No longer a Wellingtonian in Aceh

So we made it back over the high mountain passes and I'm now back in JRS Medan. Its been a great trip! The road wasn't nearly as bad as everyone made it out to be apart from a few hairy bits and a bit of flooding (dry season my ass!)

Southern Aceh is what I imagine alot of the rest of Aceh would have looked like pre Tsunami. If the political situation was different here it would probably be one of the worlds top tourist destinations. The strange thing is driving through all these small towns and every house and business has a red and white flag out in front. There are hundreds of them and usually only a couple of meters apart.

I'll update the site in a couple of days with my favourite picks and a bit more of a report. I'm really sad to be leaving such a wonderful place but I look foward to getting back to my mates in Welly.

cheers guys

Lots a love

Camo

Text from Cam

Arrived in Tapak Tuan last night. The roal was really good. Lots of this part of the coast was not damaged by the tsunami. Very beautiful.

Eight hours drive ahead to Medan over the mountains.

Ok so driving to Medan

Good news is I have another night in Aceh as its a two day trip to Medan by road.

Just met with IDEP and had an interesting ride back.

The road is rough and on the way back they were fixing it so the old van I was in had to stop and I grabed a ride on a bike, so now I am here I have to get ready to leave.

ok cheers

Camo

Time to leave :-(

Well my flight is supposed to leave for Medan at 3pm, but there is a JRS car driving to Meulaboh today as well, it takes two days on a very rough road so I might try to go in the car. I would like to see as much of Aceh as possible and I have two nights planed for Medan before my flight leaves so I have the time. Hopefully I will meet with Ade from IDEP this morning, communication has been a little bit difficult as well as schedules.

I really want to come back here soon, I hope it is possible.

Someone sent through a report to me this morning about the relief effort and its progress. I don't think the person writing it has been here yet because they have no perception of how hard people are working in very difficult conditions. There is just so much to do here.

OK so I will post some more when I get to Medan.

E noho ra

Cam

Meulaboh market

Meulaboh market
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Meulaboh market

meulaboh market
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Meulaboh market

Meulaboh market
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Last Day

Well today is my last full day in Aceh. I went to the market today to see some of the CRS grant schemes.

Tomorrow I fly out in the afternoon for Medan. Two nights there and then off home, another 11 hour flight... grrrr. Singapore isn't so bad though you get 50,000 channels to choose from.

I'm really gonna miss it here. I think one thing will be the prayers coming from the many mosque in the evening is so beautiful. The people here hae been so wonderful friendly and patient. All the NGOs I've worked with have been great and really helped me so much. Its so inspiring to be around such hard working people.
I just can't wait to get back here, hopefully soon.

Thanks again for all the support from home, especially Rayna who has been right behind me from the start, cheers.

Camo

Muhammad Prophet Birthday

Muhammad Prophet Birthday
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Not so much fun on the bottom!

Boys

Boys
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

This game is to teach young boys the value of team work. They must climp a coconut tree which is covered in mud, to reach the treats at the top, they only have a few minuites and its a hell of a lot harder than it looks. The crowd got really excited anytime somebody got close.

Wedding party

wedding party 4
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Some of the CRS staff and I were invited to join in the celebrations for the day after a traditional wedding. The bride and groom will sit in the house most of the day and night to meet all the guests, not so much fun if you ask me!!

Wedding party

wedding party 5
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Blessings from Mother in Law

Wedding party

wedding party 2
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Gift from Mother in Law

Wedding party

wedding party
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

More Blessings

Wedding Party

wedding party 3
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Traditional wedding party

ferry

ferry
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Most of the road and all of the bridges in this area are gone. It makes the logistics of bringing equipment into the area very difficult. CRS is running work for cash programes to get the roads and bridges rebuilt, but it is tough work.

CRS relief work

CRS relief work
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Many people have been living like this for 2-4 months. We're still at the tail end of the wet season here so it wa raining pretty hard yesterday

Zuchi Camp

Zuchi Camp
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Zuchi Camp in Muelaboh. This is 1 of 3 new camps built by Zuchi, a budhist org, CRS is helping with the water and sanitation. The tents are quite well built but are very tightly packed together. People will live here for probably 2 years at least.

More manual labour

more manual Labour
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Everything is manual labour

Everything is manual labour
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Road Building in Meulaboh

Road Building in Muelaboh
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Scooter

scooter
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Young and old work here the work is very hard

young and old work here the work is very hard
Originally uploaded by Cameron Burnell.

Forgot to say...

I almost crashed a scooter today!!! I was looking for the clutch and trying to change down gear but they have no clutch and they have a seperate pedal for changing down! I was trying to slow down and was pressing hard on the breaks so I didn't go over the edge of a washout. Eventually went into a skid and the guy riding on the back just jumped off! It was a real good laugh!

Tech problems!!

Hopefully I can get a few more images up thanks to my IT team in NZ (Thanks Heaps Rayna).

Today I went by scooter into a village where they have had no support yet. In some places the sea has claimed 800-1000m of shore line. The road is completly washed out and we had to ferry over parts of the river. The rest of the way we rode or pushed the bike through the water and mud.

Most of the people around here are living in tents or in Mosque. Fairly big towns have simply been wiped out with nothing standing. The land here is completly flat so any one who survived had to cling to coconut palms. It's amazing that 2-3 story concrete buildings are flatened and nothing is left but foundations but the coconut palms are still standing!

Didn't feel so well today I think I am still suffering from something I ate but felt better once I started work.

Oh well see you all soon

Love

Camo