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| Emergency Response to the Asian Tsunami |
Activities undertaken by IDEP in cooperation with The Sumatran Orangutan Society
And other key partner organizations in Aceh & North Sumatra (AAAI)
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| OVERVIEW | AID BY LAND | AID BY BOAT | PARTNER PROJECTS | VOLUNTEERS & SUPPORTERS |
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Overview
In times of disaster, governments and large international aid organizations inevitably take time to grind into gear.
As with the Bali bombing, the earliest support to tsunami survivors in Sumatra was delivered by individuals and
non-government organizations (NGOs), including IDEP.
The day after the tsunami, IDEP and the Sumatran Orangutan Society established an initiative called Aceh Aid at
IDEP (AAAI). The goal of AAAI was to deliver appropriate aid quickly and directly to those who most needed it in
Sumatra through secure channels, bypassing bureaucracy and other obstacles.
Click here to read emergency response update
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| Aceh Aid at IDEP AID BY LAND activities |
| AAAI AID was amongst the earliest to reach Banda Aceh |
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Small and nimble, AAAI was able to start mobilizing aid much faster than offi cial organizations. Working with its
existing network of NGOs in Sumatra, AAAI quickly established that the most effective response mechanism would
be to purchase emergency supplies in Sumatra and deliver them through secure channels directly to survivors.
With a focus on keeping people from leaving their homes and becoming itinerant refugees, AAAI began to source
drilling equipment and pumps to clear seawater from wells, building supplies and other articles that would enable
survivors to remain in their communities and begin to rebuild their lives.
Phone calls to the SOS offi ce in Medan (Orangutan Information Centre/OIC) established that there were plenty of
supplies to be purchased in the city. But the banks were still closed for the Christmas holiday and buying tons of
supplies, renting trucks and fi lling them with petrol takes money, lots of money. AAAI directors made a few phone
calls and generous Bali residents lent thousands of dollars to get the ball rolling.
In Medan, OIC staff worked with the NGO Indonesia Friends of the Earth (WAHLI) to strategically shop for food and
basic supplies, fi nd a driver with a truck who was willing to make the daunting journey to Banda Aceh and load
the truck with the help of volunteers. This truck was one of a convoy of three that left Medan December 29 and
arrived in Banda Aceh on New Year's Eve. This Ubud-based initiative was among the fi rst aid to reach survivors
in that devastated city. AAAI-funded emergency supply trucks continued to make the 24-hour round trip from
Medan to Banda Aceh. Each vehicle was accompanied by an OIC volunteer to ensure the supplies reached the
intended recipients. In Banda Aceh and points between, AAAI aid was handed out through distribution centres run
by WAHLI. On January 4, AAAI sent two volunteers to Medan to help coordinate logistics.
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| Aceh Aid at IDEP AID BY BOAT activities |
| Tsunami ground Zero fi nally gets help - Volunteers deliver the fi rst major aid shipments by boat to the people of Calang and surrounding areas |
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By the fi rst week of January, AAAI volunteers in Aceh were performing assessments and delivering aid by road,
air and boat. Two Bali-based AAAI volunteers fl ew to Padang December 31 with urgently needed cash and supplies.
They joined a team of local diving and surfi ng companies in sharing information and assessing the needs of
survivors in coastal communities. On January 1, one of the AAAI volunteers fl ew over the coast with an AusAid
representative and landed in several places, bringing back some of the fi rst eyewitness information on the coast.
The next day, the head of the AAAI group in Padang heard about an AusAid relief plane full of supplies that had not
been able to land and was preparing to return to base. He intercepted the plane and was able to redirect 15 tons
of aid to private boats which headed north to the tsunami zone.
By January 4, an additional seven AAAI volunteers including medics and engineers left Bali for Padang, carrying cash and medical supplies. Impressed by AAAI initiatives, AusAid donated funds to charter a 200 ton cargo ferry to bring relief to isolated coastal villages. Using donations raised by AAAI, a dedicated group of women volunteers in Padang shopped for and packed hundreds of plastic buckets with the essential supplies they knew survivors would need. The fully loaded Sumber Rejeki assessed a number of communities in the islands off the west coast which were not badly damaged before proceeding north to Calang on January 10.
Theirs was the fi rst aid to reach this devastated community near the earthquake's epicenter - Tsunami Ground Zero. From a town of 35,000, perhaps 7,000 survived and almost every building had been destroyed. It took two days to off load supplies and the drilling equipment that was urgently needed to establish wells. Although the Sumber Rejeki carried about 90 tons of aid, one volunteer reported that 20 such ships would not have made a dent in the needs on the ground. The ship refueled and picked up more supplies in Banda Aceh, then continued to supply aid to devastated communities on the coast until January 21. In that time it had distributed over 400 tons of emergency supplies.
By February 16, AAAI had helped stock fi ve private boats with emergency supplie
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| Working in Partnership with Key local NGOs |
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AAAI was fortunate to have been able to work with several excellent local NGOs and community groups to delivery
a variety of well targeted and timely emergency support initiatives to the people in need of help in Aceh and the
surrounding islands.
Through December 2004 and August 2005 AAAI & its partners delivered over half a million dollars of "intelligent
aid" to thousands of people throughout the area. See our activity map page for more details.
These projects included:
• Delivery of Food, Education and Prayer needs by
The Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS)/Orangutan Information Centre (OIC)
• Delivery of Food, shelter, tools by the ‘Sumber Rejeki’ Team
• Delivery of Food, shelter, tools by the ‘Karya Bersama’ and ‘Sumber Rejeki Bahru’ Teams
• Delivery of Food, shelter, tools by Sumatran Surfariis and its local partners
• Delivery of Food, shelter, tools by Rakata
• Delivery of Food, shelter, tools, livestock by Sumatran Surfzone Relief Organization (SSRO)
• Delivery of Food, shelter, tools by the GREEN CAMP team
• Delivery of Food, Water & Education and Prayer needs by Give a Hand 4 Aceh
• Establishment of Radio Communications systems by Yayasan Leuser Lestari (YLL)
• Establishment of Community Kitchen, Water & Sanitation by WALHI Sumut
• Aid delivery and Rehabilitation of local Fisheries by JALA Fisherfolks’ Advocacy Network
• Aid delivery and Health Care by Yayasan Bumi Sehat
• Establishment of Sanitation facilities & Privacy tents by Walhi Raiu
• Establishment of Women’s Counseling Centre by Walhi Bali/Sumut
• Delivery of Aid by Yayasan Andaru Selaras (YAS)
• Production and delivery of fi shing boats to Hanuku Islands by LeapIn.org
Dedicated Volunteers & Supporters
IDEP expresses its heartfelt gratitude to all of the dedicated volunteers who worked tirelessly without communications,
infrastructure or skilled human resources. Over 100 AAAI volunteers served in Aceh by the end of March. At
that time, the crisis phase was considered to be over and IDEP and SOS dissolved their temporary partnership to
pursue recovery plans.
Special thanks to our key partner the Sumatran Orangutang Society and to Sumatran Surfariis, RipCurl, QuickSilver
and Surfer Girl for making these initiatives possible. See our donors list for more details and a complete list of
our incredible supporters.
Click here to read some personal accounts from AAAI volunteers in the Stories from the Field section of this
website.
Thank you to everyone that made this work possible.
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