DJKTsunami

Goodbye

2005-03-07T00:25:00.000-08:00

Blog 3/7

This will be my last post to this blog. I leave Banda Aceh tomorrow, flying to Medan, overnight, then on to Singapore, Taipei then LAX. I will have been gone 32 days when I get home and it will be wonderful to see my family again.

Sunday afternoon we explored along the west coast of north Sumatra about 20+ miles from Banda Aceh where the tsunami height was at its greatest according to reports. The road is heavily damaged or completely missing in many places and we had to travel slowly across gravel temporary roads and bridges.

Villages along this road are further from the main city of Banda Aceh and are of simpler construction and more vulnerable to the tsunami force. Many areas we pass through are completely wiped clean and those houses constructed of concrete and steel only leave their foundation. In what must have been beautiful coves of white sand beaches and swaying coconut palms are mud and debris. Looking across one bay it is easy to see the shear line where the tsunami wave cleaned off shrubs and trees from the rock outcroppings. This line looks to be perhaps 25 feet tall.

A large chuck of the asphalt on this bridge was lifted up in one piece and shifted left. The damaged railing is pulverized by the tsunami. Further back, on the rock hill, the tsunami ripped off vegetation more than 30 feet above the road.

Just to the left of where I took the above picture, 3 Indonesian boys were playing under the bridges. On request, I took their picture and were delighted to see themselves on the screen of my digital camera.

I trust that God has somehow used my time here to make a difference in these people’s lives.

Me on the left during the relief flight with Tim.

Calang

2005-03-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

Blog 3/5

Having unloaded our cargo of life-giving necessities, we roll down the narrow road and despite a strong crosswind from the ocean, Tim keeps us perfectly centered on the narrow road and we lift off for the return flight to Meulaboh. I savor a satisfied feeling of being part of a “last mile” delivery of food and supplies to hurting tsunami victims.

Along the coast, we pass over Calang, a town that lost a shocking 80% of its residents. A soldier was on the beach with his friends the morning the tsunami struck and survived, but all his friends were swept away and lost. Everyone was curious when the sea water retreat almost a mile from the beach and fish were visible flopping around on the wet sand. Many walked out to collect fish but this soldier just observed and felt a sense of fear. Off in the distance he saw a wall of black water that seemed to be coming toward them. As it got closer the top of the horrible black wave was curling over and he described it as a cobra head sticking 60 feet up.

In terror he started running to the hill behind him while his friends and others just stood and watched the deadly approaching wave like a deer paralyzed in the headlights of a car. Just making it to safe higher ground, he watched in horror as the massive black cobra wave engulfed and swallowed up the town. Now, tents dot the ruins and many have camped on the hill.

Flying along the relatively flat coastline the tsunami has left an indelible mark on the landscape. From the beach to about a mile inland the rush and deposit of salt water has killed vegetation and turned it into a flood plane.

Here, a prison lies in ruins but everyone was able to escape.

On final for landing at Meulaboh the earthquake damage to the runway is obvious – the center line is jagged as shear lines displaced the runway right and left. We feel the repaired cracks as we roll out on the runway.

Meulaboh

2005-03-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

Blog 3/5

It’s a little after 5am and the several mosques around our neighborhood are broadcasting their routine morning Arabic prayers over their loudspeaker systems. The cacophony of sound drifts through my open window and I can’t go back to sleep as my mind drifts through the adventures of yesterday.

I had the opportunity to take an AirServ flight from Banda Aceh to Meulaboh, a coastal town along the tsunami damaged western coast of Sumatra. One of my objectives was to visit our “sister” VSAT internet café serving the NGOs in that area, about hours drive from the Meulaboh airport. However, on arriving in Meulaboh I was able to go along on an MAF relief flight on a Cessna 206.

Shortly after take off we pass over the town of Meulaboh whose beautiful peninsula, reaching out into the sea, was a vulnerable tsunami victim. Remnant debris has the same tell tale signs I’ve seen in Banda Aceh – houses wiped clean to their foundations by overpowering rushing sea water. Much of the town, even now more than 2 months after the disaster, remains flooded.

