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Unbelievable Destruction

The camp continues to grow a bit. Today there are a few more UN people and vehicles coming and going. We talked with Leif, the head of the Swedish group that is taking over the running of this camp. The Begium fast response team has put the camp in, and now they are leaving on Saturday. Leif would like to run this camp like a hotel, including food services, but the head of OCHA here in Meulaboh (Organisation C Humanitarian Aid, part of the UN) doesn't think there needs to be quite that much service, and that people can get food outside of the camp. The UN compound up in Banda Aceh will be set up with more services than this one here. It's been good here so far, as the Begians, Swedes, and French people are friendly and helpful. Most speak English and that makes communication easy.

Before it got too hot, I finished digging the trench for the coax. We ran the coax through some conduit and buried that. I was still soaked with sweat, even though it was early in the morning. When I have work like that to do, I just wear my bathing suit, and when I'm done, I rinse off in the shower with a bucket and water scoop.

It's sometime before noon, and I'm sitting here typing this while we wait for one of the Begian guys to come help us put up our living quarter tents. It will be hot our there, but I'll take the help whenever we can get it, as I want the tent put up properly. I'm facing the back of the camp, and can see people occasionally going in and out of the latrine. I wish I could do the same, but I'm a bit stopped up. Not sure why, but I decided not to eat anymore 'til I can resolve that. I only have some meds with me to plug me up! The Belgian Fast Response team has a nurse with them, so I may go see him in a bit to see what he has to offer.

One of the Air Serv choppers landed at 11 AM. They used the soccer field as an alternative landing field as the normal landing zone was off limits while someone important was landing there. Around that time some guys with Samaritan's Purse stopped by. They were taking a look at the location also wanting to know about communication options. A couple of the guys were Roy Harris and Virg Gottfried, old JAARS people from PNG when Ellyn and I were there. Virg knew both my parents and Ellyn's parents.

This afternoon we went by a carpenter shop to get a stand made for our back-up power inverter/battery charger. Melvin explained what we wanted (he knows Indonesian) but they couldn't start making it just then because the power was out. I guess the power still goes off and on throughout the day in the various parts of town. After that we went to buy a broom, soap, and brush. We were ready to go, and I asked Melvin if we were far from the beach front part of town. He said we weren't and asked if I wanted to go there, and of course I said yes. So we drove down through the part of town that was smashed by the tsunami. The destruction was unbelievable. It's very hard to comprehend a serious of waves that large. Everything was pounded, smashed, and obliterated. Here and there a house would be standing, all by itself, everything around it leveled. There are also still quite a few boats scattered throughout the town, washed there by the waves. Some are a quarter of a mile from the ocean. We stopped and the water front, where the road used to go to a ferry. I got out and looked around. So many people lost, so much treasure and hard work scattered across the shore line. We got back in the truck, and drove through some more of the town, through the center where the administration buildings are, and a large street with many stores and shops. All of the city records have been lost, and that is a big set-back. We then went through a section where most houses were standing, and for the most part OK, but there was a lot of trash and debris that had been washed through the section, and it was a mess. You look at it and just wonder how people start to clean something like that up. Where do you put it all? Everywhere there were small fires going, as people were burning what they could in an effort to clean up. By this time I was past the curiosity of seeing what the tsunami had done. It was sobering, and I had a feeling of gawking, and being in someone else's private space.

We ate both lunch and dinner at camp today, as we had plenty of food delivered to us from the team in Medan. Nothing fancy--PBJs, Pringles, bananas, cookies--but it was a welcome variety, since the main diet if we go to the restaurant in town is lots of rice. The Belgian guys did come around after lunch and helped us put up two tents. Actually, they moved one over from another spot, and that's the one I'm in. Melvin's tent was new out of the bag. Both tents have a tarp for a floor, and are about 12' x 18'. It was nice to have my own living spaddce this evening. I put up a PVC pipe down the middle, and and using that to hang my mosquito net and some clothes. I also have a 8 watt florescent light from the Belgians. Melvin and I ran the extension cords to our tents and have lights, fans, and computers running. I read in bed for a while, and I think I turned off the head lamp about 10 PM. I've been going to bed a lot earlier here than I normally do at home.