More survivor stories

Yesterday we went with SWWS Didi Ananda Vijayaji to Neuheun the site of our proposed brick making rehabilitation and housing reconstruction projects. Didi was totally shocked to see vast areas of total devastation along the sea, broken only by a few isolated clusters of coconut trees. It seems that due to their flexibility the coconut trees were the only livings beings that
survived the tsunami. I wonder if it is a message for all of us. Dada Nirmalkrsnanandaji and I were asking ourselves why we were not stunned by all of the destruction as was Didi. After three weeks have we become benumbed with all the debris, mud, chaos and sludge that surrounds us? Touring the shattered village with us was the village head (Kapala Desa). Pointing to the west of the river, he told us that of the 200 families that lived in that village (Ladong) there before the tsunami, only 70 of them had survived.

Radia:
As we walked through the rubble of Darawan's hitherto home, his unusually engaging wife began to relate to us how they had survived the tsunami. Their home was less than 500 meters from the sea so it was a wonder that her family of two boys and husband could have survived the tragedy. It is still unknown to us, how Prakrti spared some and totally obliterated others. We can only imagine the incredible horror of that day, seeing the comprehensive and awesome aftermath. A neighbor shouted to Radia, Darawan's wife that big waves were rolling
onto the shore, run for your life! Hastily grabbing her two kids of three years and ten years they all ran towards the mountain for safety. Her eldest son pleaded, "Mom, I want to see the waves". This was one day where Mother was in no mood for strolling on the beach! Happily she could tell her survival story to us yesterday. We are all amazed how dignified yet simple the Acehnese people are. Nobody
is sitting around moping about their fate. People are busy trying to clear their premises, send their kids to school, salvaging the remains of "home" or doing anything to bring back normalcy. The Acehnese people have been deeply touched by the response of the humanitarian help of different countries and are trying in their own small way to facilitate them. It is unbelievable that even though so many government officers, civil servants and teachers were victims of the tsunami the survivors are working over time to facilitate the relief efforts the vastness of which is still posing headaches to the UN and NGO community.

Nazrul Yunus:
We visited Nazrul's hitherto dwelling today gingerly watching our stop to avoid nails into our shoes or jagged pieces of iron into our shirts. His campus was a picture of total obliteration. It was difficult to piece together his former house, as it was for all of the 28 damaged homes we visited with our civil engineers today. Notwithstanding, Nazrul performed his hospitality gesture. There were still
5 tall coconut tress decorating his compound. Against all of our formal remonstrance, Nazrul 36, navigated the 10 meter tree faster than any Sumatran monkey and promptly lowered ten big, fat coconuts to the ground. Polishing them with care, carving out a neat niche for our unfamiliar noses and mouths he dished up his refreshments with an ear to ear smile. No glasses, no straws, no chairs, just love and a small way of saying thank you. It was the sweetest coconut water I have ever tasted!

Siyahadan:
Siyahadan's house was bordering the road towards the sea. Nothing stands there anymore. Siyahadan has a brick making factory attached to his house. When he returned to his home three days after the tsunami his eyes fell on 17 dead bodies in what was left of his "living room" (sorry for the parody!) Siyahadan's wife decided then and there that they would never live there any more. With the additional burden of clearing their devastated home of dead bodies, they were in no mood to entertain thoughts of returning to a place whose nightmares would never go way. They certainly never bargained for having a graveyard so near to their living premises! The stench of some of the areas where we walked reminded us that hundreds of dead bodies may never be recovered.

Didi's Loving Care:
As we photographed the demolished home of one elderly villager, she just broke down and wailed. It was a truly pitiful sight. The five village men who were accompanying us for the survey remained silent. They had been through the same many times over the past month. Didi Ananda Vijayaji stroked her arm and the elderly women sobbed on Didi's shoulder inconsolably. The men quickly regained their composure and lightly remonstrated with the widow who also managed to contained herself and made her way to her younger nieces who were witnesses of the scene.

Shiilabhadrananda, Banda Aceh, Indonesia