Today was another day of flying for the Guam Tsunami Relief/Susi Air team. More medications and personnel shuttled between Medan, Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. Today was Mike Boyd and Dans first opportunity to view the Aceh coastline. They were very subdued tonight as we were a few days ago. Red Cross has finally contracted with Susi Air for use of one of their airplanes. However, this excludes anybody else from using the aircraft. Therefore SusiAIr is left with only one plane to serve all other NGOs and aid workers. This will leave the Meulaboh route underserved. Another plane is needed. Susi Air will not be flying for the UN as they have not kept their weather reports for all flights for the last two years so they wont qualify for the UN specifications.

The first crisis is calming down but the second one is coming. The US and other military will be pulling out soon. This will create a complete gap in the rural Aceh coastline north of Meulaboh and a big void in the Medan Meulaboh route. This void must be filled or there will be a huge crisis developing after the pullout. The Norwegian Lutheran Church league is trying hard to solve the water problem before this happens. They need helicopters.

I visited Pippin in the hospital in Medan today. She is doing well and had a nice big smile today. If we had not transported her for a CT and brain surgery here to relieve a brain hematoma, she would certainly have died.

Life has become fairly routine. Very late to bed, very early to rise. Fly doctors, medicines and coordinators from Medan to Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. This is still a disaster of incomprehensible proportions but there are signs of hope. There are a few houses being slapped together in Meulaboh. There is food in the Meulaboh markets, even if the people dont have money to buy it. Even the UN helicopters have all the rotor blades on their helicopters now. Maybe they will start flying someday soon.

The rebuilding process will be long and difficult. We must remember that there is nothing but dirt left in many places. In some places the dirt is even gone and only ocean remains. Tonight we discussed getting the vital fishing industry (Susis main business) started again. But most of the fisherman are dead because they were either at sea or living on the coast. This is a father to son business. When the skill is lost, it is lost. And the people are understandably afraid of the sea now.

We will all continue our efforts to help. But this help will only come through personal contributions. I see very little relief coming from the large organizations. One other thing that has become clear after this disaster and the one in Yap a little over a year ago is that there is NO emergency response organization. There is the Red Cross and the military but these all depend on complex bureaucratic and political negotiations before anything can happen. It is only small organizations or individuals acting on their own and with their own (and usually very limited) funding that react quickly in the first week or two and out of their hearts, not out of the business or career of providing aid assistance. Susi Air ran emergency relief completely out of their pockets for over a week. My operation was run almost entirely out of my own pocket and the loss of money from the damage to the plane is mine alone. However, as I have mentioned before, seeing little Pippins smiling face instead of seeing her being put in another body bag makes it all worth it.

Joe

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