WEEKLY SUMMARY

Field Operations:
In the past few days we have been visiting some of the IDP (Indonesian Displaced Persons) Camps dotted around Banda Aceh city, site of the worst brunt of the tsunami. We have been distributing some balls, badminton sets, fresh vegetables, fruits and supplementary foods to three camps benefiting 4100 people as well as doing an assessment of their needs for follow-up support.

We plan to link up with UNICEF to provide non-food items (jerry cans, plastic sheeting, and shelter repair kit) for three camps about 5 km. from Banda Aceh town. We are trying to place a second team in the second town in Aceh Province, Meulaboh on the west coast, which was also badly damaged by the tsunami. Once there one possibility we are looking is doing a psycho-social program (trauma counseling, animation for children, etc.) in conjunction with the CRS (Catholic Relief Services).



Our team visited another camp for displaced Indonesians of Chinese origin. There were about 19 victims staying with a host family and their needs are being well looked after. Many ethnic Chinese have gone to Medan to stay with relatives there. We have been attending the daily briefings from the major UN agencies and NGO's to keep ourselves abreast of the ongoing developments in the relief operation as well as to make contacts with other organizations doing a myriad of short term relief work. We are trying to make linkages so that our service activities are meeting the needs of the survivors and are not duplicated by other agencies.

We are trying to make contact with a Foundation which is offering supplementary food to the Camps in the form of Vitamins and Zinc.

Day to Day Situation:
Normal operations are far from restored in Banda Aceh town. About 60% of the city has been destroyed. We are staying in the south-east portion of the city which escaped the tsunami path. However there is erratic water supply, our local telephone is out of order and basic drinking water is not available. No stationary is available-even the UN offices are not providing us with paper or photocopies! Needless to say, internet and email communication is also sporadic from here as we have to depend on one of two overcrowded servers provided by the UN and the Indonesian government. It is already two weeks since we tried for connection through the cell phone and that too is not ready! Even to call from cell phone to cell phone is a daunting task within Aceh and beyond as signals are erratic and in some places non-existent.

The disruption of basic infrastructure coupled with the daily monsoon rains considerably slows our relief and coordination efforts. All data on the numbers affected and who is giving what service where, is still unclear and unsystematic though that situation is expected to improve within one week. It is quite shocking to visit the city centre of Banda Aceh. There is still a 10 ton boat "parked" on a main road of the city, apart from all of the huge amounts of debris left from the tsunami and earthquake. Though government rescue crews are working to restore normal conditions, it will require both massive machinery (bulldozers, etc.) as well as muscle power over a few months to bring the city back to normal.

Long-Term Projects:
We are looking at several possibilities in the Banda Aceh area:
1. Repair of damaged houses.
2. Rehabilitating water logged village wells and salted farm lands.
3. Repair of damaged schools.

Nothing is yet finalized and this list may change by the next report! The entire relief operation is highly fluid due to the enormity of the damage and the inability to accurately access the extent of the need due to the above-mentioned impediments.

Staff:
At the moment there are 9 AMURT and 2 AMURTEL staff in Banda Aceh, with 3 AMURTEL members and another AMURT member on the way. In the Medan
coordinating office two Dadas are handling logistics and regularly supply all of our relief, office and domestic needs. In the coming week several more volunteers from Bali will join us as our
operations promise to grow.

Needs:
If one does not know the local language (called Bahasa Indonesia) it will be difficult for him/her to do much service other than the non-skilled variety. And for that we feel it is better to take the help of local tsunami survivors who at the same time can earn some money for their families. Nevertheless there is still a need for medical personnel who can be used directly in the many ad-hoc medical posts set up to serve the survivors (doctors, nurse, and paramedic).

If one has fluency of language we still need:
Cook, Driver, Animators for children, Artists, Psychologist, Architect/Builder,.

Funny as it may seem we do not require food donations as there are huge stocks of food already in the province. Whatever we need we would rather purchase locally so as to strengthen the economy. Cash donations are needless to say always welcome.

How To Contact Us:
Banda Aceh:
Dada Nirmalkrsnananda, Field Director: Tel.: 62-81370081482
Dada Shiilabhadrananda, PR. shiilabhadrananda@anandamarga.net
Dada Dinakar, Indonesian Relief Coordinator, T.: 62-81360191598
Dada Ratnesh, Banda Aceh Relief Coordinator, Tel.: 62-81362305559
Didi Vanii, AMURTEL Aceh Coordinator, Tel.: 62-81320104219

Medan:
Dada Caetanyananda, Over-All Coordinator, Tel.: 62-8126052600.
caetanyananda@anandamarga.net
Dada Devashuddhananda, Logistics. devashuddhananda@anandamarga.net

Dada Liilananda, Jakarta R.O.: liilananda@anandamarga.net; Tel.: 62-8151825490.
Dada Sumitananda, SS Manila: sumitananda@anandamarga.net
Dada Unmantrananda, SOS Manila and AMURT Web Master: 63-9208198471.
support@amurt.net

Website: www.amurt.net/tsunami.
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Shiilabhadrananda, Banda Aceh