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Camping

I was awake at 5:30 AM, so I read for a while, then dozed off before getting up just before seven. I hurried to get ready for the NGO meeting, and caught a ride there with Rudy, the Belgian B-Fast head. I'm not planning to go to the meetings every day, but it is nice to find out what is going on in the various efforts to get this place going again. From what I understand, they are now beginning a reconstruction phase, and just coming out of the emergency phase. Before I arrived here I thought that a lot of work would have already been done, and that a month after the wave they would have made a huge dent in things. As I'm finding out, they have accomplished much, but there is so much more to be done. The scope of this is huge, and just as in Ecuador, I'm seeing that things take longer than they do (that's an expression we have there). The problem is that the government has set a deadline of 26 March for the military of other countries to leave Indonesia. Maybe the NGOs have to leave by then, but I'm not sure about that. Of course the concern is that once the other countries leave, then the Indonesian government can do what they want in the way of relocating the people in the Aceh province, so it is easier for them to control the area.

After the meeting we went for a short drive, heading north out of town. It's pretty area, and you are quickly into a rural setting, with rice fields and water buffalo on the sides of the road. Back at camp we really didn't have much to do for the day. I started going through photos from yesterday, and then decided to tinker with the Regional BGAN satellite IP modem that we have. We've tried about three other times to connect with it, each time without success. Again, I was not able to make it work. The problem is that we are on the edge of the satellite foot print. It sure would be nice to send and receive some e-mail. Melvin did get a call from Rob, and the parts for the satellite dish were leaving the FedEx center in the Philipines today, so that's good news. Maybe we'll have them by Monday.

In the middle of the afternoon our driver came by and we went to pick up the wooden mount we had made for the battery inverter. It turned out nicely, and I was pleased that the guys at the wood shop understood what we wanted. Then we head out of town, on the road that goes to Banda Aceh. The road parallels the beach, about a half mile inland. The destruction was right up to the road, and the water actually crossed the road, bringing debris and mud with it. Mile after mile of destruction. People are doing what they can to clean up, but in some places there is nothing they can do but wait for the heavy machinery. We ended up back at camp about 5 PM, so you see we didn't get much done today, and there really wasn't much to be done.

Around the camp they accomplished quite a bit. A plastic roof was put over the latrine--now you don't get wet while it's raining, but since it's black plastic you need a flashlight even during the day. A orange mesh fence was put up around more of the camp, providing a perimeter of sorts. Some of the local people still wander through and check us out, but with the fence, not as many. Last night the water buffalo came wandering across the soccer field as they do, and walked right through the fence, pulling part of it down. A different generator is being used now, and it's about 50 yards from the tents, so it's quite a bit quieter now than it was, as the other generator was right next to the tents. The French have one of the other side of the camp, but they always turn it off at night. Melvin and I helped the B-Fast team a bit this evening. We had seen a lot of planking delivered, and found out they were going to be putting wood flooring down in a couple tents. We asked Rudy if they could help us put some down in the internet cafe tent, and he said they could provide some help to do that. We'll also try to put some more plastic in the bottom of our tents, kind of like a bathtub. We might not need it now, but the guys coming after us might. The rainy season starts in March. Soon after that the guys started putting down the floor in the double long tent. It was a cool time of day to work. Actually, today has been a bit cooler than the last couple days. Melvin and I helped by moving planks, and it felt really good to do something that required some muscles after sitting around all day.

After that it was time for a shower, then something to eat. We didn't go out to eat at all today, but stayed here and ate sandwiches. I'm ready for some vegetables or fruit. A salad would be good. I haven't even been here that long--how will I feel in a couple weeks? The Swedish team that runs the camp wants to set up food services, and I think that would be great. They have requested more supplies and tents from Sweden, and they'll be arriving next week. So far the B-Fast team, the French military, and me and Melvin are the only ones here. The B-Fast team will be leaving next week. This morning at the NGO meeting it was announced that the camp was now open for any NGO people that want to stay here. It will also be the headquarters for the UN here in Meulaboh. I hope people start staying here and using this camp, because if they don't then maybe they'll take the camp down, and we need it to live in and as a place for the internet cafe.

I was cleaning up in my tent about 9 PM when one of the French military guys came to the door and invited us over to their tents for snacks. The Belgians were already over there, and they all had forgot about the Swedes (actually they thought I was Swedish too, which is the second time today that someone thought I was from Sweden). They had some mixed nuts and hot dogs in a can, and that was a real treat. I talked with a few of the guys from the team. A few of them know English well enough. They are a team of some military, some firefighters, and some civilian protection people. They go to places around the world to help with disasters, working directly with the people. This trip has been hard for them, and not very satisfying, as they want to help Indonesian people, and instead they are constructing this UN camp. They shared with me about their drive over here. They left Medan and drove for 46 hours to travel about 350 miles across the island. They said the country is just beautiful, and the people so friendly. The main difficulty during the trip was dealing with their Indonesian military escort. The military expected their meals, drinks, and even told some of the Belgian guys they wanted their watches. When the Belgians wouldn't give them any of their personal belongings, and wouldn't buy them whatever they wanted, the military escort started jerking them around and making things difficult.