It's been a whirlwind 72 hours, from being hastily wait listed on flights full of journos, medics and aid workers, to arriving in Padang and rushing straight from the airport into the thick of the worst hit areas. I've learnt a lot about myself, and even more about the incredible capacity of human beings, both in the resilience of the survivors and in the spirit of those precious souls rebuilding their lives.
I cannot believe that just over 3 days ago I was sitting on my couch, watching TV and now, my time in Padang is rapidly coming to a close. It's an incredible phenomenon to be able to count my total hours of sleep this week on less than 2 hands, but even more incredible to look around World Vision's headquarters at two in the morning and realise that almost everyone else here has probably slept even less.
My last two blogs were all about me, and how I felt, and how I interacted with the situation here in Padang, this blog is devoted to those who will remain here long after I am back in Melbourne. Currently I'm sitting at World Vision's Emergency HQ in Padang. Throughout the day there is a constant stream of highly trained staff coming and going. Programme staff and assessment teams coordinate their efforts with other NGOs and the government to ensure that the neediest families are identified and provided for. Communicators travel back and forth to the field collecting images, videos and stories to help raise money throughout the world for this tragic situation. Logistics teams arrange everything from ensuring electricity, bottled water and food are in ready supply, on top of arranging countless airport pick ups and drop-off, booking accommodation, hiring drivers and local guides and all with no fuss, no wasted time and at times a very limited budget.
Many people like me constantly come from overseas, some to provide technical assistance, some to gather further communications, some to manage media efforts and ensure the stories here get told to the world. For us stepping off the plane and into a buzzing environment, like the 24-hour 'Situation-Room' that the World Vision Emergency HQ is reminiscent of, is both strange and exhilarating. It takes about 10 minutes for the local staffer's level of dedication to become infectious and by the first night you find yourself joining the rest of the team, still awake long after midnight compiling photos and videos, emailing updates and resources around the globe and planning for the next day to ensure that we all make the most of every 24 hours given to us in this relief effort.
Again, it is mind boggling to me that I am tiring badly after only keeping up this pace for 3 days, whereas the local World Vision Indonesia staff and the many Emergency Response experts will likely be in the region for weeks and months to come. No doubt the pace will slow somewhat once the situation stabilizes; the hectic media frenzy is already abating as the world's focus turns elsewhere, but one thing that I know will not change is the dedication of the ground staff. As the desperately needed donations continue to come in from around the world, it is these staff who are entrusted to ensure that every dollar is used to full effect, that every possible measure is taken to restore life to the region and that every child gets a chance at a life in all its fullness.
Over the last three days I've seen people queue in the driving rain to receive a small but important package of essential items, offering some semblance of normalcy in their disrupted lives. I've seen communities pull together and help those amongst them who were hit hardest. The distribution points were largely managed and facilitated by community members and merely overseen by World Vision staff, the child friendly spaces rely on community volunteerism to ensure a rich experience for the kids. For sure it is the professional and dedicated staff who provide the drive and expertise, but the communities themselves must and do take ownership of all of this work to ensure it succeeds long after World Vision has moved on to the next disaster area.
But for now, moving on is not the priority, in fact World Vision is already committed to a 90 day minimum recovery plan throughout West Sumatra. At all points the staff on the ground here will run assessments to see what initiatives have yielded the best results, what still needs to be done and for how long World Vision should continue to remain in the community here. It is a long road, long after the media has moved on and the world's attention moves to the next hotspot, the World Vision staff currently surrounding me at HQ will still be here, will still be putting in the long days to ensure that these communities are restored as fully as possible, and are better prepared when and if disaster strikes again.
So please, do not forget about the people of Padang, or about the staff and volunteers on the ground here. By now the news coverage has no doubt dwindled, and by next week it will be gone completely. I know that I will not soon forget this place and all I've seen here; I have been truly lucky to be allowed to interact with such resilience and strength in the face of such adversity.
That's all from me, my hope is that through these blogs you have all felt a small fraction of what it was like to be here. Perhaps it has inspired you to give towards the work in Padang, or at least to advocate on behalf of the people here, to keep this story alive in the news even one day longer could mean more life giving funds are committed to the work here in Sumatra.
Chris
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Indonesian army soldiers carry the body of an earthquake victim at the Ambacang Hotel which collapsed after an earthquake struck Padang, West Sumatra province October 8, 2009. Relief workers struggled to ...
