« Cool Air | Main | Flooded Tent »

Hurry Up And Wait

A tent on a soccer field in Meulaboh is home right now. We are still without internet connectivity due to a snag. It may be January 31 before items needed to finish the install will arrive in Medan. Elias is posting this for me as he is on an overnight trip into Medan.

I've arrived in Meulaboh. It's been a bit of an adventure. We flew out of Medan at 10:25 AM on the MAF Cessna Caravan. There were about eight of us on board--Ralph Dawson, MAF recruiter who is volunteering here for three weeks (He's the flight coordinator on the ground at the Meulaboh airport); Lynn, a Philipino informations system administrator with Catholic Relief Services (She's working with CRS to install a VSAT communications system at the CRS office in Meulaboh); three people with Operation Blessing Indonesia; and a pastor from Jakarta who is coming to work with Habitation for Humanity.

The pastor from Jakarta told us an amazing story. Several years ago, a man living in Meulaboh had his house burned by the Separatists (these are the rebels known as the Free Aceh Movement, who are trying to break away from the Indonesian governemnt). His wife and daughter disappeared. He went across the island to Medan, looking for them. When he didn't find them in Medan, he made is way to Jakarta. Still, he could not find his wife or daughter. He soon became a beggar on the street, looking through the garbage for his food. Somehow he got a job as a helper at the office of this pastor's wife. Through the witnessing of this pastor and his wife, he became a Christian. Through some miraculous circumstances, he was reunited with his wife and daughter, and they continuted living in Jakarta. On December 26 he learned of the devastating tsunami on the news, and on January 1 he went back to Meulaboh. He found that his uncle and his other relatives had been killed by the wave. He is now living in Meulaboh again, helping to rebuild his hometown. Some people have asked where God was during the tsunami. This man knows. Through God's hand, he was led away from Meulaboh, his life was spared, he became a believer, and he is now a witness working in Meulaboh. Although many perished in this natural disaster, God's hand is all over it, and what man sees as a tragedy, God can use for good.

By 11:30 AM I was on the ground at the Meulaboh airport. It's actually not near the city, but a forty minute drive away. I walked over to the MAF camp and spent a few minutes there. They are tenting inside the destroyed airport office building. Well, it does have a roof and floor, but some of the walls are missing. The runway is several hundred yards from the shore, and during the waves it was under water. The first thing I noticed was how hot it was. Well, that was the first thing I noticed after all the destruction every where. It's incredible to see how far the water came inland. I checked in at the military tent, and they recorded my presence in their records. I was told an orange truck would be there to pick me up, but it wasn't there. I wondered if they had come and gone, because I was a bit late, so I accepted a ride with the others who had been on the flight, as they had a ride into town. About half-way into town I saw the orange truck, with Elias in the back, heading the other direction! Well, I figured I should keep heading into town, and I'd try to meet up with them once they realized I wasn't at the airport. The only problem in all this was that I had no idea where to go--no address or anything. All I knew was that they were staying at the 'tent city' being put up by the UN.

We ended up at the Operation Blessing Indonesia house, and that's where my ride ended. Through a borrowed cell phone, I managed to reach Melvin, and found that he and Elias were walking the last few kilometers to the airport, as the truck had broken down. Also, it wasn't to be a wasted trip, because besides picking me up, they were going to look for some parts for the VSAT which they needed, and hoped were at the MAF camp. The Philipino lady with CRS was getting a ride to the CRS office, so I tagged along, hoping to get a ride to the Samaritan's Purse house. After waiting for a few minutes at the CRS house, we were off again, and not far down the road they dropped me off at the SP house. Fortunately it was the right one, as I'd been told there were two houses being used by Samaritan's Purse. It was hot inside, but it was a place to hang out and wait for Melvin and Elias. So I plugged in my battery charger to charge my camera batteries, and then started working on this blog entry. Before long Elias and Melvin showed up, and we went around the corner to get something to eat as none of us had eaten lunch.

The flies were the first thing I noticed in the restaurant--they were everywhere, including all over the food. But I figured since this was the place the guys had been eating their meals, it must be OK. We had rice with veggies and a boiled egg, topped with some really hot sauce. Then they brought out some smoked fish and beef. The fish was very tasty, but I passed on the beef. The whole meal cost less than $5 for the three of us.

A few minutes later we were back at the tent on the soccer field. This is the location of the so-called tent city. Right now it's not much of a city. Our tent, which is where the internet kiosk will be, a handful of Belgian tents, and several French tents. There are latrines and outside showers with jugs of water, so we are camping in every sense of the word. The tents are hot, but fortunately there are a couple generators running around the clock, and we have two fans. The satellite dish is on the pole, but the rest of the hardware is not in place. The reason is that some of the hardware was missing. We're not sure what happened to it, but can only guess that it was misplaced in Singapore, when the equipments were put on pallets and flown over here by the Singapore military. So now we will need to wait for about four days until we can get the parts from the US. Melvin, who has been out here for ten days in some rough living conditions is amazing. I think if I'd been in his shoes, with all that's gone on, I'd have given up after discovering missing pieces. As we prayed at lunch, he said that God knows what's going on, and our lives and what we are doing aren't wasted.

We went back into town for dinner, Elias and I eating at the same restaurant while Melvin went to do a little shopping. Everywhere we go, people are so friendly. They want us to take their pictures and they want to say something in English to us. They always use the universal greeting, "Hello mister!" Soon after we sat down at our table, the size of a dining room table, a couple guys sat at the other end. I could tell they were eager to sit by to Westerners. They asked where we were from, guessing we were from France. The one guy knew some English, and told us that when the tsunami came, he swam, meaning he was in the water. He said his friend also swam in the tsunami. Then he told us that his mother and father, and the small baby were killed in the tsunami. I told him I was so sorry, and felt pretty bad.

I'm trying to keep things in perspective, as I'm drenched in sweat, and feeling a bit discouraged that our VSAT internet connection is still not up and runnning. So many of the people that we are passing by here in Meulaboh have lost family and homes. The destruction that I saw on the way from the airport to town was beyond belief, like I was in a war zone. These people have lost so much. Here I am, in a tent right now, with electricity and two fans blowing at 9 PM. The people in town have no electricity, as the power as been out for a month now. We ate by candle light at the restaurant tonight. I get tired of living by candle light at home after a few hours. I can't imagine doing it for a month.