From devastation to hope: Reflections on the Aceh Tsunami Response 20 years later

A refection by Margarettha Siregar, Senior Manager - East Asia Regional Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs (edited by Annila Harris)

Boxing Day

It was Sunday morning of December 26th, 2004. I was preparing to go with my mother for Sunday Mass when I heard the breaking news about the tsunami hitting Aceh.  Each hour the number of casualties, mostly women and children at that time, kept increasing at a rapid pace.   I watched as a TV reporter – reporting from ground zero, standing in front of many body bags – was unable to contain her emotions. She began to cry live on TV. I cried too.  

For the next few months, the only news that mattered in Indonesia, and probably around the world, was the mega Aceh Earthquake and Tsunami disaster, which had claimed the lives of 230,000 people across multiple countries. 100,000 of them were in Aceh. It was a global grief moment.

I had been working in World Vision for 2 years as a community development coordinator in Surabaya, one of the biggest cities in Indonesia.  Two months after the devastating tsunami, World Vision deployed me to Aceh.  I believe God had planned everything. He had chosen me to serve in the 2004 Tsunami Response. The scale of the disaster was so overwhelming that the office had to send surge support from all over Indonesia and the world for this massive relief effort.  World Vision raised 356 million US Dollars to support more than 1 million affected people across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and Myanmar.

I had just passed the humanitarian competency assessment facilitated by World and the Melbourne University in November 2004. The management thought it was important for a development worker to acquire basic skills to act as first responders in case of a disaster. Little did I know how crucial the emergency response training would be.

Having a well-trained first responders and surge capacity ready for deployment is very important. Currently, World Vision invests in building and strengthening the capacity of Regional and National Disaster Management Teams, which is a pool of deployable staff from different functions; trained to be disaster-ready.  World Vision also invests in Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM), which is to facilitate and equip the children and their communities, who are often first responders. CBDRM team members develop their own disaster risk reduction and contingency plan, along with setting up their own village disaster management committee, training programmes and regular simulations.

As I flew to Banda Aceh,  I saw the vast expanse of the coastal area totally flattened by the tsunami. A massive 2,600-ton floating powerplant barge car rested on top of houses in the heart of the city, several kilometres away from the shore.  When I reached the response office, it was super crowded, swarming with hundreds of people from all over the world rushing in and out coordinating the relief response.   While I was in awe of the tremendous support from the world solidarity, I also started feeling overwhelmed, like a tiny bug in the chaos, unsure if my support was good enough to serve those devastated by the tsunami.

Transformation Begins 

The following day, I was flown to Meulaboh by helicopter to support the livelihood recovery. Amsal Ginting, the deputy operations director, reminded me that apart from rebuilding the economy, the most important thing was to provide more as the psychosocial support so that the people’s spirit could rise above their crushing circumstances. I did not fully understand what he meant until the first time I had my first chat with the survivors at their camp in Suak Timah, one of the most devastated villages in West Aceh. 

I could not describe the look on their faces. It was a combination of grief, anger, survival, and denial. Could they see a glimmer of hope, or be overshadowed by the puzzling question about the time it would take to rebuild their lives? A spark of fire kindled within me, a drive to do something, anything to keep hope alive.

This was the first time I supported the micro enterprise development in the relief effort.  My team and I started with groups of women, asking them about their previous source of income and guiding them to do a business feasibility analysis that would help develop plans for restarting small enterprises. Tension and laughter filled the space during the analysis process. It was not surprising that they managed to finalise their business proposal analysis within few days because they were already experienced merchants. World Vision was able to support them by providing the materials and equipment according to their own plans and analysis to restart their small business. 

Few weeks later, I was astonished by the transformation in Suak Timah. The village had come alive with small shops setup in tents or tiny huts, bustling with activities and energy. I now understood the nexus between relief and development efforts  Helping the survivors to plan and decide the best solution for themselves was about respecting their right to rebuild their lives with dignity.  

