Dian and I became friends in 2004, as young mothers we bonded instantly and our friendship deepened. On December 26, 2004, the Tsunami, struck her homeland in Aceh, Indonesia. Not only did she lose 40 of her close relatives and friends, but she also witnessed her entire homeland shatter to pieces. That tsunami took more than 225,000 lives with 170,000 from Aceh alone, leaving behind many orphaned children.

Dian was shaken, the images of destruction and suffering affected her to the core. A group of her closest friends stood by her and offered to help in any way possible. Dian realized that no number of tears would change anything so she felt compelled to take action and turn the tragedy into something meaningful and positive. Within two weeks, we launched Project Noordeen to help orphaned children in Aceh. Dian’s uncle donated the land and that first home in Aceh became a success story, which allowed us to expand and help more than 1000 children around the world. Here’s the link to the video on how it all started

I feel fortunate that Dian trusted me, counted on me, and included me on this amazing journey. I needed something meaningful to add meaning and purpose to my own life. It’s been an honour and privilege for me to be one of the founding members and a lifelong volunteer. Even after moving to Canada, I continued volunteering to manage the GiveLight website alongside a dedicated team.

It has been my dream to visit our first home in Indonesia ever since. As a new mother, back in 2004, I was moved to see the picture of a little girl in a bright yellow frock named Soraya (