Trip to Banda Aceh

Trip to Banda Aceh
An E-mail from Bali by Paul Heussenstamm

Dear Friends
Sorry this is so long, but going to Banda Aceh was important for many of us interested in helping. Thank you to all of you who helped contribute generously to our trip. Everything went extremely well considering ,and together we made a significant difference in peoples lives. We will also be sending more water purifiers, so let us know if you want to help. The following is my experiences and insights of this difficult journey To Banda Aceh

Amana and I were planning a trip to Bali , Indonesia and of course with the nature of events surrounding the Tsunami our plans were altered forever. Since Amana speaks Indonesian, we decided to send a call out to all of our friends and make a personal contribution to the people of Indonesia. Almost magically, around $10,000 was immediately contributed. We collected a large suitcase full of medical supplies(lots of
antibiotics) and purchased 8 of the finest Swiss made Katadyn water purifiers on the market. Within days we were off to Bali where there was little time for rest!!. After a quick survey of the local Poskos (places collecting contributions) and speaking with several people coordinating efforts, we went to Geruda Airlines travel agents, the airline of Indonesia. We made several requests about our Soon-to-be mission and they simply picked up the phone and called Jakarta. We were then told that the airport just opened this day and there was only one flight per day. We could leave from Jakarta early the next morning and the rest of the flights were already fully booked.. So we bought a tent, food and flashlights as there wasn't any other places to stay. After crossing Java and spending a brief night in airport hotel, we were up a 4 am and on our way across Sumatra, one of the larger islands in Indonesia. We briefly stopped in Medan, where all the foreign supplies were coming in, and then took-off toward the most northern tip to Banda Aceh.

The airlines didn't charge extra although we were way overloaded, and "doors" started opening for us almost as if there was a force guiding and protecting us. On the plane that morning were troops of social workers from all over the world, such as the UN, Unesco, Unicef, Doctors without Walls, Oxfam, U.S. Aid, Merlin(medical emergency relief) and and many others. An Indonesian man sitting next to us on the flight was on his way to take over the air traffic control position as the current one had lost his whole family. The airport was overwhelmed and 10 flights a day had become 100 per day bringing in supplies from the world. On the flight, we met Dr. Cary (drcary@drcary.org) and after hearing about his work we decided to deliver our goods directly to doctors and nurses of Merlin's relief efforts. It was obvious to us that they had spent time helping people all over the world.

Flying into Banda Aceh was nerve-racking in anticipation of what we might see. We noticed hundreds of colorful tents around the airport and you could easily tell a major relief effort was in affect. A US Marine helicopter flew over our heads as we were walking on the tarmack and it felt really good to be an American at that moment. In the airport, there were many missing person signs similar to 911 as we began to feel the anguish of the people. Being one of the first to arrive, we were faced with the difficult task of moving around without the aid of any organization. Luckily we spoke Indonesian, and therefore many serendipitous things happened and we were able move through the city without any problems. After hiring a taxi for the day, US $30, (taxi drivers in the next few weeks were going to be rich) we left the airport and delivered our water purifiers and medicines to MERLIN (medical emergency relief)

Afterwards, we began our shocking tour of the area around Banda Aceh. First we visited several Poskos that were receiving aid and housing the 100,000 homeless. The people were wonderfully friendly and couldn't believe we had come all this way to help them!(praises a social worker must get all the time). We visited a tennis court in the back of a wealthy person's home that was now a camp for so many, and
they lovingly invited us to stay with them. We soon purchased the necessary face masks and traveled directly into the city. This part of my sharing, I have no words for! What I saw was indescribable. There was almost nothing left of an entire city, and the smell of death and the destruction we witnessed was beyond overwhelming. I kept telling myself that I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It felt surreal, way worse than any disaster movie ever. There was a strong military presence as all the streets were being patrolled 24 hours a day. Many of the foreign workers had come from Afghanistan and later Iraq, so they were used to this. There were relief trucks everywhere with bright signs of who they represented such as the UN. On one beach, everything was completely gone except for a large white Mosque that was mercifully
left standing as if to say our faith is stronger than nature. We met many dedicated people such as Danish television reporter Mette Fugl who had taken a 24 hour bus ride through the jungle to get here before the airport had opened. She said "I have been all over the world, including Iraq, and this is far worse...I have never seen anything like it..I still can't believe it"(mfu@dr.dk). We moved through the entire city, and decided to pass walking on the beach as bodies were still floating up regularly.

