January 11, 2004
Hi Vince,
Still working on tomorrows plans to bring a doctor and additional supplies to
Meulaboh. First we will fly with the ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri to Nias
for an overview of the situation on that island.
I was able to go through the city, or rather what is left of the city, of Meulaboh
last night. Amazingly there are parts of the city which appear semi-normal even
electricy in some parts. (Susi Air had carried down the electric people the
day before.)
However, there are other parts where most of the wrecks of the homes or foundations
are abandoned and in a few of the wrecks people are huddled around fires, using
pieces of ex-houses to fuel the fires. We spent the night at a wreck of a house
on the airport,. This now serves as the airport office from which Mission Aviation
Fellowship operates local distribution of supplies to pieces of roads usable
as short runways using small Cessna. It serves as a makeshift airport ops office.
The aid distribution is from foreign to Medan then by Susi Air and one other
operator as well as MAF using Cessna caravans and Twin Otters to Meulaboh.
The cooperation between everybody from everywhere around the world is amazing.
You ask and if it is possible you will receive. And if you are asked and capable
of giving you will give - whatever is asked. I hope this lesson is not forgotten.
The people between Meulaboh and Banda Aceh are in even worse shape. This is
an area where 60% of the road and dozens of bridges are gone. They will be without
roads for many months or years and will need outside support for this amount
of time.
I saw my first UN person today on the ground in Meulaboh doing a survey. I must
repeat loud and clear that it is the small operators that are providing the
bulk of relief to this area and they need support. After working on coordinating
with the NGOs in Meulaboh we retired to the concrete floor of the airport office.
We were praying for no aftershocks as it would not take much to bring the roof
and remaining scraps of wall down on the house. Vic continued work on our plane
today to see if we can get operational with our own aircraft. Meanwhile Mike
is assisting Christian at Susi air with the flying. Brahm and Iti are in Meaulaboh
proper working there
The devastation is unbelievable to those who havent seen. There was a bicycle
in a tree 40 feet off the ground. We didn't see bodies but we smelled them,
They are already mostly rotted away buried under chunks of houses. Many, many
of the people are injured. Tears came to my eyes today as we sat on the floor
of the SusiAir Caravan flight back from Meulaboh and I observed a lady in the
back. She was crying as we took off. I could only imagine what was going through
her mind - lost family, lost everything. I helped her off the plane in Medan
as she was barely able to walk due to her wounds. Dozens of scrapes and cuts
on her legs and injuries under her clothing that were obvioulsy far worse. She
is just one of many such people I have seen over the past few days.
We reported to the military of a large group of soldiers they assumed were dead
and had reported such to their families. Luckily they were alive and well, although
one man told me he had been swimming in the tsunami. Everybody reports the water
at the airport was at the level of the top of the palm trees about 500 meters
from the beach. In our airport "hotel", a chair was stuck in the roof
rafters. Taking out the garbage is not a problem - just throw it through the
wall on the piles of rubble already there. The mosquitoes are intense. We did
eat today when we got back to Medan. That was nice for a change!
Wounds will continue to be a problem as there are sharp things everywhere and
people are exhausted working to try to recover, getting cut in the process.
Thus a supply of injectable antibiotics is critical. People wont search for
primary care for wounds and wait until they become infected as there is absolutely
no hygiene due to almost complete lack of good water. Disinfectant soaps would
be helpful. The Guam phramacies contributed some but much more is needed. Perhaps
this would be a good thing for Ayuda to work on. Help from anywhere will beappreciated.
I will be out of touch for 1-2 days probably, as I may be in Meulaboh. Mike
used a term today to describe the situation. It is the "cloud of War."
It is very appropriate to this situation. Thus when I leave for Mealboh I am
not sure when I will be back.
Medan airport is much smaller than Saipan airport yet there are takeoffs and
landings every few minutes. I saw a huge Russian airplane taking off probably
for Banda Aceh and he had about 50 feet of runway left before he lifted off.
There are planes from everywhere here in this relatively remote city. Meulaboh
airport isnt nearly so busy as it is inaccessible to anything other than light
planes, although there is still plenty of helicopter traffic. Meulaboh is really
taking a back seat to all the aid distribution in Banda Aceh despite their equal
devastation.This is due to the small airport The coast up from Meulaboh is even
worse off but the people we delivered from Global Relief , a small South African
NGO, into Meulaboh were going out into these areas.
One last thing I want to mention is that we cannot let our minds slip. These
people will be hurting for everything for a long time. There will not be any
local food for at least three months. The basic infrastructure will be much
much longer. Possibly GPA could think about sending workers. It is difficult
to get authorities for operations in Indonesia but possibly I could help in
this arena.
We are working as a team of 7 now with myself, Victor, Mike, Brahm, Iti, Susi
and Christian from Susi air all putting in 20 hour days. We sleep when we get
a chance. We are often living in horrible conditions but we all feel very good
about what we are doing
.
All my best to everybody!
Joe
PS Just got a phone call from a friend in the States. Haven't heard from him
5 years. Called out of the blue after seeing the devastation in Thailand. He
is now arranging for another aircraft so that we will be able to increase even
further the support we are lending to these people. People helping people -
a wonderful thing out of this incredible tragedy!
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