THE MENTOR INITIATIVE TEAM ON THE BATAVIA

Mentor initiative is a NGO specialized in Malaria control and prevention. A Mentor team joined the Batavia on Monday February 14^th to perform “large scale indoor residual spraying” (IRS) and start to collect information on the sanitary and health conditions of the villages located in the Lhokruet & Patek area. The Mentor team will also provide Malaria training for the physicians operating in the field.

We arrived in the Lhokruet bay on Wednesday February 16^th. Lhokruet was a fishing village before Tsunami and most of the businesses were located on the beach. The village itself and other villages further in land were depending on the fishing activities. They were saling fish in Lamno and other towns around. Everything is gone!!! All the people left after Tsunami, most of them went to Lamno, which is located 25 km further north and has not been too much affected by Tsunami.

They are 3 camps:

- The first one located on the beach, which is supposed to be the re-location area for the people originally from the village. There are 60 men that come back here and they expect 200 more people to come back in the next few days. Those 60 men are mainly originally from Lhokruet, and some are from Balampe? People are living in tents and this area is very much exposed to the sun. It’s hot!!!

- The second camp is located on the top of the hill and has approximately 35 people, both men and women. People have built houses probably with some spare pieces of wood they collected on the beach?

- The third camp is a military “posko”. They built houses with spare pieces of wood.

We collected some information on water, sanitation and health conditions:

Camp	Water & sanitation	Health
Beach	There is a source of water that has good protection. They say they boiled the water before they drink it. They don’t have any toilets. They think it’s a priority to built some, especially because of the people that are going to move back	1 case of suspected Malaria, needs to be tested and seen by a doctor
Hill	They use a source of water located higher than the village (400 m up on the road). They also wash themselves along the stream. We can find “garbage” all the way from the water source to the camp.	People suffer from diarrhea
Military	They probably use the same water than the second camp.	One case of suspected Malaria? And another who has belay pain.

We saw the original water tank and source located on the hill. We had to cross over all the debris and clamed a little to access the tank. One possible solution would be to restore this original source of water…

Those communities of people are not self-sufficient for food. They depend on the supplies provided by the government or the army. The question would be to help them to re-install the resources they were using before: boats for fishing, rice, farming. The rice locations have been transformed into swamps. There are still a few farms behind the hills (dixit Sam), the animals are gone and they would need seeds to grow cereals.

One of the objectives of the Electric Lamb mission would be to help this community to move back to this place…

They are more than 10 villages in the Lhokruet area and all those villages were mainly depending on fishing activities from Lhokruet. Everyday, people from those villages still walk down to the camp in Lhokruet to get food supplies. It is planed to go visit those villages.

Thursday Feb. 17^th

On Thursday Feb. 17^th, we went to Patek with the medical team (one physician, one dentist and one nurse) from Obor Berkat (OB). Patek has been completely devastated. There is a TNI camp on the beach. They are at least 20 villages in this area.

With the medical team from OB, we went to a village named: “Kampong Baru L” where we run a clinic from noon to 3:30pm. During this time, around 50 patients have been seen. We met the village chef who answered our questionaires:

Village and activities:

Kampong Baru L has 385 inhabitants: 50% male and female. Only 8 people died during the Tsunami, because they were on the coast, in Patek. The chief said that the population has been affected by the Tsunami because they can not travel anymore to buy&sale what they need. The main activity is farming (rice, oranges…). What they miss the most is fertilizers for the farming and the possibility to sale oranges.

Water and sanitation:

They use the water of the river for all purposes. Approximately 50% of the population boil the water before they drink it. I found that the color of the water was a bit “ground” , but it has not changed after the Tsunami.

Most of the houses have no toilet facilities, there also have no collective toilets. People go either to the river or the forest around the house.

Vector control:

They have a lot of Mosquitoes and they say it has increased after the Tsunami. They used to do some fogging in the past. Only a few people use nets.

Health

Malaria is endemic in this village. The chef said that there are approximately always 10 people who have Malaria in the village. Considering that Malaria diagnostic is not always obvious to establish, it could be useful to do RDT tests. Other diseases are Tetanus, thyphoid, Jaundice, Diarrhea, respiratory. The main health care resource in this area is IMC. They arrived after the Tsunami and they are permanently here.

