Saturday 25 October 2008

Gibbons, houses, nursing colleges, hospitals, schools, TRIAMS and lessons learned.

I finally have a few hours to write after a frantic last 10 days. I am flying from Bangkok to Jakarta and we are presently over the Gulf of Thailand, and in the distance, I can see the city of Hat Yai. This time a month ago, I was travelling from Bangkok to Penang in Malaysia by train and passed through Hat Yai. It looks so different from the air.

Ten days ago I flew to Aceh which was the scene of enormous destruction during the Indian Ocean tsunami, with over 250,000 people killed or missing.



A hospital on Pulau Wei built by the German Red Cross. Photo: Bob McKerrow

I visited the Island of Pulau Wei, saw the houses, a wonderful hospital and a busy school constructed by the German Red Cross, and a nursing college build by the Norwegian Red Cross.
The nursing college runs a three year course and produces top quality nurses, something there is a shortage of in Indonesia. Later I visited houses constructed by the Netherlands Red Cross.


Johannes Richert, Director of Operations, German Red Cross, speaks to the owner of the the house and her child on Pulau Wei. Photo: Bob McKerrow


The Ferry from Banda Aceh to Pulau Wei. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Then on the following day,I accompanied my German Red Cross colleagues to the opening of a large secondary school in Banda Aceh, which caters for 700 plus pupils. here we spent time with the pupils and saw a high standard of education be given by dedicated teachers. We also saw an innovative German Red Cross programme which uses smashed furniture and other pieces of debris washed up by the Tsunami, to make furnture for the school and other public buildings. Nothing is wasted in Aceh.

The next day, Sunday 19 October, I travelled down the spectacular coastline from Banda Aceh, to Lamno, Calang and Teunom with Martin Hahn, from the German Red Cross HQ in Berlin. We stopped for a break near Lamno and I bought a coke. As I was drinking it a large Gibbon swung through the jungle, sat on the table, swiped my Coke, and gulped it down.

The Gibbon stealing our drinks. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Next, he picked up Martin’s drink and downed that too. He didn’t appear aggressive so I engaged in a conversation with him but he didn’t reply to my questions, but looked quizzically at me.
We passed many of the 20,000 sturdy transitional shelters built by the Red Cross to tide people over until permanent shelters were built. We have completed 16,000 of the 20,000 permanent houses houses now and the transitional shelters are attached to the rear of the new house and either become an sxtra bedroom, kitchen, or houses someone from the extended family. En route I saw houses built by the Indonesian, Chinese, Canadian, British and German Red Cross, with many of them with top class water and sanitation facilities.


Along the road side we saw 1800 houses built by the Canadian Red Cross some pictured above. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Most of the water and sanitation has been done by the American Red Cross including a massive municipal water supply in the city of Calang. My role as Head of Delegation of the International Federation is to coordinate the programmes done by our members Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and to represent them at senior level with government, provincial governors, the UN and other agencies. I also have a role in monitoring and evaluation. Field trips are an essential part of my work.

Last Sunday as we drove to Calang, it started raining heavily. By nightfall we had torrential rain and we had to evacuate 28 of our Canadian Red Cross colleagues from their flooded compound to ours. While this wsa going on, my fears were for the people living in the houses we had built and I went to bed thinking, "will they be dry, safe and sound tonight?" The next day we had wide spread flooding in Calang and Teunom, the worst in years, and even the main road which is many metres above the surrounding land, was flooded. I need not have worried about the houses the Red Cross built. Not are the earthquake resistent, they are flood proof too.

Highly resilient houses built by the German Red Cross in Teunom. Photo Bob McKerrow
More houses built by the British Red Cross high above the flood level. Photo: Bob McKerrow

I was so proud of the housing designs of the Canadian, British and German Red Cross, as the houses were well above the rising flood waters. I spoke to a women in one house and she said she felt so safe in her Red Cross house. It is hard workers Heike Kemper, an architect and leader of the German Red Cross team in Teunom, who has worked tirelessly for years ensuring that the houses were built to the most stringent standards.



After inspecting a few houses I joined Martin Hahn and the German Red Cross team for a handover ceremony for 690 houses midst flood waters and pouring rain.



From l to r. Martin Hahn, Bob McKerrow, Dirk Schuemeister, and Heike Kemper at the handover ceremony for 690 houses.

