Acehnese grapple with demons, death and division<\/p>\n
Dean Yates and Tomi Soetjipto, Reuters\/Lhok Nga, Aceh<\/p>\n
The mass grave near the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian town of Lhok
\nNga has about 100 corpses in body bags lying in the freshly dug
\ndirt. There is room for at least 1,000 more.<\/p>\n
Not far away, the concrete hulk of a house has come to rest on
\nthe road. It is about the only building standing in this
\nbeachside town a few kilometers (miles) southwest of the
\nprovincial capital, Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Painted on its wall are the words: \"God help saves us from
\nthis disaster. 26\/12, 04.\"<\/p>\n
It is a date the people of Aceh province will never forget.<\/p>\n
Exactly one month on, the devout Muslims of Aceh are trying to
\nrebuild their lives after a monster tsunami triggered by a
\nmassive earthquake barreled ashore on Dec. 26.<\/p>\n
Schools reopened on Wednesday and many shops in the half of
\nthe city that escaped the killer waves are bustling. A cleanup in
\nmajor centres is in full swing. But for Acehnese, putting the
\npast behind them is not easy.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want to complain, but if you look around things are
\nstill really bad. Dead bodies are still everywhere,\" said Zainal
\nAbidin, the principal of a primary school in Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Indeed, some of the busiest people are Indonesian soldiers
\nrecovering bodies across a 350-km (220-mile) stretch of coastal
\nwasteland of ruined rice fields and obliterated villages.<\/p>\n
The government says nearly 100,000 corpses have been buried.
\nWith the number of dead and missing at some 220,000, the soldiers
\nand diggers of mass graves will be busy for weeks to come.<\/p>\n
Once home to several hundred thousand people, Banda Aceh has
\nbeen virtually split into two.<\/p>\n
In one half, life thrives as if nothing has changed. Outdoor
\ncoffee shops do a roaring trade. Barber shops and mobile phone
\noutlets stay open late. Traffic clogs the roads around street
\nmarkets where meat, vegetables and fruit are on sale.<\/p>\n
\"I've been standing here since 8:00 a.m. Every day there is a
\nline of customers,\" said Harry, a barber, noting that the city's
\ntraditional area of barber shops was destroyed.<\/p>\n
The other half is a ghost town of rubble and looted shops. The
\nmain inhabitants are scavengers and the hundreds, possibly
\nthousands, of men driving trucks and bulldozers in a huge cleanup
\noperation.<\/p>\n
Trucks dump rubbish and debris on the outskirts of town or in
\ndestroyed rice paddies, where it is burnt, sending a pall of
\nsmoke over the city.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands have been made homeless across Aceh,
\nforced to live in makeshift tents or shelters.<\/p>\n
Shaista Aziz, a spokeswoman for the British charity group
\nOxfam in Banda Aceh, said such people wanted to get out of the
\ncamps and start rebuilding their lives.<\/p>\n
\"People here are not used to handouts. That's something that
\nis actually destroying them,\" Aziz said.<\/p>\n
The United Nations says aid is reaching most people in need.
\nEven so, signs of desperation are not hard to find.<\/p>\n
Approaching Krueng Raya, a flattened village a 45-minute drive
\neast of Banda Aceh along the northern coast, scores of adults and
\nchildren beg by the roadside, waving empty boxes or plastic
\nbasins at the few passing cars.<\/p>\n
Schools went back on Wednesday, but the resumption confirmed
\nfears that children bore the brunt of the death toll when the
\nwaves came. In some schools, fewer than half of pupils turned up.<\/p>\n
At secondary school No. 4 in Banda Aceh, students walked on
\ntables across a mud-filled yard to register. Classes might start
\nin a week when the school was cleaned properly, said economics
\nteacher Nurhayati.<\/p>\n
\"Even though we cannot open yet, we are urging students to
\ncome and be with their friends. It might be less stressful than
\nstaying at home,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The trauma of the disaster worries health officials just as
\nmuch as immediate concerns such as epidemics. Many Acehnese say
\nthey have nightmares and still fear the sea.<\/p>\n
According to the World Health Organization, up to 1 million
\npeople could be affected by loss of relatives, homes or
\nlivelihoods.<\/p>\n
\"I am still traumatized. Things are not normal. We worry about
\nwhat we will do in the future,\" said Yulhelmi Gustiperwira, 40,
\nan electrical contractor.<\/p>",
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