One Year On Blog

Tsunami anniversary: Village receives fresh start from across the world

2006-01-10T07:55:00.000+06:00

Feature from New Zealand Herald: 24 December 2005
www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10361336

Tsunami anniversary: Village receives fresh start from across the world
By Susie Buxton

The Sri Lankan village of Payagala has named a street "Gisborne Place" in honour of the generosity of New Zealanders.

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The year after

2006-01-10T07:48:00.000+06:00

Feature from New Zealand Listener: December 31-January 6 2006 Vol 201 No 3425
www.listener.co.nz/default,5272.sm

The year after
by Susie Buxton

One year on from the Boxing Day tsunami, is New Zealand aid making a difference?

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In the air

2005-12-07T18:49:00.000+06:00

Sri Lanka, here we come...almost. Currently in transit in Singapore after flying in from Auckland. Hoping to catch-up with the rest of the team soon - fingers crossed they are in from Jakarta and on the same flight to Colombo, as planned.

Susie has just reminded me that it is 2 am NZ time - which would explain why my fingers are not hitting the right keys and I having trouble coming up with simple sentences! Not to worry, it will be just after midnight when we get arrive in Colombo, plenty of time for some sleep.

Great to be underway and looking forward to seeing what NZ's efforts mean to those hit the hardest by the tsunami. Tomorrow we will be seeing housing projects funded by the Gisborne Lions Club and the United Sri Lanka Association - so expect an interesting 'in the field' installment tomorrow.

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Calling in from Indonesia

2005-12-06T21:05:00.000+06:00

I had such good intentions of logging information each and every day... but it just hasn't worked out quite like that partly because we were out of access for a couple of days on Nias but also because we have been clocking up some long hours and by the time we get back in the evening and have sent a few emails its bed time!

I can't do the last few days justice right now, but I will provide a more thorough diary (with pictures) of where we have been when I get back to Wellington. But we spent two days sailing around Nias with Dr Dave and several members of the SurfAid team. We visited a number of communities where SurfAid has been providing medical support - particularly in the prevention of malaria. But their projects go well beyond that. In between visiting villages, we slept on the boat and swam several times in the sea - a considerably more pleasant experience than my annual dip in the waters of Island Bay.

From Nias we flew to Medan and on to Aceh where the pace of our visit can only be described as blistering! World Vision has been brilliant in organising a car and driver for us which has enabled us to cover many miles and visit an array of projects.

On Tuesday, we were picked up at 7.30am and spent the morning with Save the Children in Alue Naga - a few minutes outside Banda Aceh. SC is working with a fishing community and is supporting the construction of new boats, the repair of nets, a livelihoods programme and a women's cooperative venture. In the afternoon, we visited a project being supported by the Red Cross that is providing temporary pre-fabricated shelters. It was a bit of a 'scoop' as our team were the first journalists to see the first proto-type unit being bolted into place.

After a couple of interviews that Chalpat had organised, we had dinner with Graham Rapley, a New Zealander who has lived and worked in the city for many years and is currently overseeing the construction of housing units for the International Organisation for Migration (OMI).

Today we spent the morning with Oxfam and shared a coffee with the leader of Lambateung Village before visiting a housing project that they are jointly supporting with Muslim Aid. In the afternoon, we drove out of town to the Lhoong Valley to visit World Vision which is involved in a number of projects that include the construction of houses, health centres, a school and a series of child friendly spaces.

A big day and many miles covered. I am struck by the astonishing beauty of this place, by the extraordinary resilience, strength, kindness and generosity of the Achenese. But also by the sheer scale and enormity of the devastation wrought by the tsunami almost a year ago. Everyone has been effected in some way and it is sobering and humbling to meet people who have quite literally lost everything - family, home, livelihood and possessions - yet continue to smile and simply get on with living. The sense of hope and optimism is all around.

Aceh is beginning to fill with journalists and reporters and film crews from around the globe - someone today mentioned that 1500 are expected for December 26th. It has been a privilege to be here, and to witness first hand, examples of how New Zealand money and expertise are making a difference.

We head to Jakarta tomorrow after visiting UNICEF in the morning. Leonard stays in Jakarta; I head on to Singapore and home while Phil and Chalpat join Catrina and Susie in Colombo for the second week. Thank you to everyone who has made this trip possible and especially to the NGOs here in Aceh who have been so helpful and willing to share their time with us. Very much appreciated.

All the best, Mike

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Aceh Update

2005-12-05T08:50:00.000+06:00

Received a couple of quick emails from Mike today. Team has arrived safely in Aceh and right now will be visiting Save the Children and Red Cross.

During their stay they will be accomodated in the Aceh Media Centre, a facility established by the BRR for the anniversary period. This provides jounalists with communications facilaties, local assistance and free accomodation -- a really worthwhile initiative and I think our team are some of the first visitors to try it out.

Mike has promised (no pressure) to post tonight and even add some photos.

