I spent the entire day (7am to 9pm) on the road yesterday. We went to visit the other 3 villages that are supported by ConocoPhillips -Teumareum, Bahagia and Kuala.
Teumareum is located right across the river after the makeshift ferry. There were about 15 trucks waiting for the river crossing, so we ended up leaving our car beind, took the barge and walked to the village. We walked in on one of our staff giving leadership training to the village leaders in the temporary mosque built out of wooden planks. While listening to Kamal give the training, a big truck from a NGO pulled up to deliver school supplies to the children. It was quite a scene with all the kids running up to the truck and dragging boxes of notebooks and lugging new blackboards to their newly built classrooms. It was so wonderful to see the kids so excited by the brand new school supplies.
Before we joined the villagers for a crab feast, we were shown to a tandem bike a couple of guys had built from tsunami ravaged bikes. They painted the bike red, white, and blue in honor of USAID. They couldn't refurbish the bike seats, so instead, they fashioned 2 pieces of jackfruit tree wood (REALLY REALLY HARD WOOD) into saddles. Recommended only for well-padded butts. The bike comes completely with a bell, light, kickstand, lock, and portable pump.Quite fancy!
We went to the other villages and didn't end up leaving Lamno until about 6:00pm. It was quite late, since we're not really suppose to be driving around the rural areas at night, but it also meant catching a beautiful sunset on the road. However, I only got a few pics before my camera ran out of battery. More next time! I've been invited to go back to Teumareum in a few weeks to hike to a waterfall.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
Christmas Weekend
Here's what I did for Christmas:
December 22, Thursday
I decided to take a break from real work and cook dinner for 15 people. Christen had arrived, Lauren our microcredit person from Washington was still in town, and a bunch of staff from Jakarta were also around, The menu was Texan chili, fried chicken tenders, and a tomato avocado salad (all eaten). Dessert was chocolate fondue. I had to make the fondue because I told a journalist I was going to do it and he ended up quoting me in his article.
December 24, Saturday
The day started at 7am. I was coordinating the awards ceremony for the Art for Recovery project. It was a logistical nightmare. I had to get 4 VIPs, 10 press members, 12 kids, 24 family members, and 15 dancers to the village all before 10am. I had to mobilize 9 different cars and luckily everyone made it to the village on time! The ceremony feature the kids, traditional women dancers, and men playing traditional drums.
Christen and I had some down time in the afternoon and then went to USAID for a Christmas dinner with some of the other USAID contractors that were still in town. Had a very nice roasted turkey for dinner.
December 25, Sunday
Folks from ConocoPhillips were in town to check out the 5 villages they're supporting. I accompanied them to Lhoong (about 2 hours south of here) and spent Christmas at the 2 villages. The villages - Saney and Utamong were devestaed by the tsunami, and most of the residents are still living in the barracks about 10 minutes away from the location where the village is currently being rebuilt. We held a community meeting to discuss what are some of the things they would like to do with a small revolving fund we'll be setting up. Before the tsunami, Saney was a very rich village because it had a very vibrant fishing industry. Sometimes a boat would bring in over $500 worth of fish with a single catch.
December 22, Thursday
I decided to take a break from real work and cook dinner for 15 people. Christen had arrived, Lauren our microcredit person from Washington was still in town, and a bunch of staff from Jakarta were also around, The menu was Texan chili, fried chicken tenders, and a tomato avocado salad (all eaten). Dessert was chocolate fondue. I had to make the fondue because I told a journalist I was going to do it and he ended up quoting me in his article.
December 24, Saturday
The day started at 7am. I was coordinating the awards ceremony for the Art for Recovery project. It was a logistical nightmare. I had to get 4 VIPs, 10 press members, 12 kids, 24 family members, and 15 dancers to the village all before 10am. I had to mobilize 9 different cars and luckily everyone made it to the village on time! The ceremony feature the kids, traditional women dancers, and men playing traditional drums.
Christen and I had some down time in the afternoon and then went to USAID for a Christmas dinner with some of the other USAID contractors that were still in town. Had a very nice roasted turkey for dinner.
December 25, Sunday
Folks from ConocoPhillips were in town to check out the 5 villages they're supporting. I accompanied them to Lhoong (about 2 hours south of here) and spent Christmas at the 2 villages. The villages - Saney and Utamong were devestaed by the tsunami, and most of the residents are still living in the barracks about 10 minutes away from the location where the village is currently being rebuilt. We held a community meeting to discuss what are some of the things they would like to do with a small revolving fund we'll be setting up. Before the tsunami, Saney was a very rich village because it had a very vibrant fishing industry. Sometimes a boat would bring in over $500 worth of fish with a single catch.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Aceh! I apologize for the lack of quality posts and pictures in the past few weeks - I've been extremely busy. I'm counting down to the day until I take off for Jakarta and Singapore.
