| 23 February 2005 - Eric I was planning a leisurely trip to Krueng Raya this morning to check on wood deliveries to the jobsite. But first, I sat down with Azhire whom I met a few weeks ago at the media center and saw again the other night. We wanted to have coffee and chat so I asked him to stop by for a visit. He spoke English pretty well and told me he had read about our boat building operation in an OXFAM publication. He was interested to know whether such a thing was available for his village. I asked if he’d go this very night and collect some data, the same Eddie had gotten on Krueng Raya, namely, how many people and fishermen lived in the village before the tsunami, how many after, how many boats before, how many remained, etc. He was excited and determined to meet me tomorrow with the data. I was about to get up to leave for Krueng Raya but sat with another man named Mugsih who hangs out a few doors down. He approached me for a job a few weeks ago on my first day here in Aceh. His request was so quickly paled by others asking for the same thing that I sort of forgot all about it. He mentioned that his village Lampoh Daya was in need and perhaps my organization could help. He asked me to go to his village and see. It’s been nearly two months since the disaster struck. In some villages, I’ve been the first to arrive offering outside help. Today Mugsih brought me to where the people were just now returning from refugee shelters to try to make a go of their own village. It is located further inland than where the tsunami had swept the foundations clean but not as far as where so much silt and goo were laid down. There have been no improvements since the tsunami. There were remnants of beautiful houses here and there, their broken marble floors piled high with deposits of heavy materials like columns, chunks of concrete, bricks, severed palm trees and rubbish as far as I could see in every direction. There were some three hundred people huddled around a big tent using it as their makeshift mosque and sleeping quarters. The big mosque was still standing but one look through the broken walls and I could see that it was not safe to enter as the interior columns were all buckled under the load of the dome. With limited language ability, I resorted to offering smokes, waving, nodding, the occasional wink and movie quotes when I got desperate. After running out of words in minutes I walked into the crowd sitting on jagged slabs. They were quiet and down much like the people of Labuy or Lampineng a month ago. There was a huge black kettle not far from the tent with a scrap wood fire blazing beneath it. The cook stirred the boiling concoction with a wooden bowl tied to the end of a long stick. The only water in the village, besides a few stagnant wells, trickled out a garden hose shoved into a once-flowing artesian well. I pulled out a Katadyn water filtration pump, with newly translated instructions in Indonesian, showed them how to use it and took the first drink. Mugsih helped me explain it might not taste perfect but it saves you getting sick or carrying a five-gallon jug on your shoulder on back of a motorcycle for four kilometers to fetch a drink. The cook offered me a sample of the featured stew reported to be diced banana branch and lamb. The rest of the people waited patiently for dinner to be served. It tasted damned good but I’ve never seen lamb look like that before. It didn’t matter because a few minutes later we were shoving rice covered with the stuff down our throats with our fingers. We all had a smoke afterward and I took a few snapshots. I was touched by their kindness. The village had fourteen hundred people before the tsunami but only six hundred remained. Everyone had a survival story and I listened to as many as I could. I didn’t know how or from where but I told Mugsih I’d get him a water tank, a pump and a tent. I hope he finds a place to pitch it. Jakih, Mugsih and I went to Krueng Raya and met with Marjukih, our master craftsman, who said the wood has not yet been delivered. We all had a nice cup of coffee at the cafe and went home. |
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