The town of Banda Aceh town is still struggling to resume normal life. About 60% of the city has been destroyed, and basic infrastructure has been disrupted. 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. It will take months to bring the city back to normal.

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 soon. Even after 19 days, no relief team had reached Lan Mo, Acer Besar Province. AMURT has started distributing 2,000 relief packets to the grateful survivors there.

In the past few days we have been visiting some of the IDP (Indonesian Displaced Persons) Camps dotted around Banda Aceh city. We have been distributing 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.

At a camp we are supporting in Aceh Besar district, about 4.5 kms. from Banda Aceh town, we bought footballs and volleyballs for the children. The parents were delighted for here was an opportunity for the kids to play and the parents to relax! The children were even more delighted than the parents. The balls were gone in three seconds and loud screams and laughter made it appear as if 15 meter waves crashing on unsuspecting villages and towns never happened! Normalcy returned; at least for a while. An Oxfam water engineer, seeing our simple gesture exclaimed, "What a great idea! Why didn't anyone think of that before?"

AMURTEL, our women's organization, is continuing to offer solace to the bereaved mothers in the camps, and to provide uplifting games for the children.

Since January 7 we have been assisting a local NGO, Lembaga Pemberdayaan Pemuda 9 (Gemma 9) in locating and disposing of dead bodies. Our 9 member team in collaboration with Gemma 9 has so far disposed of 500 dead bodies in the Banda Aceh area. Trias Wahyu, our Aceh Project Coordinator, reported that it was practically impossible to reach many of the bodies that are buried under tons of rubble and debris. Even bodies that can be seen cannot be reached, due to the huge piles of debris that prevent easy access.

AMURT and the army in joint operation
to clear decaying bodies

Our volunteers also take care of the animal survivors whenever possible. One day, two AMURT volunteers noticed a large turtle stuck in the middle of a pond. With help from local people, they managed to rescue the 80 kilogram turtle, who had suffered lacerations to its arms and legs. They lifted the turtle into our vehicle, drove the short distance to the sea, and released it into its natural habitat. The turtle was so grateful that he nodded his head three times towards the cheering villagers and AMURT volunteers who had saved his life!

India Tsunami Update

Our team members have been distributing relief supplies to the people in temporary relief camps built by the government. Cooking stoves, cooling utensils, water containers, mattresses and clothes have been distributed to over 7,000 people.

We are also continuing the work of cleaning out the houses of elderly survivors,
and counseling women and children. Every day we organize programs for children in different places. On January 19 we facilitated a sports and games day for three hundred children in Tarangamwari village. The children�s joyful cries filled the village as they learnt new games and competed in their favorite sport�s activities. Several local organizations have asked us to train them in child counseling and child activities, so we are planning to hold such a training program soon.

An elderly tsunami survivor in Nagapattinam
looks on as AMURT volunteers dig piles of
mud from her home

In the course of our relief work we come across people with many moving stories to share. Anjammal, a middle aged woman was mending her fish net when a sudden wave of water crashed into her house. Water was swirling up to her neck, yet somehow she could grab her two children and start swimming. She saw one of her neighbors being swept away and grabbed her hair to save her. That neighbor was also holding onto her two children. Anjammal kept swimming and brought everyone to safety. She wonders how she got such strength in a fraction of a second.

Local government official are extremely supportive of our work. Dr. P. Umanath, Sub Collector of Nagapattinam, writes in a letter: I place on record the selfless and tireless service rendered by the AMURT team during the initial periods when the services of volunteers were particularly crucial. A special mention should be made ? about their role in the disposal of dead bodies, particularly the human way in which the operations were handled by the team, and the cleaning operations of the damaged households.