Blessing would give us such an extravagant gift," Kistoman said. "It's exactly what we needed."
Since the 2004 tsunami, OBI has supplied devastated areas with more than $27 million in medicine; purchased fogging machines for mosquito control and malaria prevention; provided medical treatment to more than 180,000 tsunami victims; helped build hundreds of new homes throughout Indonesia's west coast provinces; created microenterprise opportunities such as brick factories and boat building projects; and constructed new medical clinics.
Relief and recovery efforts to date have benefited more than 850,000 survivors.
How You Can Help
Two years after the 2004 tsunami, many survivors are still in desperate need of medical care, homes and jobs to help rebuild their lives. You can help OBI continue to bring relief to those in need by making a financial donation today toward OBI's tsunami relief programs throughout Southeast Asia.
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