Over 900 kilometres of coastline in the Indonesian
province of Aceh was hit by the tsunami. The city of Banda Aceh was the single worst affected area in the south Asian tsunami. An estimated 90,000 people were killed there. Significant
sections of the city were destroyed and the city's coastline was drastically altered.
Banda Aceh and the neighbouring district of Aceh Besar were to host many of the 350,000 people displaced
by the tsunami.
One of Concern's first actions was get children back to school, to try to create a degree of normalcy in the lives of those affected.
Concern cleaned out and re-stocked
damaged schools and kitted students and teachers out with new uniforms.
People living in temporary camps were employed to clean out school buildings on a cash for work scheme, providing
an injection of money into the communities of those affected.
When this was completed, children were back to school wearing new uniforms in March '05, only three months after the
disaster.
For over 18 months, Concern provided clean water & sanitation facilities to approximately 9,000 people who were displaced by the tsunami in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar.
Concern also upgraded latrines and septic tanks, provided tankered water, drilling boreholes and piping water to users, improving barrack drainage, improving access to pathways.
As
people were gradually re-housed the need for this work lessened and Concern finished its work in the city of Banda Aceh in August 2006.
Concern Indonesia's main focus was on the island of
Simeulue. Lying only 30kms from epicenter of the earthquake, significant damage was caused by the earthquake and tsunami.However, only 7 people lost their lives to the tsunami. A tsunami
occurred here in 1907 and folk memory dictates that when the sea recedes people must run to high ground. March 28th another earthquake of 8.7 struck 50km from the island resulting in massive
structural damage and a fire which razed sections of the capital, Sinabang. Thousands of people were left homeless. As well as addressing immediate water and sanitation needs,
Concern are reconstructing 1094 permanent timber houses in 13 villages on the west coast of Simeulue.
Built from sustainable wood sources in the traditional style, they are engineered to
withstand significant seismic activity. Each house has an external toilet and shower unit. Reconstruction began in mid-November 2005 and is due to be completed by March 2007, finishing
Concern's work in Indonesia.
To enable the transport of food Concern repaired 5 temporary bridges and continues to maintain ongoing repairs to bridges.
Concern were the first
agency to respond on the island of Pulau Nasi which lies 15 miles off the coast of the city of Banda Aceh and was lashed by the tsunami.
Almost one quarter of the islands' population were
killed and the infrastructure and economy were severely affected.
Concern's work for the last two years in Indonesia has been conducted in consultation with communities about their immediate
and ongoing needs.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
