Journal page: One day in Aceh<\/p>\n
I usually woke up at 8 a.m. and went to the press center to
\ncheck the daily schedule of briefings and press conferences,
\nusually held by United Nations officials or disaster mitigation
\nteam chief Alwi Shihab.<\/p>\n
Then I'd go out to refugee camps to find soft stories --
\nhuman-interest stories -- and go back to the press center in
\nbetween to cover the press conferences of the day.<\/p>\n
It was challenging to visit different refugee camps because
\nthe refugees were from different areas, which affected their
\naccounts of survival, depending on how far they were from the
\ncoast, how many people had lived in their town.<\/p>\n
It was heartbreaking when I saw these survivors jostle and
\nfight for food and secondhand clothing, which they said were
\nlimited and inadequate.<\/p>\n
Emerging to a glaring, full noon, it was time to go back to
\nthe press center to write stories and race against time, always
\nfearing that the Internet connection would come crashing down.<\/p>\n
And after everything was done, only then did I remember to
\neat. Most times, I only ate once a day because you always had to
\nrush and it was difficult to find food. You had to travel quite
\nfar -- about a 30- to 45-minute trip by car -- to find a decent
\nenough place with fresh food.<\/p>\n
Then out of the blue, you'd find that your body was worn out
\nand could barely do anything more -- but bathe, of course. But
\nthat was only if you still had energy to draw water from a well
\nand figure out how to use it effectively.<\/p>\n
Good night.
\n--Tony Hotland<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/journal-page-one-day-in-aceh-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}