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Next stop Aceh

2005-12-04T04:11:00.000+06:00

As expected it seems as if Mike and the team may be encountering some difficulties getting internet access in Nias. Later today they will be heading back from Nias, via Medan, to Banda Aceh for a 3 day visit.

The destruction the tsunami brought to the Aceh region is well-documented, but the scale of the disaster there is truly difficult to comprehend. Many towns were virtually wiped from the map and over 160,000 people dead or missing -- a staggering number when you consider the population of Wellington (400,000).

I hope that, as well as seeing the NZ funded work firsthand, the team gets a feel for the wider context of this response - the recently signed peace agreement, the environemental issues, the efforts to bring effective coordination to this huge effort and the timeframes involved. I am sure you could spend many months covering those issues and 3 days will provide just a taster, but important that to we get into the public arena.

I'll have to give a bit of a plug to World Vision who have helped finalise the on-the-ground logistics for the Aceh visit. I'm now confident that the team will get picked up from the airport! and will not be stranded anywhere during the visit. Thanks also to all the other NZ based and Aceh based comms staff who have pulled together to organise visits etc for the team - its much appreciated.

Also heard this morning from our guide-to-be in Sri Lanka who has confirmed all accomodation and transport for the team...I must admit to a sigh of relief (or two) when I saw his email sitting in my inbox.

The generousity of the all those who have helped on the One Year On project is really something special.

Off to go an buy extra stregth bug repellent (much mentioned in the last 2 weeks) and hopefully Mike will post soon as my NZ based musings are not quite as interesting!!

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Phew...

2005-12-02T04:42:00.000+06:00

I must admit I am very glad that all seems to be going well on the Indonesian leg of the One Year On journey. Putting together these schedules in an office thousands of miles away has not been without its challenges (including some sleepless nights) but knowing that is going to plan is great.

Still working on one or two details for the Aceh leg of the trip - all the NGOs we are visiting seem to have fatastic resources on the ground and I am really impressed with all offers of assistance and also the range of activities the team will be able to visit.

Sri Lanka is sneaking up on us...Susie and I leave on Wednesday - again all the project we will be visiting are sorted but have not yet heard from our contact who is arranging the accomodation and transport for the team. I'm hoping for the best!!

Apparently flying in an out of Nias is very much weather dependent (something I did not tell Mike before his departure!), so fingers crossed the team wake-up to a fine day.

Nias is a small island 125 kms of the coast of Sumatra. Although it is very close to where the epicentre of the December earthquake was, the island was not significantly affected by the tsunami but many buildings etc were destroyed by the quake itself. Nias was then struck by another serious earthquake in at the end of March - this was a very serious event with many killed and injured and many more buildings destroyed.

Nias and other close-by islands are famous throughout the world for their amazing surfing - which is where SurfAID comes in.

The SurfAID story is a great one and I am sure the team will get a great insight into their work while on this visit, which should involve a couple of nights on a boat travelling to some of the more outlying areas.

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Turbulence and coming down to earth

2005-12-01T19:34:00.000+06:00

Greetings from Medan - Indonesia's third city and, courtesy of Lion "We Make People Fly" Air, a two hour flight from Jakarta. As our Boeing MD90, laden with passengers and a vast amount of luggage, struggled into a thick band of cloud above the city, we hit a disturbing pocket of turbulence which reminded me of the classic Mr Bean sketch of the boy retching into an airline paper bag. I thought that flights in and out of Wellington could be bad at times, but I have never experienced anything quite like this.

We spent the best part of the morning at the New Zealand Embassy being briefed of the situation in Aceh and of what we are likely to see and find. Athol Soper (New Zealand Police) provided a very helpful summary of security issues in the province that has for many years been the subject of civil unrest. Mandy Whyte (NZAID Indonesia Manager) then briefed us on NZAID's Indonesia's aid and development programme - the extent and depth of which took us all by surprise. In relation to the tsunami support, for example, we all knew of the generous dollar-for-dollar funding mechanism for agencies and community organisations and of the lump-sum payments to a range of UN agencies, but I have to confess that I had forgotten just how many other projects NZAID has been supporting in the region. While largely focusing on governance and education, NZAID's programmes are many and varied. More on that in a later blog.

Fred van der Vloodt, NZAID's Programme Manager for South Asia, joined us to talk of the situation in Sri Lanka, which we will be visiting next week, and to outline a few of the projects that NZAID has been supporting.

Leonard joined us and it is truly wonderful to have him on board. For many years Leonard has worked in the NGO sector advocating for the environment and human rights and, prior to joining NZAID in September, was helping to organise a collective agency response to the tsunami. As well as doing some project monitoring work, Leonard will be our guide, translator, advisor and logistician for the next few days.