Tomorrow morning is the awards ceremony for Art for Recovery (see earlier postings for more info). We have selected 12 winners. The top 3 will each receive a bicycle and the other 9 will receive a backpack full of school goodies. The logistics behind getting everyone to the Gurah village has been a nightmare. Tomorrow morning, I'll be coordinating 9 cars to bring 12 kids (from all different villages), 2 family members each, the Head of Community Develpment from ConocoPhillips, and 15 traditional women dancers from another village all to Gurah by 10am. Hope it'll all run smoothly and that I haven't forgotten to pick up anyone important. Everything should be over by noon and I'll get to go to the beach in the afternoon with Christen, my friend who's visiting.
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Tomorrow morning is the awards ceremony for Art for Recovery (see earlier postings for more info). We have selected 12 winners. The top 3 will each receive a bicycle and the other 9 will receive a backpack full of school goodies. The logistics behind getting everyone to the Gurah village has been a nightmare. Tomorrow morning, I'll be coordinating 9 cars to bring 12 kids (from all different villages), 2 family members each, the Head of Community Develpment from ConocoPhillips, and 15 traditional women dancers from another village all to Gurah by 10am. Hope it'll all run smoothly and that I haven't forgotten to pick up anyone important. Everything should be over by noon and I'll get to go to the beach in the afternoon with Christen, my friend who's visiting.
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Sunday, December 18, 2005
8 More Days
You're probably thinking that I've lost my mind - it's 7 days to Christmas and not 8. That may be so, but at the moment, I'm not as concerned about finishing my Christmas shopping as about the 1-year anniversary of the tsunami that is coming up on December 26.
Today is the Andrew Natsios visit, a highly choreographed event with lots of press. He'll first lay some flowers at the mass grave and then have an informal (right...) discussion with the community in the mosque, followed by dedicating the not-yet-finished water processing facility we're helping to build. It's overcast at the moment, hope the rain will hold off until after the visit! I'll post pictures later today.
Next week will be another busy week - the judging and awards ceremony for the Art for Recovery event, there will also be a team from our Jakarta office here doing monitoring and evaluations, and getting ready for a survey we're conducting in the post-conflict areas. But more importantly, Christen will be here! My first official visitor will arrive on Tuesday!
Today is the Andrew Natsios visit, a highly choreographed event with lots of press. He'll first lay some flowers at the mass grave and then have an informal (right...) discussion with the community in the mosque, followed by dedicating the not-yet-finished water processing facility we're helping to build. It's overcast at the moment, hope the rain will hold off until after the visit! I'll post pictures later today.
Next week will be another busy week - the judging and awards ceremony for the Art for Recovery event, there will also be a team from our Jakarta office here doing monitoring and evaluations, and getting ready for a survey we're conducting in the post-conflict areas. But more importantly, Christen will be here! My first official visitor will arrive on Tuesday!
Sunday, December 11, 2005
It's never a walk in the park
We took the NBC crew out again on Saturday. This time was to the familiar villages of Lamteungoh and Gurah, places were I've been many times. I even considered about leaving my camera at home because the battery was low and I figured it would just be a regular visit.
Lamteungoh was the first stop. We got to the village around 830 and as our luck should have it, two fishing boats were just on their way in from an evening of being out on the sea. NBC was able to get some good footage of fishermen emptying out their nets and I got to play with the crab and lobsters that were caught. After some more interviews with the villagers and with the rep from USAID, we moved on to Gurah, where we promised to show the NBC folks villagers building a 3-mile fence and men making and playing traditional drums.
In order to get to the place where the villagers were fencing, we had to follow this muddy road and then walk about 10 minutes. Our pick-up truck followed a larger truck on this one-lane muddy road, and the truck in front of us got stuck in the thick mud. Everyone got out to help push this truck, but with no luck. We decided to walk from where we were to the fencing site and then walk back to the village. It wasn't just any old walk in the park. The field was a rice paddy before the tsunami and it has been sort of cleaned and now overgrown with 2-ft tall grass. It had rained a whole lot the previous night so the entire field was pretty damn muddy. One of our guys kept on saying he thought snakes lived in the paddy. After walking about 20 minutes we arrive at the fencing site, NBC did a bunch of filming and interviewing and then after another 15 minutes or so, we end up back at the village. There better be people building that damn fence on the news!
I later found out that the NBC news correspondent who's out here with us was abducted and held captive in Iraq for about 3 days earlier this year. This gig is a walk in the park for him.
Lamteungoh was the first stop. We got to the village around 830 and as our luck should have it, two fishing boats were just on their way in from an evening of being out on the sea. NBC was able to get some good footage of fishermen emptying out their nets and I got to play with the crab and lobsters that were caught. After some more interviews with the villagers and with the rep from USAID, we moved on to Gurah, where we promised to show the NBC folks villagers building a 3-mile fence and men making and playing traditional drums.
