Reaching, stretching towards the sun,
the weed thinks its the only one
that feels the need to exist and go on
even though the world around it has changed
between the destruction of cities where all that remains
are the piles of rubble, concrete and beams,
and the air that's so much sweeter and clean...
The will to survive - Rosemarie E. Bishop

Since 12/26 we have been hearing brave tales of survivors. One was the elderly Sri Lankan on his late sixties appearing out of the tsunami rubble 13 days after the tragic day. Then there was Baby 81, the youngest living being to miraculously survive the disaster on his own and then finally re-unite with his family. There was also the brave Acehnese man who managed to overcome his great trauma after having 300 relatives killed by the waves.

But then, even with all that, I found it so hard to comprehend the survival of nine strong children of God who braved more than a month with nothing but the hope of seeing the sunrise once again with a smile in their face. They are the nine people who survived for 38 days living on coconuts in a remote part of Campbell Bay, an island in the Andaman archipelago. When the world out side was beyond their reach, they made a choice to fight death, to at least try to make their living years worth.

The Nicobari aboriginals included five men, three children and one woman and were the sole survivors of their group. They were not just a statistic for the disaster but hard proof that the will to survive was inevitablity the only way out. What makes me think they were the only ones who made it through? ... Nothing.