| 23 February 2005 - Aaron The progress we have made has been unbelievable. The guys really greased the skids with data collection and establishing initial contacts. I have been able to close several deals that have made this whole thing happen. And Molly has done a fantastic job with the website-let her know it! What a team we have here at AIRO! We are actually seeing our “vision” terjadi (happen). After spending the afternoon with the guys from the Giants, (but mostly just because we are major jocks ourselves!) we decided to have our own little sporting events. After running all over the city and realizing that virtually all the sports stores in KR were destroyed, we finally found a small family-owned sports store and bought them out of all their soccer balls (I think we ended up with about a dozen) and loaded them up into the back of Surya’s truck. Whenever we see a bunch of kids that could use a ball, we stop and pull one out…we become the instant hit of the town. Children’s laughter is the sweetest sound there is and it is now back in Banda Aceh now that rebuilding is underway. With the Krueng Raya boat-making operation itself underway (land clearing, initial wood cutting and preparation, advance wage payments for +10 boat craftsmen to begin full-time work) there remains a lot of peripheral stuff that needs to happen. Eddie and I went to Medan and Jakarta for a few days. He has been following up on media contacts and finishing the press releases, while I am buying a motorcycle, working with Surya on securing the tools and generators, securing financing and setting up bank accounts, and finalizing details with one of our partner organizations, LDS. All the peripheral support for an operation like this is surprisingly complex and I am glad that while I don’t know how to make boats (we hired the master craftsman for that) I can organize and manage the activities to support it. All initial tools will arrive in KR and the first load of wood for the hulls is expected to be cut, dried, and delivered the middle of this week-Eric will definitely be slammed with start-up activities. All of us are actively working to promote our vision and to show that this operation can be a model for other projects to follow. We also know that we need to find further sponsors (ie $$) to ensure that this continues. So, Eddie and I are on our way back to Texas and Eric will stay a few more months. I (and possibly Eddie) will come back to Krueng Raya in the next month or so, and we will both for sure be back to KR for the boat christenings. Hmmm, gonna have to figure out how to get champagne there! Take care and please check in with us next week (the week of Feb 28) once we are back to Austin. Ciao and love, Aaron |
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