The main road connecting many of the coastal town is destroyed in many places and numerous bridges are wiped out. Villages are cut off and isolated from normal supply lines of living necessities.

Our MAF flight is meeting this need by carrying tons of basic food supplies in packages put together by OBI (Operation Blessing Indonesia). After a 63 mile flight up the coast we land on a narrow useable and somewhat straight part of the main coastal road that has been cleared to become our runway.

Out of nowhere, eager villagers suddenly appear and help us unload the 9 pound boxes packed full of essential Indonesian food supplies and goodies.

Each box contains salt, sugar, noodles, canned food, soap, toothpaste, and of the course the most important, rice.

More in next blog …

UN Camp

2005-03-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

Blog 3/2

Our internet café tent is located on the grounds of the “UN Camp” here in Banda Aceh. This government compound was given to the UN for a command post that could be set up quickly. The Norwegian Support Team, who responds to emergencies within 48 hours, flew in with 25 tons of tent equipment, portable bathrooms, a cooking tent and various other supplies and set up the camp for the UN. The several houses on the site act as offices while the tents provide temporary housing for UN personnel that are coming and going.

Located here on the camp is HIC (Humanitarian Information Center) that collects information from the many NGO (Non-Government Organizations doing tsunami relief) working throughout northern Sumatra and compiles it into useful reports, maps and statistics. For example, the most recent report shows that 124,829 people are now registered dead and buried, 256 bodies found and buried on 28 Feb 05 and 111,528 people are registered as missing. The HIC website is updated from here using our internet café satellite connection. Their website is at: http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/sumatra

The latest report also lists 400,376 IDPs (Internally Displaced People) (people who have lost their homes), Registered IDPs in Spontaneous Camps, Temporary Location Centers (TLC) and Hosted Families.

I’ve seen many brand new bulldozers and backhoes arriving to help with the immense clean-up operation. The recovery effort is going to take a long time.

Ground Zero

2005-02-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/28

On Sunday afternoon we drive Phil to the airport to return home to his family; his 30-day visa almost expired. He has made a great contribution helping setup and run the Internet Café. I value our time baking together in the blistering tropical heat of our internet café tent.

Leaving the airport, we try reaching the beach that was first hit by the tsunami. Adi, our driver is skeptical, saying the bridges going to the isthmus were taken out. After weaving our way through large areas of waste and ruin we come to the bridge which is damaged but still useable. Proceeding on ahead we arrive at “ground zero”. The road that used to go along the beach is dramatically cut off and all that remains are piles of rubble that are mere remnants of the former shoreline. 100 yards of seashore have been forever removed. Our driver, knowing the former beauty of this beach area, is so taken aback, he’s afraid to get out of the car.

The immense power of the tsunami is staggering as we again see flattened areas with bare foundations wiped clean like a table top. What remains of the steal reinforced cement posts clearly show the direction of flow.

Amazingly, sticking up like a monument of defiance amongst the flattened ruins, this house still has standing walls. Debris caught in the upper structure show that it was probably completely plunged under water.

I’m always interested to read the graffiti that that gives a little peek into people’s lives. It reads –
“lost 26 December 2004”
“Angga – 11 years old”
“Iwan – 7 years old”
“Rahul – 5 years old”

Indonesian Living

2005-02-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/26

We are staying in a rented house with three bedrooms and by Indonesian standards, this is a nice house. Somehow, it sustained no damage from the massive earthquake on December 26th, even though a 3 story building only a block away, lies collapsed like a short stack of pancakes.

Our kitchen has no oven but we have a nice three burner propane stove with burner gratings to nicely cradle a wak (Indonesian spelling). This is better than the typical smelly kerosene type. There is no hot water so the one spigot over the sink sporadically emits water when it feels like it. There is little or no pressure in the city water system and when it flows, it dribbles.