Conclusion:

The town of Lhokruet and Patek need to be re-built. Fishing and transportation seem to be the key factors to help those communities to develop their activities again.

The villages located in the Lhokruet and Patek area were depending on the coastal activities. They are mainly affected for economic reason. Access to transportation could help them to buy & sale their products again.

18 FEB - URGENT NEEDS

Urgent needs Calang to Lamno Coastal area after field evaluation.
Ship for autonomy:
- RO Water Maker – Salt Water type – 3-5 tons per DAY (ie small capacity) 220-240 50-60hz

Reconstruction aid:
- Chainsaws – medium size heavy duty commercial
- Power tools for domestic scale construction work
- Hand tools for domestic scale construction work
- 3-5KVA Diesel generators – air cooled
- Outboard motors, 15hp, 25hp and 40hp (Petrol)
- Fishing boats – skiffs of 6.5m, 7.5m and 9m
- Fishing/transport boats inboard powered 10m – 13m
- Diesel marine engines for above – 15hp to 50hp
- Nets, gear and navigation equipment for boats
- Fuel for boats, vehicles ashore. Diesel, petrol
- Kerosene for lamps and stoves
- Gas welding sets.
- Arc welding sets
- Cut lumber
- Cement
- Roofing iron
- Nails/Bolts and screws
- Motor driven well drills small enough for breakdown and hand carry incl liners etc.
- Hand powered well drills and fittings
- PVC pipe and fittings for pressure and waste
- PE Septic tanks
- PE Water tanks
- Cement mixers, petrol motors
- Wheelbarrows
- Seeds for fast growing crops.
- Barbed wire to protect crops

UPDATE, FEB. 10TH

KM Batavia is in Krueng Raya Port loading aid supplies for the next phase of our mission: - Field support for Obor Berkat/Samaritans Purse to commence reconstruction in Calang, Lok Kreut and Pulau Raya major with over 1,000 new homes and other buildings plus 200 fishing boats. This initiative has the formal support of the Head of the Regency (BUPATI) and the Minister for Social Affairs. - Establishment of temporary shelter at Lho Kruet where over 1,500 residents have registed as wishing to return from refugee camps in Lamno. - Second priority is Pulau Raya, where over 300 residents wish to return and re-establish their school, village and white bait fishery. - Malaria control for 15,000 residents in partnership with www.mentor-initiative.net in our target area. Rains have reduced salinity and Mentor have pledged full support for our target area with a team of 15 doctors, disease control experts, impregnated tarps, bed nets, spraying programs and education programs all aimed at prevention of a potential "second wave" if malaria and other mosquito related diseases take hold in the ravaged areas. Mentor have already sprayed every standing building in Banda Aceh city. - Rebuilding program with IDEP in priority area. Home kits will include tools, roofing, fixings, plumbing items and a team with experience in reconstruction. A new group of volunteers is inbound and details will be up as soon as we have all the names. BA was hit by a serious quake tonight resulting in wide spread panic. The quake was preceeded by a loud explosion and soon after trucks, vans and motorbikes cloged roads inland..... We drove the 45 minutes back to the ship in total darkness and only the army were out on the roads. Everyone was very nervous and it was very good to be back on board. More in the morning....

RECENT PICTURES, FEB. 6TH

These images capture glimpses that help understand the scale of the tsunami. In some areas a 15-20m high freight train consisting of debris, petrochemicals and hot water, scorched the landscape leaving behind an eerie scene reminiscent of the damage caused by WW2 atomic blasts.

A new reinforced concrete mosque lies folded flat. Perhapse the force of the wave was broken by the structure saving the clump of coconut trees behind it. The main road now lies 100m out to sea in front of this structure.

20km North of MEULABOH two roads were once lined with houses and shops. Faint scars show the foundations of buildings and the pattern of rice paddies lie below. The main coast road has disappeared entirely.

A road to nowhere.... this side road services a population of over 15,000 inland from PATEK. This was the only link to the outside world and it will not be reopened for a long time. The community lost about 45% of its population and more than 75% of its villages. 45% of those lost were fishermen and their families.

Along the coast North of MEULABOH the wave raced over rice paddies and flat land up to 4km inland taking every building and living thing with it.

