As there appears to be little action at this moment in time, I have gone back through my notes to the early days, just after the tsunami struck.

Obviously, accurate information was difficult to get at a time when, for example, fuel for generators was being hand-carried from Banda Aceh to the villages - a journey of at least two days. The counting of survivors was necessary to establish estimation of loss, and in this respect 24 of the 28 villages in Lhoong sub-district had been completely destroyed. Coastal roads were severely damaged and most bridges had been destroyed or severely damaged.

People naturally returned to be as close as they could to their grass roots, despite the fact that nothing remained. Camps were set up and village heads and settlement leaders began to count the survivors. It was obvious then that more women and children were killed than men. Women comprised about 40%, children below 5 years of age about 8%, and just looking at 5 of the Lhoong villages which pre-tsunami had a population of nearly 12,000, figures show that 4,599 were confirmed dead, 6,196 survived and 1,017 were still missing. Obviously, that varied all the way along the west coast of Aceh, with many villages suffering worse.

Two priorities were to clean wells and to install sanitation facilities, accepting that housing and feeding were the most obvious needs. Medical facilities were initially non-existent but soon that was to change dramatically. Those who took part in the initial rescue and humanitarian exercise did a wonderful job under extremely difficult circumstances - it was an exercise that clearly showed the compassion of people. Food was distributed according to the number of people in each tent settlement. Rice was rationed to 300 gm per person per day along with 2 spoons of milk powder, half a packet of Indomie and 2 spoons of cooking oil. Not a very balanced or nutritious diet, but people survived on it.

About 70% of the farmland was inundated by saltwater, thus productivity was severely affected. Topsoil had been swept away and the land was covered in mud and debris. When the local market first opened, the prices were up by 30% and you could only get beans, chillies, peppers, onions and mangoes. At one stage, the displaced people were sheltering/living in the few buildings that remained, with 20 families sharing cubicles of about 60 sq m at the local market. In this Lhoong area, 22 of the 30 schools were destroyed, and the plan was that the 8 surviving schools would reopen on January 24th.

A measles vaccination campaign was initiated by UNICEF, in conjunction with the Indonesian Ministry of Health, for all children aged 6 months to 15 years, plus vitamin A tablets as necessary. Latrines were a high priority, as was soap. Another village area, namely Lho Kruet, suffered a loss of 78% of their population. The area consists of 5 villages that had a pre-tsunami population of 4,940 people. Only 1,025 survived but many of those went to the village of Lamno, where they could access more services.

Diarrhoea, scabies, respiratory infections and fever were the main health problems. 100% of the houses in Lho Kruet were destroyed and so initially the survivors had temporary shelters of corrugated tin and plastic sheets. There were no medical facilities at all as the only doctor and his 5 nurses were killed in the wave. A health post became the priority of Lho Kruet. Anyone seriously ill would be flown out by helicopter. Some people were walking 24 kilometres to get food from another village. Water purification was also a priority.

It may be of interest to readers to know that the tsunami travelled at least 6 kilometres inland - in some places even more. In doing so, it totally destroyed numerous small villages. This sent the survivors to the hills for safety, which of course meant they were scattered and therefore difficult to locate. Hunger bought them down towards the coast and to other neighbouring villages until eventually a supply line was established. This was the situation at the town of Kreung Sabe, which was completely destroyed. Food was being shipped in from Calang by motorcycle or by boat but the Americans started air drops of supplies that eased the problems considerably.

Five latrines were built, but only one metre deep. All the time the aid was coming, so the people were burying their dead. Over one hundred bodies were found in the lagoon. Food and water was the payment for the burials. All the way along the coast it was the same: the closer you were to the sea, the more deaths. Meulaboh is the largest town along this coast and they had about 32,000 displaced persons. All-in-all along the entire coastline there would be approx 117,000 displaced people.

Early figures showed 33,000 dead with 27,000 already buried. The Spanish Red Cross provided 200,000 litres of water via 9 tankers per day and the Singapore Army surgical team supported the local hospital. A field hospital was set up and run by the French Civil Service. UNICRF co-ordinated the whole program and will provide 50,000 vaccines. The Indonesian Military (TNI) was very active all the way along the west coast.

Each village has its own stories, but to be honest they are much the same as the others. Of one thing I am sure: the Acehnese people have a remarkable resilience to survive. There were little tears that could be seen, but on closer inspection (and living with them in the tents) the women often cry in solitude as they try to come to terms not only with the loss of their children, but with the fact that many let go of their hands in the wave. Of course, there was nothing they could do about that, as the force of the water was enormous and no living soul could fight it.

It is well every now and then to return to the dark days of the wave because, as this world goes on, so people far away understandably forget. As an example of changing times, I had a few Australians keen to support some poor Indonesian families for a year - but then the Corby drug case in Bali resulted in a 20-year jail sentence for the Australian girl and so the desire to help Indonesia disappeared. Whereas I deplore the Indonesian courts and their justice system, does it really warrant pulling the plug on poor people who have absolutely nothing at all to do with this drug case? It's a tough world out there.

