26 Dec 2004
Tsunami night: Daniel and 100 unanswered posts
543 Swedes die. On Boxing Day the youth leader Daniel logs in to the forum “Någon i andra änden” (Someone at the other end) and sees 100 unanswered posts. The next day priests are on call around the clock.
The night 543 Swedes died in the tsunami, Daniel from the Church of Sweden got in touch with us. Not with Aftonbladet, not with SVT, but with us.
- Daniel was a youth leader in the Church of Sweden and had started the forum “Någon i andra änden” in spring 2004, to be where the young people were.
- On Boxing Day he logged in and saw 100 unanswered posts. He rang round people he trusted, and the next day there was a rota covering the whole day and night.
- At first the posts were about missing relatives, then more and more about grief. According to the 2005 schools leaflet 300 posts an hour came in during the first two weeks.
- The priests had their own symbol in their krypin, so the young people could see they were genuine. “I don't think we were quite prepared for that”, said Daniel.
- 17, then around 30 priests, psychologists and youth leaders were on call until four in the morning.
- On 29 Dec management donated SEK 50,000 to Save the Children, passed on the Red Cross fundraising number and gave away all ad space from 29 Dec to 2 Jan. The front page: “Du kan också hjälpa” (You can help too).
With: Daniel och prästerna i ”Någon i andra änden”, Hans Eriksson, Johan Forsberg, Sofia Myrevik