A crumpled bridge has been tossed aside by the tsunamis. More than 120 major bridges have been destroyed and 384km of roads have disappeared.


The coastline has dropped 1-1.5m and large areas will never be productive again.

RECENT PICTURES, FEB. 4TH

MAF Beaver seaplane for medical team deployment and medivac. Jason Childs

Loading aid material at PATEK. Paul Vannitsem

Jane teaching the local children to line up for apples... a new concept for them! Jason Childs

Kuala Bakung village. Jason Childs

Kuala Bakung village unloading. Jason Childs

Rentang village unloading. Jason Childs

Rain storm building. Jason Childs

FEBRUARY 3RD UPDATE, DR. ALIZA WEINMAN

February 3rd update, story and photos by Dr Aliza Weinman:

Today, we headed out by truck to MESAN, another small village tucked deep into the jungle. With the coastal areas wiped out, it is impossible for communities such as this one to get their wares to the larger cities like CALANG. Thus, they have no way of supporting themselves and it is next to impossible for them to obtain outside goods either. So far, they have received no aid or medical care. The drive to Mesan on rugged terrain took over an hour. On arrival, our medical team, working with two doctors from OB, set up clinic. The villagers were eager to be seen and lined up quickly. Again, we saw many skin diseases and respiratory infections as well as intestinal worms, anemia, and one or two cases of malaria. We also found a boy aged 16 with a congenital tumor on his face. This tumour possibly a meningocele as per the surgeon on the team, is slowly enlarging and is beginning to compromise his vision. Ideally, he should be taken to BANDA ACEH for a CT scan and surgical repair, but a sponsor is needed.

One old man originally from MESRAN lived in PATEK until the fateful day or the tsunami. He recounted how he was engulfed by the waves. Submerged and surrounded by debris that hit him in the head and chest, this seventy-year old held his breath and tried to regain his footing. By the time he was able to stand up, he was 2.5 kilometres away. While his wounds have mostly healed (he still has some chest wall tenderness, possibly from broken ribs), his psychological wounds are still deep. He lost several family members that day, in addition to his home and belongings. He and other refugees now rely entirely on their extended families in villages like MESRAN. (Estimated 300 IRDs in MESRAN - Rick) Another man told his story: he had just left PATEK and was driving up the hill when the earthquake struck. A short time later, he saw people running away from the coast. They said that the water was “going down” and the older townspeople said that when that happens “you must run”. He continued to watch and saw the big waves come in. There was nothing he could do but watch in horror as the sea claimed PATEK. His home is gone and many members of his family perished. After seeing most of the sick in the village, we finally had to close the clinic, and began the journey back to PATEK. Our boat and crew were waiting with some anticipation for our return (we were several hours late). It was another rewarding and fruitful day. As an update to our clinic in BABADUA on February 1st, OB received the results from the Meulaboh laboratory that the infant with bloody diarrhoea has shigella, and the patient with malaria-symptoms had p. vivax. Appropriate treatments have been sent to the village.

UPDATE, FEB. 1ST

The engines starting at 6am woke us all from a deep sleep. Everyone is physically tired from loading and unloading boats and sleep is our biggest pleasure. Captain Wayan pulled anchor and moved up to PULAU RAYA about 7nm north of PATEK. We had been pouring over our maps and wondering about the island and its population. Detailed charts showed a small village on the South West corner of the island just spared by the wave and no sign of settlement on the more protected North coast. Our first attempt at anchoring the boat left us rolling and unable to bring boats along side so we headed out in our 3 skiffs and left the Batavia to circle the island to anchor off the North coast. Jane took her team round to the South side where the village is shown and Ali and I headed round the East end of the island where we found a break in the reef below a house high on the largest hill. We could see a buffalo and a tall man standing near the house and assumed that we were looking at an isolated farmer who had escaped the destruction. As we crossed the bare swampy ground near our landing, we first saw a well, then foundations, then sarongs and bedding, furniture and possessions scattered around in the piles of debris. We were in the middle of a large township that had vanished. Soon we were crossing rice paddies, the foundations of a school, a coral grit road and smashed bridges. Climbing the hill we could see the house more clearly. It was crushed against a huge tree and had been torn in one piece from its footings and carried several meters. Washing was still on the line, personal possessions were still in cupboards but there was a tangle of debris and flotsam filling the louvers and eaves along one side. Even thought the house was about 25m above sea level it had been afloat with only the peak of the roof above the flood. The water must have been over 30 m deep as the second huge wave smashed into this community. The buffalo and the tall man had vanished without a trace. We called out in vain. No one answered. Ali picked up a clock that lay face down in the mud. It was stopped at 8.40.