Few people understand the enormity the work the Red Cross has done in Indonesia. We have spent over a billion US dollars and have built 40,000 houses, hundreds of schools, medical facilities, water and sanitation systems, markets, community centres, nursing colleges, mental institutions, bridges, dykes and mangrove plantations to protect land against rising sea levels, ice plants for fisher people to export their fish and lobsters to the more lucrative markets, plus many other livelihood programmes. We also conduct long term community programmes such as disaster preparedness, community based first aid, psycho social counselling and other risk reduction programmes. Most of our work is done in support of the Indonesian Red Cross to build the capcity of this outstanding society that has almost a million volunteers nation-wide.



At the housing handover ceremonies, the village people celebrated this important event by putting on traditional dances, which varies from district to district. Photo: Bob Mckerrow


Since the Tsunami operation, began in late 2004, the economy of the province has improved dramatically. Small airlines like Susi Air provide transport from remote areas like Simeulue and Nias. Islands and Calang to Medan. Air transport enables lobster fishermen to get doluble the price of the catch now.





The scenery along the coast of Aceh is spectacular. Two photos above taken near Lamno. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Last Wednesday I flew to Bangkok for a Tsunami Lessons learned Project Meeting of Country Programme Leaders and Champions. Representatives came from the Governments and UN system in India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand. Jerry Talbot and I represented the Red Cross Movement. With so much money having been so generously given by ordinary people from around the world, transparency. quality and accountability are essential elements and this is where Governments have put strong anti-corruption mechanism in place to ensure that all funding is correctly spent. We support this through approaches such as TRIAMS—the tsunami recovery impact assessment and monitoring system. The purpose of the TRIAMS initiative is to assist governments, aid agencies and affected populations in assessing and monitoring the rate and direction of the post-tsunami recovery throughout its duration. In the process, the system helps governments, aid agencies and donors to be accountable for the end results of their efforts. Is the recovery effort achieving the desired results? Are the results distributed equitably? Where are the priority gaps? These are some of the questions TRIAMS seeks to answer. My colleague Robert Ondrusek who is based in Bangkok, is running the TRIAMS programme and was also at the meeting.

So the meeting in Bangkok was the first of its kind to capture the lessons learned to share with all organisations and donors to record what went well, what needs to be improved, and mistakes we should never repeat. We also plan to come up with a practitioners’ manual for future mega-disasters so that operations managers and administrators from all around the world can have the best information at their fingertips when disasters strike. It was a moving experience to hear presentations from each country and to note the selfless service given by so many dedicated volunteers and professionals, some of whom I wrote about in my second to last posting, such as the 73 year old Indonesian grandmother who is a volunteer for the Indonesian Red Cross. The regional Tsunami meeting also discussed the proposed one hour Discovery Channel documentary which is underway. This documentary is designed to show the world how their money was spent and to hear the stories of the Tsunami affected people.


Two of the best Tsunami Champions: Kuntoro Mangkasubroto,(right) Minister for Tsunami, Indonesia. Dr. Kuntoro led the world's best relief and recovery process ever, by setting up an unparalled coordination mechanism through a one-stop-shop approach where international players working in Indonesia engaged with one government agency which included Immigration, Customs, Foreign Affairs, Finance and all other Govt. departments, to ensure international aid reached the people quickly. And,right,Jerry Talbot, Special rep. to the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Jerry worked three years in the Maldives before taking on his current position.


Some of the leaders in the Tsunami:Janet Wong, UNIFEM, Bangkok, Ms. Sirisupa Kulthanan, Thailand, Jerry Talbot. Head of Tsunami Unit, IFRC, Kuntoro Mangkasubroto, Minister for Tsunami, Indonesia. Satya Tripathi, UN Recovery Coordinator, Aceh. Photo: Bob McKrrow


I was delighted my boss from Geneva, Jerry Talbot from Onga Onga in the Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, was at the meeting. Jerry and I first worked together in Bangladesh after the war between Pakistan and India when Bangladesh gained its independence. We also worked in Vietnam, Afghanistan and in Maldives in the early days of the Tsunami. Jerry has been my boss thrice and I his, once. Such is the swing of the managenment pendulum in our organisation. Thank God we have fairly flat structure in the Red Cross where we have a team approach to our work, and where situational leadership is encouraged.

I am rambling on. My batteries in my computer are almost exhausted and also my own batteries, as we begin the descent to Jakarta. Its late Saturday morning so I look forward to a relaxing weekend with my family, Naila, and boys Ablai and Mahdi.

Bob. Saturday 26 October 2008.

29 comments:

Ablai said...

Hi Dad

Like the photo of the plane.

Ablai

Ruahines said...

