| 11 February 2005 - Aaron After a wide turn out over the sea, we were about to make our final descent. From my window seat, my first look at the devastation awaiting us swept into view. No before and after pictures were necessary. The entire coastline was clearly altered in some strange, unnatural way. Then as we completed the full turn, the utter beauty of the unaffected areas just a few kilometers inland gave me a glimpse into what will ultimately come to pass-reconstuction and restoration. Such was Banda Aceh’s first salutation of greeting to me…”Selamat Datang…Peace be Unto You in Coming”. Yes, I made it. The guys immediately put me to work as we attended two different briefings including one that is regularly held entirely in Indonesian by the military coordination effort. I have been very impressed with the strong coordination being done between various gencies, including our own. We really savor some of the various meetings they have here. A few notes from our “Daily UN Media Briefing” are at the end of this update. We took a trip out to Labuy, Pak Suriyah’s village, and devastated by the Tsunami. Both Eric and Eddie were totally surprised at the changes in the last 10 days since they were first there…tents have been set up, lumber was being unloaded from huge trucks, and most importantly, there were smiles and laughter. The people there, with help from volunteers around the world, have now begun the work of rebuilding and reconstruction. Each person consistently said that they cannot change he past, but have hope for the future. Eddie and I are going back out to Krueng Raya today, while Eric is heading up the coast to place some Katadyns’. Since submitting Eddie’s report about a potential boat-making operation there, there has been a lot of visibility on this effort from the Indonesian government. Eddie and I and hope to see, first-hand, how and where the boats there could be made to complete this effort. Down in Calang, 80 km down the west coast in the area of Krueng Saba, another mini-catastrophy has occurred…rains have washed out the temporary bridge built to access the area since the tsunami hit. UN transports are being sent in with food and water now. We were urged to join the effort there and bring water filtration systems in. We are preparing the applications necessary to go on-board in the next few days. The problem is that we are on our own once we get there- looks like yet another adventure awaits us. Kurt Warner and Amani Toomer from the NY Giants are coming today to help with the relief effort and to raise awareness of the huge work needed here. We may meet them on Sunday morning (I hope to give Kurt a few pointers on throwing from the pocket). They will be working directly with the World Food Program and will load trucks, distribute food, etc., right alongside everyone else here. Enough for now…Ciao and love, Aaron Daily UN Media Briefing” on Friday: Shantha Bloeman, Unicef Mia Turner WFP, Hiro Ueki, UN OCHA Overall funding situation: Soon after the Tsunami, total was $977M, now as of 07 Sept, $848M (80% of the pledges have been commited or paid…$57M more in private donations. To be used within 6 months for relief and recovery. Total amount pledged by all countries…$5.5B…from 87 different govts, and $375M from private institutions or individuals…including ours. The suboffice of OCHA says that cooperation between various coordinated groups is going well and establishing an extended office in BA. UNICEF is working to establish sanitation systems to support 45k families, and includes practical personal kits. Brought in 2 Septic tank trucks to drain overflowing septic systems, 5 more coming. Distribution of school kits to 57k children, and recreational kits to the kids also. Most children seem to be living in some kind of extended family situations. Briefing on Tuesday on the govt’s policy on separated/placement of children. |
Journal Entries
Journal Entries
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