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Smooth Sailing

This was our fourth day open for business, and it was the smoothest day so far. The battery inverter is working well, and it's good to know we have a battery backup. It actually kicks in quite often, when the generator voltage drops below acceptable levels. Each day has gotten better, and that has been a relief. Trying to operate for two more weeks at a very hectic pace would not be a good thing. I can see us now settling into a routine. Melvin leaves for Medan tomorrow, so after that it will be just me and Jonathan. It was really a good thing that we had three people for the first week, as at this point we have registered thirty laptops on our network. Each machine has to be scanned for viruses, and then if it is to be used on the wireless network, we need to set it up for that. One thing I did quite a bit of yesterday and today was to burn CDs with photos for the Belgian B-Fast guys. They are now here a week longer than they planned to be, so many of them have filled up their memory cards on their digital cameras. I've been able to burn their photos to CD, so they can continue taking more photos. It looks like they might be leaving tomorrow, and I'll be sad to see them go. They are a friendly and helpful group of guys, and it's obvious that they care a great deal about the Indonesian people.

As people come and go through the 'net cafe, we hear bits and pieces of information about the reconstruction. There are people from all the NGOs and the UN who use the internet connection, and it's fast becoming an integral part of the rebuilding process which has begun here in the Aceh province. The shoreline has changed, and in some places the land has dropped a meter. Salt water that travelled far inland has covered rice paddies and and other low-lying areas, making them unfit for growing anything. Each house has its own well,and many wells have been contaminated by salt water. Some can be pumped clean, but others are in a zone that is now full of salt water. It is possible to drill deeper, and into the aquafier, to create new wells. That is a job one NGO is probably going to start working on. Another thing I heard today has to do with fishing. The earthquake ruined the plant where up to sixty tons of ice was manufactured each day. The ice was used to store the fish being caught each day by fishermen. Without the ice, the fisherman can't fish, as they can't keep their catches fresh long enough to get them to market.

Last night as I was getting into bed, it started to rain quite heavily. Before long it was thundering and lightning, and it turned out to be a very spectacular show. I soon decided to get up and cover the satellite modem, switch, and access point with some plastic, just in case the tent leaked. By the time some lightning hit nearby, I had pulled power cords, and also disconnected the coax from the satellite modem. I wasn't taking any chances. It rained enough to flood the field quite a bit, and some of the guests were flooded out of their tents. Fortunately there was a large tent with a wooden floor that they could move to for the rest of the night. By mid-morning there were a couple guys digging trenches everywhere. Our 'net café tent, and our sleeping tents were fine, as the last time it rained we learned that we should be prepared for the next rain.