Email 27 July 2005

SOME PROBLEMS ON DELIVERING AID THROUGH AGENCIES

This is an attempt to provide an explanation about the use and abuse of aid money. In writing this, I accept that there are a huge number of very generous and genuine people who tirelessly work for the benefit of the less fortunate. That said, there is another side to the coin.

I have lived and worked in Aceh province since 1992 and so I know a wee bit about the place, the people, their customs and their religion. I try to be a writer and an observer of events, and of course the tsunami was one event that all of us will never forget. What happened in the first two or three months after the wave was quite incredible, in as much as the doctors and humanitarian workers performed miracles in a situation that was extremely difficult. I have no problems with that at all but, behind the scenes, other things were happening.

I was so focused on the disaster that I never realized that prices for accommodation, transport and other commodities had gone through the roof. I was living in one of the camps, as the people of Lhoknga village made me feel at home in a place that had been home for the past 15 years. Of course, Lhoknga was completely destroyed and at least half the villagers died in the tragedy. Enter the NGO's who are supposedly focused on the rebuilding (reconstruction) of Aceh and if I were to say they are a mixed bag, then I am being generous with my words. General opinion (and this is not just mine) is that the vast majority of them are ignorant, arrogant and unskilled.

They claim to be professionals and this no doubt comes from the training programs they must have attended. The most senior UN boat expert came to Medan to tell stories of how NGO's have thrown money at local people to build new fishing boats which, in his opinion (and I gather he knows what he talks about), will likely sink in no time. I make a point of not telling NGO's in Medan bars who I am and how long I've been here, because if I do they stop talking and I learn nothing. The other day, one who didn't know me quite openly said that he was no different from all his other colleagues who are simply here for the money. He went on to say that in other countries they had thrown money at hopeless projects because that is what the orders were. Everybody apparently knew this, and there were other stories on the same lines that ended with a statement that Indonesia and Medan was paradise and the longer it lasts the better.

I have spent a considerable amount of time in Aceh in the last six months and have travelled around on the back of a motorbike. I am 62 years of age and find that the life up there is difficult, and this for a number of reasons. The NGO's and aid people have put the price of a hotel room far beyond my pocket, hence I live in a tent with 286 Acehnese people who have pretty poor toilet facilities. In the meantime, the aid workers live in comparative luxury and many drive around in expensive cars. They eat at the best restaurants (not all of them) and many of those cars sit idle all day outside the seconded office. As an example, I pay Rp15 million per year for my house in Medan that sits in probably one of the best housing estates in the city. NGO's and aid people rent houses in Banda Aceh for anything between Rp100 million and Rp650 million per year. They may well be sleeping on mattresses and two or three to a room, but even so, the cost is horrendous.
One Irish NGO got thrown out of Aceh the other day because they had a serious drink problem – I think they are called GOAL. The problem I have (and I'm far from alone in this) is that the money donated by, let's say, the ordinary man in the street is clearly being abused. The money donated to Aceh is probably at least twice the amount that is needed, but the way things are going, it would seem for many reasons that the cost of rebuilding will be at least three times what it could cost if controls were in place. There are corruption problems that will creep into this scenario for sure – already building materials have doubled in price, etc.

Many people already think that nations which have pledged money to this cause have only done so on the understanding that the business of rebuilding comes their way, so they can claw back the vast majority of the original pledge. That may be difficult to prove, but nonetheless it is a factor. There are other reasons as well for pledges, that take on board the political scene worldwide, and maybe everyone would say this is unavoidable. The problem with this is that we have all become brainwashed and conditioned into this rather negative way of thinking, because clearly the gap between rich and poor is growing and the disasters all over the place are getting worse.
We are failing to get to grips with the solutions because the vast majority of people only want to take – but that is nothing new. When you open this out a little more you find on-board the terrorist who, although misguided, kicks back at a system we all know is wrong. What we fail to do is to face up to the realities of a disastrous system. It is not enough for G8 countries to give more (although that will obviously help) because if the bucket is full of holes, what is the point of giving more?

To me it is simple – we need to learn about humanity and giving – all of us. Indonesia is a bit like dog eat dog and there are good reasons for that – any of us will know how big the picture can become, if we are willing and have the time to research and to go to the places and see for ourselves. Somewhere along the line the corruption starts, and what bad aid workers don't understand is that if you take money under false pretences then that is corruption, big time.
As an ending note, I also appreciate there are circumstances that may well be beyond even the United Nations, let alone the aid agencies and organizations, but with better planning and a little more understanding of cultures and situations, a better job can be done – and needs to done. Disasters call for immediate action and that is understandable, but from that point on you need co-ordination and not hundreds of NGO's all wanting to go their own way. The UN tried, but people simply did not go to the meetings.