Dede washes our clothes in the traditional Indonesian way – by hand in the back yard. She scrubs the clothes with a brush against the cement pad then rinses them in buckets. Phil said his jeans have never been so clean! Drying takes a long time even though it’s warm because the weather is always humid.

Welcome to our typical Indonesian bathroom. The open tank of water is called a bak and is NOT a bathtub (uninformed westerners have been known to foolishly get in it). No, no, no, this is only for holding water, because, as I said, there is little or no water pressure and we leave the spigot open for hours at a time hoping to collect enough water for a bath. Did I mention that there is no hot water?

The red hand bucket is for bathing – a sort of portable hand shower head if you will. Standing on the floor in your birthday suit, you take a nice cool dip of water and throw it over you. Ah … it feels so good after a hot day in the tent. You repeat the process until you’re completely clean … and cool. Did I mention there is no hot water?

Now, the squatty potty is another unique experience. This no-touch, no flush, no-sit, no-fun, toilet takes a bit to get used to. When done, instead of pressing down on the flush handle, you grab the multi-purpose red hand dipper, fill it and create your own flush (repeat as necessary). The real advantage is that people don’t linger, while browsing casually through their favorite reading material while others are waiting.

Ocean Ghost

2005-02-24T15:46:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/24

How many pictures can I take of the widespread tsunami destruction in Banda Aceh? This densely populated area is only about a ¼ mile from the beach. Even though most of the construction is steel and concrete, the houses were leveled flat and their foundations blasted clean. Anything not heavy was carried away to some distant spot.

The wall of this hospital was blown out and all its contents are gone including patients that were being cared for. This car, rolled, crushed and pulverized, somehow got washed inside the building and settled here. The Indonesian graffiti says “ocean ghost”.

This next amazing scene is difficult to capture in a picture. Here, in a kampung (Indonesian village), amidst destroyed houses, a large barge was swept in a mile or more by the mighty rush of sea water. According to locals, it is sitting on 7 crushed houses and a car with occupants.

Long-haul connection

2005-02-22T20:33:00.000-08:00

We’ve had quite a few requests from relief agencies working in Banda Aceh to “hook them up” to our internet connection. (A reliable broadband connection to the internet is a vital ingredient to most agencies’ success.) Unless they’re at our UN camp location for a wired connection or within 100 feet or so of our wireless access point, they’re out of luck. The local telecommunications infrastructure is inadequate and needing repair.

One solution is a long-haul wireless system that uses high gain directional antennas on both ends to extend our internet connection miles away. Such a system could allow us to connect other agencies around the city. The main problem though is that a line-of-sight, unobstructed path is usually required for proper functioning - trees and buildings are unwelcome obstacles.

Phil was able to “borrow” a very nice 45’ telescoping antenna pole from WFP (World Food Program). So Our driver Adi, and I made a trip to the local toko besi (hardware store) to get mounting hardware and I had to “dust off” some Indonesian words I hadn’t used for a long time. Let’s see – baut (bolt), mur (nut), ring (washer), bor (drill) etc.

Back at the tent Adi andn I install cement anchors and clamps in the concrete wall and then assemble the high gain antenna and extend the pole. Using the GPS coordinates we aim the antenna at our house .71 miles away. Whew! The heat in the shade inside the tent isn’t so bad after all. (Why am I working in long pants? It is culturally required.)

That night at the house and with our hopes under guard, we temporarily “lash up” the high gain antenna to our swinging gate out front and aim it across the rice paddy in the direction of the tent. To our delight, flickering indicator lights show we have a signal. We quickly connect our notebook and with grins as wide as an Indonesian frog’s we browse the internet.

We can still go higher on the antennas on both ends so this part of the test is successful. Yeah! We’ll permanently install the antennas and do more testing. Even though we didn’t have line-of-site, this equipment is doing its job.