Children’s Voices Matter

As a child-focus organisation, World Vision focused our energy to support the children in need. World Vision built Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS), conducted child psychosocial support activities, and supported the reconstruction of schools and educational facilities.

One of the most joyful moment for me was when I accompanied my colleague from the Child Protection unit to play with children. She had brought new toothbrushes and toothpastes, a pile of drawing papers with crayons, colour pencils, glues and other handicraft tools. Children usually looked enthusiastic  because they expected fun sessions. They would start with brushing their teeth together, playing some ice breakers, singing and drawing. 

In the CFS, I felt like the space not only helped children recover from  the trauma they experienced, but it also helped me destress from the response pressure.

For me, the most powerful moment was when the children shared their survival stories. One boy described hearing an awful roar, like thousands of helicopters, and seeing the waves like a giant cobra racing through the coconut trees. Others said that their clothes were torn and even washed away by the strong currents.  But it was encouraging to see children expressing their hopes and dreams by painting what their future villages and homes would look like. 

At the time, some people were sceptical about including children’s voice in the resettlement and reconstruction plans.  The adults assumed that children would prefer staying in tents and not be involved in the rebuilding process, but the children had different feedback. They wanted better protection from disasters and a safer environment to reduce disaster risks. Listening to their perspectives was one of the best ways to address local disaster risks.

Learning from Set-backs and Community Feedback

I am grateful that we have learnt a lot from our past successes and challenges. This has led to the development of standards and guidance to optimise the benefits of humanitarian aid for the affected and reduce the risks of damage to the local economy. Back then, I remember asking some people what their main concern was. Their response was their inability to rehabilitate their farm because the workers preferred receiving aid cash to working for a meagre labour wage. Local markets were disrupted with the influx of local inflation, and affected people could not afford to buy the things they needed.

Another huge challenge in the response was resettling the affected population. World Vision undertook critical steps to ensure the resettlement was adequate, safe, and protect the right of children, women, people with disability and other marginalised groups. Our advocacy and protection team supported the processing of legal documents for people before they could rebuild their houses. The tsunami and earthquake changed the landscape, and new rules required a safety zone 500 meters from the coast. Many people lost their land entirely to the tsunami, and the local government and community should decide how these people could resettle.  We also had to protect the rights of orphans and women-led households to ensure they could inherit land or build houses, while being mindful of the economic situation of caretakers of children or other vulnerable people. We needed to standardise housing assistance to avoid conflicts and make sure no one was left behind. All these issues caused major delays in building houses, which was urgently needed, especially for children. 

This experience showed me how crucial it is for development agencies and professionals to jump into action during recovery and rehabilitation. Considering disaster risks in urban planning, building codes, land use zoning, and infrastructure will reduce a lot of damage and suffering of the people. Urban resilient planning should not just be a buzzword.  We humanitarians have the mandate to act fast to save lives but dare to learn from our failures to improve our response to support the community to build back better.

I am grateful for the world's unity in aiding disaster-stricken children and communities. The humanitarian community's collaboration bridged gaps and devised innovative solutions to unprecedented challenges.

Seeing the once-devastated areas flourish and survivors rebuild their lives is inspiring. I believe humanity can continue to learn, develop resilience, and live as strong, united nations that can build a better and more protected environment for children.

When the earthquake and tsunami hit her village in Aceh Besar, Nadia was nine months pregnant. Nadia and her husband ran towards a hill and climbed it. The water was near their feet. There, Nadia gave birth to Muhammad who was born in the middle of a disaster. Nadia and her family were given a new house built by World Vision, they still live in it today.

The Aceh elementary school lost students and teachers. One of the senior teachers and survivor, Darmawati remembered, “They were my students who did not come back to school. They were my neighbor's children too.’ But, a week after tsunami, she was already back giving her service to the remaining students. World Vision Indonesia rebuild the school facilities and assisted the teachers Now, the school has regained its title as the favorite school in town.