I can give one more simple example of stupidity. Back in January, when everyone was still in a situation of stress and trauma, certain NGO's came round to some campsites and gave out money. Lhoknga village was split into four camp sites and the Turkish organisation gave each tent Euro500. The French gave US$100 to every individual in their campsite. The other two sites did not have a sponsor and so they got nothing. What that did was to cause animosity among the village people, through understandable jealousy. Those NGO's did not know I was living in one of the unfavoured camp sites and when I tried to get the four campsite chiefs together to share the money, I was quickly told by the NGO's to mind my own business.

Maybe we will never get it right, but a bit of thinking would certainly help. The same thing happened with cows at Ramadhan (the holy month), but then people sometimes never learn. You can say what you see – and what I see is not too good.

Email 29 July 2005

Not being in the area of aid organizations, I cannot know what they teach their people but I feel that many, once in the field, lose their sense of purpose. I have just completed the editing of a Dutchman's life story and he worked extensively for the World Bank in Washington and was in Somalia, Kenya, Indonesia, India and many other third world countries working on aid projects.

The book is depressing in as much as most aid projects failed, and the attitude of the foreign power controlling the money and the project came over as quite disgraceful. There is a naivety about the book in as much as the viewpoint held by a re-patronatized Dutchman, who was born in Indonesia in 1928 and then found it difficult in his life to belong elsewhere, is rather biased and hugely critical. But it is clear that the people at the top who are involved in aid distribution and decision-making do this often for the wrong reasons – but that is political.

The World Bank is often in conflict with the IMF and also the United Nations, as interests are a real mixture of humanitarian concerns and political objectives. All the time that there are such divides, then the objectives become diluted and often corrupted. There are too many hidden agendas and of course people are not stupid when it comes to lobbing out money out of their own pockets. When I was in England two years ago this very topic came up in discussions one day. Everyone was in agreement that aid money and aid workers were highly questionable, and this is still the case today.

It needs genuine people at the top and a system that operates efficiently and effectively through monitoring channels, which regularly review progress or the lack of it. It also needs people who understand people and cultures and fears and repercussions from their actions and also a realization that often local people know best. They may not do it the way we think it should be done, but their ways are more effective and of course they have ownership.

This is where the arrogance comes into it as the West always thinks it knows best. Plus there is a real danger that if the third world countries get themselves organized and profitable, then world trade will swing their way to the detriment of the West. I do believe that a lot of the failures in third world countries are meant to fail – if you know what I mean. Logically, the amount of money thrown at poverty over the years should by now have produced positive results but it hasn't, and I don't think some people want that to be successful.

Protectionism is organized on very high levels and I wouldn't mind betting that there is an evil existing in the corridors of power that would make the Islamic terrorists resemble Snow White. You will never catch them out as they all belong to the untouchables club. I received an email from an Indonesian only yesterday that was headed 'there is no God because there is no humanity'. I know the person who in fact was imprisoned in 1997 when the Jakarta riots were in full swing – an activist and a fighter for women's rights in a Muslim country.

Blair probably has the right thinking but even he is but a pawn in the overall state of affairs – although he is a big pawn. I call the whole thing 'the can of worms' which no one wants to take the lid off. It's better if we push the military solution and continue on the assumption that eventually the terrorists will run out of resources and recruits – but there is a real danger that they won't. Everybody knows there are lots of good people everywhere but very few are in a position or have the time to do anything about it.

Pains in the arse like me have all the time in the world and ask people awkward questions which they detest. My father always said this world was not easy, but he would turn in his grave at what happens today as opposed to the 1950's. Still we will soldier on and hopefully one day find the wise people to turn it all around. Our charity/disabled project now has a website – namely www.p3c-aceh.org - and so slowly slowly we are getting there.

I was more interested in the attitude of the people who refuse to give to charities – who think people in the third world should put in a proper day's work. I wonder if these people have ever studied the effects of being subjected to a dictatorial rule for decades. Sure, they appear lazy because they have no incentives and of course the climate in third world countries does not lend itself to hard physical work. I have been told many times by Indonesians that I will never understand their plight even if I stayed here for 100 years – but that I don't believe, because the signs are everywhere if you take the time to look and investigate.

I've had the hairs on the back of my neck sticking up a few times, but the complexities of solving the problems are enormous because it requires a total change of attitude by everyone – big time. Our societies are not geared up for this because they are driven by self-interest, which of course is understandable.

At the moment I'm heavily into this Islamic thing which is another area that is obviously going in the wrong direction. Clearly now it has become Muslim versus Muslim, but those that have studied the subject of Islam will know that this has been the case for centuries. Was it the Chinese that said 'we live in interesting times' – no matter who – I'll go along with that one.