Family Tragedy

2005-02-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/20

The tsunami damage to Banda Aceh buildings, streets, bridges and infrastructure is immeasurable. More tragic however, is the irreplaceable loss and wounds in people’s lives. Dede (25) and Apit (18) are two such people. They work at the Indonesian house we live in as helpers, cooking, cleaning, washing and guarding the house.

On the morning of the 12/26, Dede was taken to work on the back of her dad’s brand new motorcycle and dropped off. Before entering the three story department store, the 4th largest earthquake ever recorded struck with viscous force cracking most of the concrete and steel structure. Fortunately, the structure did not collapse and she stayed outside.

Dede’s dad, already home, drove to check on the condition of several relatives and seeing they were okay, returned home. Living with Dede’s mom and dad were her brother Apit, her sister and brother-in-law and their two children age 1 and 3. Twenty minutes after the earthquake the ocean water started coming toward their house and they all started to run toward the Mosque. The dad didn’t want to leave and Apit grabbed him and tried to pull him away. Suddenly a large wave broke over the house and Apit lost grip of his dad and was tumbled and tossed in what he described as black water. Apit was repeatedly pulled under water and his swimming was overpowered by the violent gush. A floating board came by and he held on for his life and was carried some distance inland before coming to rest, and alive. Sadly, the father was swept to his death and his body was not found for days.

Dede’s mom, sister, and her sister’s children were also swept into eternity and never found. The brother-in-law, having lost grip of his child, was hauled away by the tumbling current. He managed to grasp the timber of a roof and held on, saving his life.

Dede and Apit lost their home, their mom and dad, and their sister and two nephews. Dede’s store is closed for an indefinite time and is out of work. We feel privileged to provide them both work and income as they pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. This story is repeated thousands of times over for the traumatized Banda Aceh people and I trust that the very small contribution God has allowed me to make will help.

(Apit's shirt name is a musical group.)

Critter Intrusion

2005-02-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/18

2:11 am and I’m sleeping very soundly. Suddenly I’m jolted awake by something crawling on my shoulder. Unconsciously, and instinctively, I sweep off the unknown critter. I grab my LED flashlight and start the hunt for the invader. Between the mosquito net and the bed is a tropical cockroach that’s about twice the size of the wimpy State-side variety. It must have been quite a scene as I’m thrashing around on top of the bed under the net with my flashlight trying to exterminate the intruder. Finally, I get him on the side of the mosquito net and with one carefully aimed blow of the flashlight he drops. I grab the insect spay and finish him off.

Every little twitch on my skin keeps me awake for 20 minutes and then an aftershock hits. Okay, I’m not getting to sleep soon so under the blue-white glow of my flashlight, I read.

The tsunami damage continues to amaze me. Here, parked on a bridge (I hope it holds) over one of the rivers, a boat is pushed up into a fish market. Somehow, despite the current strength, the bridge holds but the damaged railing illustrates the enormous force of the current.

Further from the river and somewhere in town, another boat sits in an improbable location delivered unceremoniously by the gushing water.

Power of Water

2005-02-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/16

This morning we had another aftershock. Instead of the rolling motion, this one had a sharp jolt. It was over quickly and there didn’t seem to be any commotion outside.

On arriving at the Internet café this morning we were surprised to see “customers” waiting outside our tent waiting to check their emails. (Hmmm, looks like we need some benches, huh?) The gentleman is a surgeon from the northwest who came to help local doctors deal with medical needs. Many hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or damaged and according to this doctor, many medical personnel were lost. Sadly, in tsunami hit hospitals, many patients were swept away.

The picture below shows the mind-boggling power of water. This is actually the second story of a house whose foundation is about 100 feet away! The tsunami must have taken out the bottom floor and carried this concrete and steel structure away and it settled on the road.

The graffiti on the back wall in Indonesian and Arabic says “Yes God, we repent”.

We now have a new car and driver and we didn’t have to ride motorcycles and Becaks to “work”. (It was kinda’ fun though - sorry Pattie.) The car has air conditioning vents for the back seats and they are much appreciated on the way home after packing up the computers and VoIP phones, closing up the tent and packing the car.