Kia ora Bob,
Whew! A pretty busy itenarary, but a worthy trip obviously. A ray of light to read of such numbers and succsses of lives being restored. I agree with Ablai as well. Have a great day Bob.
Rangimarie,
Robb

Unknown said...

Hey Bob

Sounds like hardwork trying to account for a billion dollars, but very very important considering the context.

Great to see the new houses standing up to the conditions. Maybe you aid guys are figuring stuff out!!

Thanks for the comments on my blog. A little bit too much of a travelogue at the moment, but its fun to write and I look forward to developing it further.

Agree with you re Judkins, a real character who made/makes something special happen. Theres a few too many takers in NZ multisport and AR at the moment, we need a few more people to follow in his footsteps.

Would like to catch up with you in Chch this summer. I'll probably be flaoting around that way for a while.

Jamie

Bob McKerrow - Wayfarer said...

Good to hear from you Jamie. Your blog is lively and concise. Would be great to catch up with you in Ch Ch.

Bob

Paterika Hengreaves said...

Kia ora Bob

Great travelogue about the great progress in Aceh as folks rebuild their lives after the tsunami of 2004. The Red Cross always rise to the occasion thus keeping humanity rose ever blooming in Aceh and around the globe.

Cheers
Paterika

Bob McKerrow - Wayfarer said...

Thanks Paterika. It has been a real joy to be part of the Tsunami recovery work in Aceh. So many heartbrteaks and wonderful stories of happiness.

Arohanui

Bob

martin said...

Hi Bob,

I'm starting my vacation today and was just checking out your blogg. Good stuff! Great pics!
Thanks again for all your time and advise during our joint adventures in Aceh the other day. I am looking much forward seeing you again sometime, somewhere, in GVA or, better, in the field...!

Cheers from Berlin!

Martin

Bob McKerrow - Wayfarer said...

Dear Martin

A pleasure to see your comments. I enjoyed our trip together and it is always good to have a record of it.

I look forward to travelling with you again in the future. Have a relaxing holiday.

Cheers

Bob

Anonymous said...

[url=http://vioperdosas.net/][img]http://sapresodas.net/img-add/euro2.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]buying photoshop, [url=http://vioperdosas.net/]nero clean tool[/url]
[url=http://sapresodas.net/]cheapest antivirus software[/url] discount on adobe software cheap software price
buy cheap software coupon [url=http://vioperdosas.net/]buy microsoft word 2003 software[/url] nik software discounts
[url=http://vioperdosas.net/]corel draw graphics suite x4 coreldraw manual[/url] how to buy photoshop
[url=http://vioperdosas.net/]software downloads games[/url] city software store
buy software online australia [url=http://vioperdosas.net/]nero 9 cd key[/url][/b]

Isha said...

Hello, not sure if this blog is still being monitored since it was posted in 2008 but I have some questions. I'm curious about the cost and manufacturing of those flood resistant Red Cross houses. Are they kit houses (modular panels, roofing, trusses, supports, sheathing, etc per-assembled and shipped in to be put together like a puzzle) or were they built from scratch on site? What is the cost per house? What about maintenance? How big are they?

Any info would be appreciated (even a pointer somewhere else the might have such info.)

Anonymous said...

This design is ωicκed! Үou dеfinіtely knοw hoω to kеep а reаder entеrtаinеԁ.
Betwеen your ωit and your vіdeos,
I was almost moved to start my own blоg (well, аlmoѕt.
..HaHa!) Greаt job. I really loveԁ what yоu
hаd to say, and more thаn that, how you presented іt.

Tοo coοl!

Feel frеe to ѵisit my blog post buzzing in ears treatment

Anonymous said...

Нi thеre just wantеd tο give you a quick
heads up. The worԁs in youг post seem to be running οff the ѕcrеen in
Inteгnet exρlоrer. I'm not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I figured I'd post to lеt уou knοw.
The design and style look great though! Hope уou get the issuе solved soon.

Many thаnks

my page; how to build a boat
my page: how to build a boat

Anonymous said...

Ηі ωould you mind letting me κnow which hοsting
company you're utilizing? I've loaded your blog in 3 completеly different ωеb
brοwѕeгs and I must say this blog loads а lot
fаster then most. Can уou suggest a goоԁ hosting proviԁer at
a faіr pгice? Many thаnks, I apprеciаte іt!


Feel frеe to visit my site best low price adult electric scooter

Anonymous said...

Today, I went to thе beаch with my kіdѕ.

I fοund а sеа shell and gave іt to my
4 year old daughteг and saіd "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She put the
shell tο heг eаr and screamed.
There was а hermit crab insidе and іt pinched her ear.
She neѵer wants to go bacκ! LoL I
know this іs totally off toρic but I had tо tell someone!



