This week we kicked off with a trip to Banda Aceh on our scooter for the Green Aceh pre-conference meeting. It's a very rough trip, for us and for the scooter. The roads receive no maintenance at all and are getting worse. There are no trail bikes for sale here or in Medan.

At the conference Chakra and I seated ourselves in the university conference room. The proceedings were just about to start when -- you guessed it! Earthquake! This one shook the building slowly like a rubber jumping castle. Some people screamed but most of us just looked at each other trying to be cool. I was calculating the fastest exit, which was hurling my chair through the plate glass window and into the courtyard, but it stopped before I made my move. A lively start to the conference.

The tsunami waste timber has been burned. We are scrounging as many coconut trunks as possible. Many people talked about how to obtain non-rainforest timber for the thousands of houses that are needed. Meanwhile the chainsaws are going all day, every day and the forest is coming down. The other problem is the houses that are being built with this timber are substandard boxes with little intelligent design or durability. They will have to be replaced in the near future. More timber. At least I got to say my piece on asbestos sheeting. Imagine the poor survivors of the tsunami moving into new buildings made from asbestos! But it's happening.

Back at base camp we are still working away at getting the house up to standard, adding new rooms and toilets. Rosa has arrived, so we are making her room comfortable with a real bed and her own facilities. The community doesn't like the idea of a single woman sharing our house unless she has a toilet and a good lock on the door.

The land deal should be completed this week. We are ready to run workshops and will begin as soon as the contract is signed. Cheers, Steve