2005-02-16T03:06:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/14

It’s Valentines Day and I get to open a card Pattie sent with me and the meaningful message makes me miss her. As I’m getting into bed I decide to make an expensive call on the cell phone since I know its morning in California and she’s about to leave for work. She’s surprised and we have a wonderful short exchange. Ahhh!

Our Internet Café provides internet and phone service to 100+ NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) that are registered with the UN. They can walk into our tent and use one of our four notebook computers or bring their own and plug it in or use our wireless link. We require that their computers be free of viruses and spyware. We also provide internet access for OCHA (Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Aid). Users of our Internet Café are having some trouble sending and receiving email and the internet access seems slow. We check our switches and see that a lot of activity is coming from the OCHA office connection.

We play detective and trace wires back to an OCHA computer that is constantly bombarding our satellite connection with lots of traffic. More investigation reveals a nasty worm/virus disguising itself as Yahoo messenger that can’t be removed with anti-virus tools. I resort to “hacking” the computer and finally kill it. Not only does her computer run faster but our whole network is now operating at full speed.

Later we detect another rogue notebook and discover it loaded with over 800 spyware and viruses programs clogging his system. We refuse the poor guy access to our network until we finish cleaning his system.

In the morning our driver and car didn’t show up and so Phil and I had to takes rides on a back of a motorcycle to get to “work”. Everyday we carry 4 notebook computers, 2 VoIP phones and our own personal notebooks to the “tent of meeting”. Balancing on the back of a motorcycle and carrying all this was a little tricky as we weaved through the traffic. (I hope Pattie doesn’t read this.)

Then, on the way home we take a becak. :)

More Destruction

2005-02-14T00:13:00.000-08:00

Blob 2/12

It’s Sunday, our Internet Café is closed and we decide to try and find a church that is about 30 minutes drive out of town. We weave our way through the city and get on the main road heading out of town. We’re shortly stopped by police who have the road blocked because a large boat is lying squarely across the road blocking traffic both ways. Crews are working to remove it so we try some back streets but debris and flooding prevents us from getting any further. We decide to pulang (go home), change our clothes and explore more of the tsunami affected areas of the city.

For the trip we pack some special snacks from the States and on the road heading southwest out of town are low-lying areas that are heavily damaged. Survivors and displaced people are living in tent camps set up by relief agencies.

Along the road we come to a vehicle graveyard where damaged vehicles have been towed. Cars and trucks that were swept up in the churning, powerful flow of water are crushed and twisted.

We continue toward a French cement factory that I remember seeing in satellite photos before I left. However, the road is partially blocked by a large coal-filled barge and its probable tug boat that were swept ashore and amazingly set on the beach without damage.

We pass more ruined housing areas and our driver Iskandar points out the house where his Uncle and his wife and three children passed away. Their bodies were never found.

On the way home we stop to check on the internet café tent and the temperature inside is over 100 degrees so we open some vents and unzip the window coverings.

For our church service we watch a DVD of Mike Yearly from North Coast Church teach on humility. How appropriate. How can we be prideful about anything God has blessed us with when these Banda Aceh people’s lives have vanished?

Destruction

2005-02-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this laying in bed, under the mosquito net and my outside screened window is opened. It's 6am and I can't sleep any more. My time clock is still messed up and it seems my body is taking a long time to adjust. Some rooster is crowing and fortunately the mosque is some distance away and I could barely hear the Imam calling out the morning Islamic prayer. It's hot and humid and the only air-conditioning I've been in since being in Banda Aceh is when we get in the car for the 5 minute ride to the VSAT internet cafe. Once there we're in a tent and even though it's open it gets hot and we're basically outside all day long helping people use the system and get their email.

I'm staying in a typical Indonesia house with limited water and the typical bak. So, to bathe you stand in the tiled bathroom and dip water from the bak and dump it over you. It's cold water and it actually feels pretty good after cooking all day in a tent.