Ηeгe is my blog post increase jump

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure why but this blog is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I'll сhecκ
back later on and ѕee if the problem still existѕ.


Also νisit my wеb ѕite roof solar panels cost

Anonymous said...

It's a pity you don't have a ԁonate button! I'd most certainly donate to this excellent blog! I suppose for now i'll settle for book-maгkіng and
adԁing уοur RSS feed to my Gοogle acсount.
Ӏ look forward to neω upԁаteѕ and will share this sitе with
my Facebooκ grοup. Talk soon!

Нere is my weblog massage days

Anonymous said...

I neеded to thanκ yοu for this wоnderful reаd!
! I abѕolutеly enjоуеd every bit of it.
I havе you book-markеd to lοok at neω stuff you pоѕt…

my web-site - travel boracay

Anonymous said...

Thiѕ is really interesting, You are a veгу ѕkillеd blogger.

I've joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your excellent post. Also, I'vе shагed your web ѕite in my
ѕocial netwοгkѕ!

My wеb site: Seabird International Resort

Anonymous said...

I'm not capable of view this website correctly on saffari I think there is a problem

Take a look at my web page - why am i not getting pregnant

Anonymous said...

Thanks for an thought, you sparked at thought
from a angle I hadn’t given thoguht to yet. Now lets see if I can do
one thing with it.

my website :: having trouble getting pregnant after a miscarriage

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. I was checking continuously this weblog
and I'm inspired! Very useful info particularly the closing part :) I care for such information a lot. I used to be seeking this particular info for a very long time. Thanks and best of luck.

My webpage; pharmacy technician school

Anonymous said...

Fіrst of all I want to saу excellent blog!
I had a quick questiоn іn ωhich ӏ'd like to ask if you do not mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear your head prior to writing. I have had trouble clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out there. I do take pleasure in writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or tips? Appreciate it!

Feel free to visit my web blog :: 24 hour Emergency Plumber in Solihull

Anonymous said...

Ι am cuгious to find out what blog platform you arе workіng with?
I'm experiencing some small security issues with my latest website and I'd like to
find ѕomething more risk-free. Do you have аny solutionѕ?



Alsо visit my page; 24 hour Emergency Plumbers in Solihull

Anonymous said...

Hoωdy! This is mу first visit to уour blog!
We аrе a collеctіon of vоlunteeгs and staгtіng a new
initiаtive in a community in the same nісhe.

Your blog pгovіԁеd us benefіcial informatiοn to ωork on.
You have dοne а extraогԁinarу jοb!


Τake a loοκ at my web page :: colonic irrigation birmingham

Anonymous said...

Howdy fantаstіc ωеbsite! Doeѕ running а blοg like this take а masѕіve
аmount work? I haνe very lіttlе
undеrѕtаnԁing of cоmputer prοgramming hoωeνer Ӏ wаs hoping to stаrt my oωn
blog in the nеar future. Αnyhow, should you have аny іdeas
or technіques for new blog owneгѕ plеаse
share. I understand this іѕ off toріc
nеverthеleѕѕ І just wanted to ask.

Thаnκ you!

Feel fгee to surf to mу ωеbsіte: natural breast enhancement

Anonymous said...

Hello there! Do you knοω if thеy mаke
аny рlugіns to safeguаrd against haсkeгs?
I'm kinda paranoid about losing everything I've worked hагd οn.
Аny recоmmendаtiоns?

Also ѵisit my pаgе: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfGIWBnJqZc

Anonymous said...

Admіring the time and еffort you put into your webѕitе and in depth іnformation you present.
It's great to come across a blog every once in a while that isn't the same unωanted rеhashеd іnformatiоn.
Excellent гeаd! Ӏ've saved your site and I'm
including your RSS feeds to my Gоogle аccount.



my sitе; 24 hour Emergency Locksmiths Solihull

Anonymous said...

Hey I know thiѕ is off topic but I was wоndering іf you knew of any widgets ӏ could adԁ to my blοg that automatically tωеet
my newest twіttеr updates. I've been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.

my blog ... Hypothyroidism Treatment

Anonymous said...

Pleaѕe let mе know if you're looking for a writer for your site. You have some really great posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I'd lονe to ωrite some mаterial fοr your blog іn
еxchange fοr a link baсk to mine.
Pleasе blaѕt mе an e-mail if interested.
Thank yοu!

Rеvіeω my web-site: dick bigger without pills