Helping Aceh: What works and what does not

Helping Aceh: What works and what does not

Simon G. Bell, Jakarta

A team of international scientists studying the effects of the
tsunami in Banda Aceh recently reported in a Seattle newspaper
that the initial announcements relating to the height and speed
of the tsunami were significantly understated.

The team found the tsunami's height along the coast south of
Banda Aceh, the area closest to the earthquake and worst hit by
the disaster, was about 24 metres above sea level, with "run-ups"
on inland slopes exceeding 30 metres. The average speed of the
waves on shore was 13.7 metres per second.

This new information certainly helps to further explain the
widespread devastation seen in Aceh.

We are now moving into the seventh week of the international
response to support Aceh and North Sumatra. Throughout this time,
both the domestic and international response to this tragedy has
been inspiring.

Unfortunately, however, sometimes goodwill can create more
problems and can hinder the effort to stabilize a disaster rather
than assist the very people it has been sent to help. Due to a
lack of clear communication by the government and international
relief agencies as to what is actually needed, we have frequently
seen the reports of clothes rotting in the rain and hundreds of
boxes of instant noodles still in warehouses because there is
insufficient fresh water to cook them.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) through
the Indonesian Red Cross has been in Aceh for the past six years
and is one of the international agencies that has made the
biggest impact to the emergency situation. Recently, upon his
return from a one-month trip to Banda Aceh, Martin Unternaehrer
(spokesman for the ICRC in Aceh) gave a first-hand update on the
situation in the field.

Primarily there are two directions corporations and private
individuals can take with regards to contributing to the disaster
recovery and rebuilding of the island. The simplest way is to
choose an international organization that is already working in
the province and donate funds directly to this organization. If,
however, there are concerns a large percentage of the funds
donated may be lost in administration costs or there is a strong
desire to be more directly involved in the effort to support the
Acehnese, Unternaehrer made the following suggestions to ensure
the aid and donations collected can be distributed with minimal
disruption:

o Food, clothing and sanitary packs should be pre-packed in
suitable portions (family packs) for immediate distribution and
be packaged not only for transportation to Aceh but ensure the
packaging is sufficiently durable to withstand being loaded and
unloaded into trucks or boats several times.

o Basic professional kits to provide tools to assist in
rebuilding economic activities such as fishing kits, hairdressing
sets and sewing kits are extremely useful. The important issue
here is to ensure the kits are very basic and can be packaged and
distributed in bulk easily.

o Ensure the food and clothing collected is appropriate. There
have been significant donations of Western clothes with sizes
that are too big for the Acehnese. Also check that the food you
are sending is actually part of the diet of the Acehnese or at
the least can be eaten without requiring clean water or cooking
utensils.

If individuals or companies decide to be directly involved,
the most effective way of moving forward is to find a
knowledgeable and trustworthy partner already operating on the
ground. Once you have chosen your partner you will also need to
consider the following issues:

1 Find a location or individual village that you want to
assist that has not already had assistance from other
international or domestic agencies.

2 Meet with the community leaders or head of the village and
find out what is needed and coordinate all activities.

3 Keep the authorities informed of all your activities and
ensure that your intentions are clearly stated and understood.

4 Verify all your information through your own people.
Although, the "posko system" that is already established has been
a reliable source of information and coordination because of the
massive loss of government employees, information and
coordination has been extremely difficult to obtain.

5 Distribute the aid you bring as fairly as possible to ensure
a sense of natural justice within the communities you are
helping.

6 Ensure you keep track of all aid provided and be able to
report who, where and how the community has benefited should the
need arise.

7 Ensure that any construction or building projects you fund
or develop do not add to the confusion or have the potential to
add conflict to the community you are operating in.

8 Remember that not just physical buildings and infrastructure
have been lost. There have been massive human losses and capacity
in areas such as education. Aceh has lost many thousands of
teachers and trainers; it is therefore equally important, to
develop the human resources Aceh so desperately requires.

There are two groups of survivors among the people of Aceh.
The first group, have adopted the negative opinion that the
tsunami was sent by Allah to punish the people for their sins.
The second group has adopted the more positive view that they
have been chosen by Allah to survive because of their good deeds.
Whatever rationalizations are made by the Acehnese what is clear
is that they must be involved in the re-development process but
should not be the only party involved.

An issue that has been consistently discussed over the past
six weeks is how the conflict in Aceh between the Indonesian
government and GAM will be affected by the relief and
reconstruction effort.

The planned establishment of the Aceh Authority Board to
oversee and coordinate the reconstruction of Aceh was intended to
begin functioning on March 26 according to presidential spokesman
Andy Mallarangeng. The Board would have included both formal and
informal Acehnese leaders to ensure Aceh's reconstruction was
inline with local values and culture It appears, unfortunately,
this plan will not be implemented because it is seen as an
unnecessary addition to the local government already in place in
Aceh.

This is a significant setback in the effort to reunify the
country and to work with the Acehnese in creating a peaceful
solution to past conflict.

Perhaps it is best to dwell on a final point briefly mentioned
earlier in this article; the need for short-term emergency aid
that helps the needy with immediate effect has predominantly been
handled by the Indonesian and international agencies already
operating in Aceh.

I would, however, like to re-emphasize that the longer-term
aid currently being planned, needs to focus on children who have
lost their family, education and employment. This is one of the
harder challenges which may be neglected if it is not
specifically focused on by the various aid organizations and the
Indonesian government.

The writer is currently in Indonesia conducting a short-term
research assignment for SAGRIC International, an Australian-based
aid consultancy operating in Indonesia. He can be reached at
s.g.bell@lycos.com.