More on the after-shock -

The aftershock was pretty strong. The floor was moving around and rolling for about 20-30 seconds. We didn't react right away but it seemed to increase in intensity and we started for the door. Within minutes we could hear people outside walking down the street. The night jaga (watchman) pounded on our door and said that we must leave and go to higher ground. We got our shoes on and grabbed a few things. I got my GPS so I could track our location and get back if we got lost.

Our car and driver were gone so the only option we had was to walk somewhere. By the time figured out what we were going to do, someone said we didn't need to go after all and we went back in the house. We talked about how this might be a good opportunity for robbers to get into houses.

I asked our driver what he did. He said he and his wife were very afraid and they used the car to head toward higher ground. The streets were jammed with traffic and people were panicking. These people have been through so much and they are very much traumatized(he actually used that word). He personally lost several relatives in the tsunami.

When we drove out through the devastated areas, I was stunned by the huge areas of waste and ruin. Cement foundations lay bare with grotesquely twisted rebar clearly showing the direction of flow. Anyone caught up in that awful washing machine of tumbling, churning water was either drowned or crushed by the huge amount of debris. There are several small rivers and drainage canals and our driver said they were full of floating dead. Bodies were lying along streets and it’s unimaginable what it must have been like to not only see the physical destruction, but the human carnage. These people experienced the fourth largest earthquake ever recorded followed by an unprecedented tsunami, then had to view the massive loss of life.

2005-02-10T02:48:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/9

The flight from Medan is under and hour and on approach to Banda Aceh we circle three times and we can clearly see the large areas of tsunami destruction along the coast. It reminds me of the pictures of the nuclear destruction of Nagasaki - flattened and leveled.

All my baggage arrives except the box of 1,000 feet of network cable we need to for the VSAT communication post. Garuda airlines say the airplane was overweight and they had to leave some baggage behind. I believe it since I was 130 pounds overweight myself.

We drop my baggage of at the house I’m staying at and we proceed to the VSAT internet café located on the grounds of the UN compound. This is opening day and tsunami relief agency workers are beginning to come and use the broadband connection. The speed we’re getting over the satellite link is really good and the voice-over-IP phones have a very clear voice connection.

After we close down the internet café, we drive through several of the areas of Banda Aceh that were hit by the tsunami and the devastation is shocking. Rubble is everywhere. Twisted re-bar sticking naked out of foundations is witness the enormous force of the water. Who knows what still might lie below?

The reality of this disaster is made real as we experience a 6.3 after-shock that night that sends people in a panic; exiting there homes and running toward higher ground.

Singapore and Medan

2005-02-09T23:02:00.000-08:00

Blog 2/7

We land about 1:30 am Singapore time and I make my way to the transit hotel to see if I can get a day room and rest during my 7 hour wait for the flight to Medan. The transit hotel is full but the “lounge” is suggested which has showers, a snack bar, exercise room, internet access, and lots of big chairs. I pay the $20, and take a nice hot shower, check my email, then push two chairs together and try to stretch out and get some shut-eye.

The flight to Medan is only 1:15 – a miniscule last appendage to my journey. We land about 9am local time and as I exit the plane and start down the stairs (no air-conditioned tunnel) to the tarmac; hot, humid tropical air assaults me. This ain’t no San Diego air - this air’s got real body to it. :)

From the immigration line I see two MAF guys, Rob and Terry on the other side of the boundary pointing to me to go to another place. I try to get the $25 visitor visa fee waived as a humanitarian aid worker, and after 10 minutes of visiting different officials and getting shuffled around, I still have to pay the $25.

My two suitcases and the 3 large boxes of support supplies arrive in good shape. The MAF Indonesian driver loads it all in the Kijang and joins the mash pit of traffic to the hotel. The traffic is mix of cars, trucks, bicycles, sidecars, and pedestrians all contending for a piece of asphalt with only apparent rule – don’t hit the other guy.