In order to get to the place where the villagers were fencing, we had to follow this muddy road and then walk about 10 minutes. Our pick-up truck followed a larger truck on this one-lane muddy road, and the truck in front of us got stuck in the thick mud. Everyone got out to help push this truck, but with no luck. We decided to walk from where we were to the fencing site and then walk back to the village. It wasn't just any old walk in the park. The field was a rice paddy before the tsunami and it has been sort of cleaned and now overgrown with 2-ft tall grass. It had rained a whole lot the previous night so the entire field was pretty damn muddy. One of our guys kept on saying he thought snakes lived in the paddy. After walking about 20 minutes we arrive at the fencing site, NBC did a bunch of filming and interviewing and then after another 15 minutes or so, we end up back at the village. There better be people building that damn fence on the news!
I later found out that the NBC news correspondent who's out here with us was abducted and held captive in Iraq for about 3 days earlier this year. This gig is a walk in the park for him.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Watch the News!
A film crew from NBC is out here in Aceh to shoot footage for four or five segments (about 2 minutes each) for the NBC Nightly News.
We met the crew and producers on Wednesday evening and briefed them on what USAID is doing and yesterday I took them out for the afternoon. We went to Lampaya village where Art For Recovery was taking place, so they got plenty of good shots of little kids painting. Then we went to Lampuuk village where they got people building, planting, and making fences.
Going out with them tomorrow morning again.
Watch NBC news between Dec 22-26!
We met the crew and producers on Wednesday evening and briefed them on what USAID is doing and yesterday I took them out for the afternoon. We went to Lampaya village where Art For Recovery was taking place, so they got plenty of good shots of little kids painting. Then we went to Lampuuk village where they got people building, planting, and making fences.
Going out with them tomorrow morning again.
Watch NBC news between Dec 22-26!
Monday, December 05, 2005
Aceh Coffee Coming To A Starbucks Near You
To all you Starbucks addicts! You'll soon be able to find Aceh coffee in a java joint near you!
If they ever print one of those nifty coffee sticker with Aceh on it, please steal me some!
If they ever print one of those nifty coffee sticker with Aceh on it, please steal me some!
Saturday, December 03, 2005
The Number Game
They have constructed a temporary Media Center for the flock of press that have arrived in Banda to cover the 1-year anniversary of the tsunami. I was down there this afternoon to bring them some propaganda and I came across the official 'Damage Assessment & Progress Report' that's been put out by BRR. By living and breathing Banda, I often forget just how destructive the tsunami was. Here are some numbers for the province of Aceh to put things in perspective:
- 129,775 people were killed
- 36,786 people were missing
- Approximately 542,000 people have been displaced because of the tsunami and earthquake
- About 120,000 houses were destroyed
- 1,509 bridges were destroyed
- 367 health facilities were destroyed
- 2,224 schools were damaged or destroyed
- 13,828 fishing boats were lost
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Living Like a Real Expatriate
When I worked at the World Bank, a lot of people gave me grief for not paying income taxes. Now in Aceh, I've received some *remarks* about my allowances. I currently receive from the governement a Post Differential allowance, Cost of Living Allowance, and Danger Pay.
Post differential (also called “hardship differential”) is an allowance for any place when the place involves extraordinarily difficult living conditions, excessive physical hardship, or notably unhealthful conditions affecting the majority of employees stationed or detailed at that place. Living costs are not considered in differential determination.”
Cost of living Allowance is “a balancing factor designed to permit employees to spend the same portion of their basic compensation for current living as they would in Washington, D.C., without incurring a reduction in their standard of living because of higher costs of goods and services at the post.”
So I could go out and eat rice and fish everyday for about $1.25 for lunch, but like any good and proper Expat, I need to maintain my luxurious Washington standard of living and buy western goods (and support the local economy). In the past week or so, I've been noticing just how ridiculous some prices are. Here's a sampling, Aceh price listed first, followed by US price
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream (1 pint) $6.50, $2.50
Tina’s Burrito $2.75 , $0.59*
S&W Canned Beans $1.80 , $0.79
Frozen Tortillas $4.50 , $1.45
Cheerios (large box) $9.60, $5.29
Barilla Spaghetti or Penne $3.75, $1.39
Microwave popcorn (3 bags) $4.75, $2.99
Box of Nerds Candy $2.50 , $0.69
10 Slices of Whole Wheat Bread $2.00, $1.00
Total Aceh: $38.15
I admit to splurging on a pint of Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie the other night.
* Some claim to have found them 12 for $1 in college
** US price based on www.peapod.com for zipcode 20003
As of today, I've been in Aceh for 6 months!!!
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