After the disaster, a new wave of hope

The Australian ^ | 26th December 2005 | Alexander Downer, Foreign Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia

[naturalman1975]

IN Aceh this month I came face to face with human loss so vast that it is difficult to comprehend. With it, I saw human determination that is truly inspirational.

The fishing village of Kajhu, just a few kilometres out of Banda Aceh, was home to about 20,000 people last Christmas. On Boxing Day last year no less than half of the villagers were killed by the tsunami -- a disproportionate number women and children, because most of the men were either fishing at sea or working in the hills.

So it came to pass that earlier this month, at the opening of a new village hall provided through the Australian Government's aid agency, AusAid, I looked out across miles of coastal flats. Here and there, you could see the wreckage of a home. A year earlier this area had been crowded with huts, houses and families; now it was a mud flat with scatterings of debris.

An Acehnese man I had never met before embraced me and thanked me for the generosity of Australia and Australians. He told me that last year he had a happy family, with a wife and four children. On Boxing Day the tsunami took his wife and all of their children. Yet this man was at the opening, involved in and committed to the rebuilding of his community.

Such inspirational determination should provide great comfort to the millions of Australians who showed wonderful generosity in the wake of the tsunami. It demonstrates why Australia had to help. And it proves that our help is not in vain.

About 200,000 people were killed by the Boxing Day tsunami, in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Seychelles, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

The international response to the disaster was impressive and I am pleased to say that Australia has not faltered in its commitment to communities in need. We have provided different forms of emergency relief and development assistance to the worst-affected countries.

Our aid workers were among the first to arrive in the Indonesian province of Aceh, which was hardest hit by the tsunami. Our early help was with the fundamentals: water and sanitation services, emergency food and shelter, re-establishing schools and protecting the most vulnerable children. Aceh is much different now from how it was immediately after the tsunami struck. The streets are clear of flood debris and many damaged buildings have been repaired. People are out and about doing everyday things: vendors on the streets, children in their schools.

But there are still signs of damage, heartache and devastation everywhere, from the large areas of wasteland that once were suburbs and villages to people making do in temporary shelters.

There is even a huge, stranded and immovable electricity barge blocking a street 3km inland.

I had the privilege of opening the emergency building of the main hospital in the capital, Banda Aceh. The hospital lost many staff and was severely damaged during the tsunami. With Australian funding, the emergency building has been transformed into a modern facility serving hundreds of people each day.

Australia has also provided Banda Aceh with a new passenger port, which connects the city with other parts of Indonesia and the immediate region. It is a crucial piece of infrastructure without which the local people and economy would suffer.

The village hall in Kajhu is one of hundreds we are building. These are the centrepieces of community life, giving people a place to gather, conduct daily business and re-establish social ties.

In Aceh the devastation is still evident all around. The human loss is palpable. Challenges abound but there are signs of steady and significant progress. More important, there is a sense of hope.

The co-operative work between neighbours is crucial. The $1 billion Australia Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development is having an impact in Aceh and around Indonesia. The private donations that many Australians made are being put to good use by non-government organisations such as Red Cross, Care and World Vision.

The $1 billion AIPRD partnership was devised at the outset to help re-build Aceh and for other development activities in Indonesia.

This includes improving roads and replacing bridges in eastern Indonesia to promote social and economic development, expanding access to junior secondary education and building and rehabilitating schools in poor, underserviced districts.

While most of the physical damage occurred in Aceh, the tsunami was a severe blow to Indonesia and its economy overall. As neighbours, we simply have to help. Long-term reconstruction after a natural disaster can't be done in haste. Rushing carries the risk of making bad decisions and wasting public money; of doing more harm than good.

A good example is determining land titling. It would have been easy to start rebuilding homes anywhere on vacant land in Aceh to replace those that were lost. However, that would have ignored the problem of land ownership. Land titles, along with many other types of official records, were washed away in the tsunami, leaving people uncertain about their property boundaries. In many places, familiar physical landmarks have vanished and land has subsided or is no longer suitable for habitation.

Australia is helping to restore land titles to give people the certainty they need to rebuild. But it is a painstaking process, involving land mapping, public consultations to determine fair resolutions and fulfilling formal legal requirements. It is important to get these things right so that titles won't be challenged in years to come. The Australian Government has been careful in deciding how to distribute funds and has planned its response thoughtfully and in full co-operation with the Indonesian Government.

This year has been very difficult for the people of Aceh and other tsunami-affected areas. Their losses have been incalculable and recovery will take years. At the same time, there is optimism. Babies have been born, new families have been created and community spirit has driven people to work together, to help themselves.

We should all be proud of the role Australian aid workers are playing. They have responded with compassion and sensitivity and have provided practical support when local people could not. They have held their nerve in circumstances that would defeat many. They are the human face of Australia's neighbourly generosity; they are tremendous ambassadors for our country and I know all Australians would want to pass on our heartfelt gratitude.

This Boxing Day we should all be proud of our response to last year's disaster, as we recommit ourselves to the task of recovery.

[KarinG1]

In a related story, nearly a quarter of a million potential suicide bombers were removed from the gene pool.

Lighten up, you know you wanted to say it.

[BenLurkin]

"Thai hostesses dressed in Santa Claus stocking hats, wait for customers at a Patong Beach nightclub in Phuket, Thailand, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005. year ago on Dec. 26th, 2004, much the area around Patong Beach was heavily damaged following a massive Tsunami that struck the area." (AP Photo/David Longstreath) Email Photo Print Photo