We emerged from our briefing and left for the airport. Our 'Bluebird' taxi sliced through the heavy downtown traffic and rocketed through a series of slip roads and onto the expressway. It was slightly unnerving being wedged in the middle of the backseat and hurtling along a triple carriage-highway with a sixteen-wheeled truck on one side and a bus full of lunch-time commuters on the other. But the driver could do this sort of thing in his sleep, so I sat back and forced myself to relax and caught glimpses, through what seemed to be an almost impervious barrier of enormous billboards featuring familiar products (Milo, Samsung, ANZ Bank) of Jakarta's new and impressive skyline.

And so, via Lion Air, to Medan - a city of contrasts. Trees and well-tended public gardens rubbing alongside exhaust choked highways that make your eyes wince; an eight storey air-conditioned shopping mall full of all the usual international fashion brands hard up against a traditional retail strip of small, single-storied shops selling everything from elaborately embroidered carpets to plastic cigarette lighters and fried noodles.

But tomorrow is an early start - we fly at 6.00am to join SurfAid which means a 5.30am departure from our hotel. So its off to bed for me.

Thank you Catrina - everything has run according to plan, although I have to say Leonard, Phil and I were slightly miffed when Chalpat was upgraded to Business Class on this afternoon's flight and while we all put up with a small plastic cup of water and a danish pastry, Chalpat tucked into a three-course meal with all the trimmings. But your organisational skills Catrina are legendary. Thank you. I owe you a banana milkshake.

So good night from me and will catch up tomorrow - assuming we can find internet access in Nias.

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Suspended in Singapore

2005-11-30T13:50:00.000+06:00

Arrived at 6.30am at the vast and sprawling and terrifyingly efficient Changi Airport after an uneventful flight. We left Auckland at 1.05am and were immediately presented with a large meal - which I guess is very generous but not exactly necessary!

I was fortunate to have a window seat but not quite so fortunate to be sitting next to a gentleman who not only snored regularly and loudly, but also, in his semi-conscious state, seemed to assume that my left shoulder was an obvious and natural extension to the small pink Airlines pillow that was propped between his head and seat. The tricky part for me was trying to wake him in order to slide past to stretch the old legs.

Phil and Chalpat were a few rows back. What a great idea booking a couple of day rooms ... ahhhh a nice long hot bath. I have now emerged after some sleep blinking into the artificial light to be faced by endless miles of people movers and smart shops. We fly to Jakarta in a couple of hours.

These few hours will be an extraordinary contrast to Nias and Banda Aceh where we will find ourselves in a day or two. This is a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate how money raised by New Zealanders and channeled through an array of agencies and community organisations is making a difference already. There are so many wonderful stories - a few of which we heard at the media launches in Auckland and Wellington - but there are so many more to be told.

It is a privilege to be part of this trip and I so hope that in some small way, this series of visits will help to promote the extraordinary work that NZAID and many New Zealand agencies are engaged in.

Kia kaha and until tomorrow - Mike

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Mike in Transit

2005-11-30T08:24:00.000+06:00

Just heard from Mike who has arrived in Singapore on route to Jakarta. Informed me that he was off in search of a banana milkshake (!) before catching some zzzzz's. Will arrive in Jakarta early morning NZ time.

A bit more relaxed now that things are underway and all the plans for the Indonesia leg of the trip have more or less come together.

Still a few logistics to finalise in Sri Lanka, but also seems to be coming together. A little concerned that we may have squeezed too much in - there are a lot of stories to tell.

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Itinerary

2005-11-30T08:02:00.000+06:00

Indonesia
DAY 1: Wednesday 30 November
JAKARTA

DAY 2: Thursday 1 December
JAKARTA - MEDAN

DAY 3: Friday 2 December
MEDAN - NIAS

DAY 4: Saturday 3 December
NIAS

DAY 5: Sunday 4 December
NIAS - BANDA ACEH

DAY 6/7: Monday 5 December/Tuesday 6 December
BANDA ACEH

DAY 8: Wednesday 7 December
BANDA ACEH - COLOMBO

Sri Lanka

DAY 9: Thursday 8 December
COLOMBO - GALLE

DAY 10: Friday 9 December
GALLE - AMPARA

DAY 11: Saturday 10 December
AMPARA - BATTICALOA

DAY 12: Sunday 11 December
BATTICALOA - COLOMBO

DAY 13: Monday 12 December
DEPART COLOMBO

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One Year On

2005-11-29T08:51:00.000+06:00

One Year On is a collaborative initiative by the local aid and development community to profile New Zealand funded response to the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami disaster.

Over 40 agencies and community groups are involved - ranging from NZAID, the Government's international aid and development agency which is managing New Zealand's $68 million official aid-package to the region, to community groups that raised thousands of dollars through concerts, collections and sausage sizzles.

As part of One Year On, a group of New Zealand journalists and photographers is visiting key New Zealand-funded projects in Indonesia and Sri Lanka to see how our Kiwi generosity is making a difference to those affected by the tsunami. The media trip will take place from Wednesday 30 November to Tuesday 12 December, 2005.

The purpose of this Blog is to provide information and images from the media trip, highlighting the stories of New Zealanders involved in the massive-scale recovery and reconstruction effort.

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