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More Waiting

I've hardly seen any dogs here in Indonesia--something like only five in the first week. Cats are everywhere. It seems like all the men smoke--I mean all of them!
First thing this morning we made a trip to airport to get some things we had asked the guys in Medan to purchase for us. When we arrived, we found it wasn't the things we were expecting, and which we were going to use to set up the inverter and batteries (we heard later that the items came on the second flight). I talked for a while with Ralph Dawson. Also met one of the pilots, who is from Sweden. He flies the Beaver, a float plane on loan from MAF-Europe. The plane is being used to fly food to hard to reach locations. The plane is able to land on the sea and then go in to shore to unload. The MAF 206 is here from the MAF-US program in Indonesia. It too is flying food to hard to reach locations. The road between Meulaboh and Banda Aceh was washed out in many places, including bridge after bridge. Using a helicopter, the MAF guys have been able to go and find some locations where they can land on the now unused road. The roads here are quite narrow, but it is just wide enough for a Cessna 206.
Again we drove through the tsunami destruction zone, all the way to the airport. I look out the window of the truck and feel so discouraged for the people. They've lost so much, and have so much work to do in order to recover. It looks like no matter how hard they work, there will still be a lot of rubble left behind. They just don't have the infrastructure to move it all. There will be reminders all around them, for the rest of their lives, of the 2004 tsunami. I asked the driver a few questions about it, and Melvin translated. From what I understood, the earthquake happened about 8:30 AM. The tsunami arrived less than an hour later. Although his house is several miles from the ocean, he was in town when it happened. He didn't see the first wave, but he did see the second wave. Where he was, the water came up to his knees. He said that before the first wave, the water receded a long way out. Some people when out to gather the fish that were stranded, and of course they were hit by the waves.

I bought some tangerines and pears on the way back to the camp. That really hit the spot, as I hadn't had any fruit since Tuesday morning. To clean them I used some clorox, so I'm pretty certain I won't be getting sick from them.

As soon as we arrived back at camp we saw that the Belgian guys had moved everything out of the 'net cafe tent and had starting putting in the wooden floor. It was already half finished, but we lent some sweat to wrap up the job. It turned out really well, and it will make a big difference later on in March as the rainy season approaches. It didn't seem a good idea to have extension cords on the soggy went ground inside the tent. Thanks to the Belgian guys, that won't be an issue.

I talked with Leif for a while this afternoon. He works for the UN and is Swedish. He'll be taking over the running of the camp from the Belgian team when they leave. His wife will be coming to join him in a week. He told me that the leader of GAM (the seperatist movement here in Aceh) lives in Sweden. About a year ago the Indonesian government went to Sweden to try and bring him back but weren't able to. He says that because of this, some Indonesians don't like Sweden.

At the end of the afternoon, when it had cooled off a bit, I cut two pieces of sheeting to put on the floor of our tents. I had enough time to put mine in, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Now I should be dry during the next big rain storm. Well, at least water won't come in from the bottom, even if the roof does end up leaking. As I was finishing Melvin came back from a short shopping trip. I hurried to clean up, and then we went out for dinner at the New Happy restaurant. I found a fly in my rice, and wasn't too concerned, as it looked like it was well cooked. A few minutes later, as the spoon was almost in my mouth, I found another fly! I took it off the spoon and finished eating. Can't waste good food, you know.

After dinner we went over to the Samaritan's Purse house to pick up four plastic chairs that had been left there. I talked for a few minutes with one of the Indonesian guys. He's sharp--speaks good English and remembered my name. He told me that several Samaritan's Purse teams, totaling about thirty people, had pumped eighty wells today. That's huge, because in the rural areas, there isn't a water system, and everyone has a well. When the tsunami hit, it filled wells with salt water, making them unusable.

Back at the camp we finished putting together some extension cords that Melvin bought materials for. Now we can have power in our tents, and still have power in the 'net cafe. We also each have a fan and a light in our living tents now, as those were sent out from Medan. I did some more laundry tonight, having also done some laundry last night. I've decided to try and do some every day, and then it will be easier to keep up with it. There's plenty of fresh water in the camp, and some tubs, so it's just a matter of doing it by hand. While I was doing the wash tonight, I found a leech on my foot. It came off quite easily, as it hadn't started sucking any blood. A few minutes later I found another one crawling along wooden decking of the wash area.

I'm anxious to see how tomorrow turns out. The missing antenna parts arrived in Medan today, earlier than we had anticipated. That was the good news. At dinner Melvin told me Rob said that the MAF Caravan wasn't flying between Medan and Meulaboh on Sunday, and that Elias would come in on Monday with the parts. That didn't sound good to me, as I was really looking forward to getting this show on the road. Melvin had suggested to Rob that they find another flight for Elias, as there are other ways to get to Medan than on an MAF flight. So we keep on waiting...