Again the very best maps of the area are out of date and misleading. We are reminded of how critical it is to see these places with our own eyes. Our heli flyover missed this community and no-one on the mainland had mentioned it. We forgot to ask, but there are so many questions and we have only been on the ground here for how long? A few days? It feels like a lot longer than that. The intensity of what we are seeing and doing every day has warped time. Later that morning a group of fishermen arrived by boat from the North. they had been up to LAMNO to purchase cigarettes and were delivering these to friends and family in LOK KRUE on the mainland. They were some of the survivors from PULAU RAYA village. Before the wave it was a thriving community of over 100 homes with a population of 810. A reliable source of fresh water supported about 10 Ha of rice paddies and there was a primary school and health clinic. Now it is a waste land. 81 people died on the island and an additional 20 on the mainland where they were shopping. Pak Razali, the old fisherman driving the boat, had lost his wife and kids. His father was the only other family member to make it to the hills. All the villagers are fishermen and the village boasted 230 bagans (floating fish net rafts) before the wave. Now 4 damaged ones drift unattended well out to sea. The rest are smashed up in the valleys and in the swamps along the North coast. None of the hundreds of motor boats and sampans survived. Pak Razali told us about the conditions in the camp up the coast at LAMNO where most of the survivors are staying in tents. Many are sick he said but mostly they want to return to their island and start fishing. Razali said that they would rebuild on higher ground but that his friends understood what had happened and they had run to the hills after the quake. This seems to be consistent with the fishing communities in the BANYAKS and on SIMEULUE. The island has safe landings all year round but during the "musim ombak" or wave season, they can not land at the pasar in LOK KRUET on the mainland. During the months of March April and May, the white bait are not around and the fishermen plant crops or go line fishing. For 9 months of the year white bait production averages about 2 tons per Bagan/month and at about a $0.50 or more per kg, the owners can afford to send their kids to schools in the larger mainland towns. For a few months they harvest Ikan teri halus, tiny white bait that are always in demand. The price jumps to as much as $3/kg and the village can afford to buy televisions and other special items. The key to re-building this community are the Bagans or floating fish net platforms. They cost about Rp7 million (US$800) each and 4 men can build one in 10 days. Today we will fly to LAMNO to meet the survivors and discuss how to help revive their white bait production. Everywhere we have been the village people ask for dried white-bait. It is their favorite source of protein and an essential part of the jig-saw we have identified as we learn about the Aceh coast. We loaded Pak Razali's boat with as much aid as he could carry and told him we would be back with construction materials. He took away a large tarp and said he would discuss setting up a temporary post on the island so that we can deliver supplies safely. He kept looking at our dug-out canoes. "We will share those if you have any to give us".

Feb 1st update, village of BABADUA by Aliza:

Today, I was dropped off by helicopter in BABADUA, population 480 plus 82 tsunami refugees. I was quickly surrounded by excited children and other villagers after the chopper took off, and was guided down the dirt road to the schoolhouse. I joined two other doctors there: Dr. Deo Del Rosario from OB and Dr. Asyfrat from the Indonesian Health Ministry. Together, we saw 187 patients, treating a wide range of ailments from diarrhoea to skin infections, pharyngitis, and pneumonias. One infant had bloody diarrhoea, and a young man had symptom consistent with malaria. We collected a stool sample and blood smear from these patients to send to the laboratory in Meulaboh. Without a translator, I took a leap with my medical Bahasa: I now know how to ask about cough, fever, headache, rash, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, intestinal worms, etc. One woman in the village was too ill to come to the clinic, so Dr. Asyfrat and I made a house-call a few thatched-roof huts down the road. She appeared to have heart failure with pulmonary and leg edema. The village chief was given an assortment of medications to treat her, including furosemide, and Dr. Asyfrat will follow up.