A few miracle stories we heard on the hopeful side, such as, they just found a small boy that climbed a coconut tree to escape the water and he was still alive after 10 days stuck up in the top of the tree. Another is a woman and her child were being pulled out to sea when a large snake, the size of a palm tree, was swimming for the shore. She grabbed on for her life and the snake saved them both. Another man was
found alive under rubble here after 10 days.

Another version of what happened here is that after the terrible quake that leveled many building, they a had a typhoon and major wind and rain. This was followed by the two great waves that were reportedly as high as 9 meters(27 feet). They reportedly went as far as 10 km inland which swept just about everything out to sea.

Late in the afternoon back at the airport, we looked for a place to pitch our tent. The skies opened up and we experienced first hand the strength of Sumatra’s monsoon rainy season. Way to strong and wet for us, so we looked around and found a temporary clinic near the
airport. Luckily we received permission to spend the night there. We soon found out that this was the headquarters of the entire staff of the Indonesian ministry of Health, Water Sanitation and Disease Control (D.Luthfi...(6221)-4200944 office phone number or email ...joko_i@litbang.depkes.go.id) and we immediately felt connected to these people. We plan on sending water purifiers directly to them when we return home this week. They were all sleeping on the marble floor and we were invited to join them, although as is Muslim custom, Amana would be sleeping in another room with the women. Just before nightfall, the rain stopped and we walked along the airport and talked with the local people. One man had lost 18 of his family members, can you image!!!! Several people asked for just basic medicine like neosporin and where are the doctors? One family had been given a case of soap and asked us what it was for?, not being able to read English!!.

After an evening meeting by all the ministers, we tried sleeping directly on marble which was difficult. I did manage to fall asleep until 5am when there were many screams. We were having a 6.2 aftershock and we all ran out of the building into the hot night air. Thirty minutes later there was another one. Many of the ministers, who were beautiful caring and loving people, were now leaving to be taken down their coast
by the US Helicopters. This was the first time the indigenous people living in villages down the coast would have any outside contact. I just laid back down on the marble when there was a explosion and everyone ran out again as one of the helicopters had just crashed. Smoke was rising up just as the morning light appeared, and everyone was afraid for the ministers. We soon learned they weren't on this helicopter and 10 marines were injured but no one seriously hurt (a Blessing)!

For years now, Westerners weren't allowed here in Banda Aceh as the GAM, the rebel insurgents, had been fighting for independence. With this immense reconstruction project beginning, the Gam have been quiet, although they stole a truck full of food while we were there. We finally got to the airport on this event-filled morning, and four hours early. The plane was way oversold, and there was already a line. We met
and discussed our impressions with Zaki Chebab the Political Editor of Lebanese Television (Zakichehab@aol.com) who had been here for
over a week. He travels to all places like this globally and explained clearly how most of the Aid pledged will never get here as the rich Western countries and the Eastern Countries have great difficulty trusting each other. He sadly shared that "logistics keeps most of the pledges from ever reaching the people". He asked Colin Powell at the press conference in Jakarta "Are you offering aid to this Muslim country from your heart or for political reasons?"

In conclusion, there is a definite air of hope as several thousand relief workers are working 24 hours a day on a monumental task. They have plenty of food in our opinion, but lack shelter, clean water or filtration systems. Everyone we talked too said good things about America, and we have an approved image here in Indonesia. Our taxi driver even had a US Flag on the inside ceiling of his truck. We flew back to
Medan and discussed the situation with UN Security Coordinator Reg Mills(reg.mills@UNDP.org)who clearly was aware of the difficulty having American and Australian troops here in the middle of tension-filled Sumatra. Since we left they have closed Banda Aceh to all foreigners except ones registered as organized workers and they also gave the all militaries until March 26 to leave. Our journey
hadn't ended yet, as Flying Back to Bali the pilot aborted the landing as a windswept rain storm blocked our return and as we circled the airport the rain stopped so we could land. And about 5:30 am the next morning Amana woke me up, as there was an extremely low tide, and wanted to know if there was a tsunami coming?

Paul Heussenstamm of Laguna Beach
email from Bali