We drop all the luggage at the hotel and Rob and I go shopping with the MAF car and driver. Both the VSAT communication posts need more network cable, connectors and other supplies. The driver knows the location of a computer toko (store) that is buried amongst other non-descript tokos.

Medan is the third largest city in Indonesia and the Sun mall near our hotel has everything, including an Ace hardware store which we go to buy some electrical connectors. I decide to push through the day and not rest in an attempt to adjust to the new time zone quicker. Rounding an isle at Ace I stumble on some merchandise on the floor and realize I’m a little wobbly. Rob leaves in the evening to return to the UK and I drop into bed but don’t sleep well.

Blog 2/8

The only internet connection at the hotel is a very poor modem dial-up which doesn’t work for synchronizing my Outlook email program which really makes me feel isolated. The team coordinator and I walk over to the mall to buy a cell phone for me. I also pick up a 220v -> 110v step-down transformer so I can run my US 120 volt devices like my NiCad battery charger since all the voltage in country is 220v.

I arrange for a flight tomorrow to Banda Aceh and spend some time with one of the pilots that have been flying relief supplies to needy people. One relief organization has been putting together thousands of 4kg (about 9 pounds) boxes that contain rice, oil, sugar, etc. that are being delivered to isolated people along the western coast above Meulaboh. Airstrips are roads that have been cleared of debris and fallen palm trees. The landing can be dangerous because people won’t get a comfortable distance off the road and they’re anxious to get the supplies.

I organize my supplies for tomorrow’s flight to Banda Aceh and drop into bed hoping for better rest.

Somewhere over the Pacific

2005-02-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

2/5

Let's see ... should I have the "Wakadori Teriyaki" or the "Cajun spiced salmon fillet served with creamy garlic sauce, buttered vegetables and steamed potatoes"? We're at 32,000 feet somewhere over the pacific and the meals on Singapore Airlines are excellent. Knowing I'm going to be eating a lot of "Asian" for 30 days, I opt for the salmon.

Pattie and I checked in 5 bags at LAX, two of my own and 3 large containers from Mission Aviation Fellowship containing a lot of food items for the IT team installing the VSAT systems at Melauboh and Banda Aceh. (Seems like the guys have had just about enough white rice.) Hmmm - glad I opted for the salmon. :)

It was harder than I thought saying goodbye to Pattie knowing that this 32 days absence will be the longest time we've ever been apart.

2/6
The parents of the baby crying 4 rows up didn't even notice that we've just passed the International Date Line and now it's magically 2/6. 10+ hours LAX -> Tokyo then to Singapore and finally Medan Sumatra. Total travel time will be 28 hours but I hope to get a day room in Singapore to shower and rest some during the 7 hour layover.

I pass a lot of time reading 4 manuals in pdf format on my Pocket PC about the iDirect VSAT satellite system I'll be using in Banda Aceh.

The sun is just setting on approach to landing at Tokyo. Whew - it feels good to get off and walk around which I do continuously until we board again and head off to Singapore.

Now we're back in the air heading southwest toward Singapore and the food cart just came down the isle. This is crazy - it's 3:30 am LAX time and they're serving dinner. Oh well, the "Tori no anzu teriyaki" doesn't sound as good as the "Sauteed prawns and scallops in chili cilantro tomato sauce served with fine beans and vegetables paella". Maybe now I can get some sleep.

2005-02-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

I will be leaving for Sumatra, Indonesia on Saturday 2/5 to help run a VSAT satellite "internet cafe" in Banda Aceh. This will be a key communications post to provide email, voice and internet connectivity in an area whose infrastructure has been decimated by earthquake and tsunami.

Health and relief aid workers desperately need good communications to stay in contact with their headquarters to arrange for movement of personnel and supplies. Four notebook computers and two VoIP (Voice-over-IP) phones connected to the internet over the VSAT satellite link, will meet this need.

I will relate my personal experiences as I spend 30 days manning this much needed remote communication post.