This weeks feature : Médecins Sans Frontières Australia

May 2005

Logistician tells the story of his mission in Nias following the earthquake

Bruno Kowalczewski, a logistician from Médecins Sans Frontières has spent a couple of weeks on the Indonesian island of Nias, following the earthquake that struck the region on March 28. In Tuhemberua, located on the north-east tip of the island, Bruno swiftly assessed what was most urgently needed. This meant organising the distribution of emergency material to provide shelter and helping the local population get back on its feet.

I was in Sigli when the earthquake struck on March 28. I felt the shock even though the epicentre was 200 kilometres away. When we found out the epicentre was just off the Banyak islands – approximately 60 kilometres from the island of Simeulue (to the north) and Nias (to the south) – we imagined the damage would be severe.

We arrived on the ground on April 2. Our team comprised Olivier, the program doctor in Sigli; Thierry, nurse and head of mission in Aceh; and myself, logistician. We arrived to find the island's capital, Gunung Sitoli, devastated. The cement pillars supporting the buildings had given way, and according to official estimates, nearly 800 buildings had collapsed.

On this occasion the quake didn't trigger a tidal wave. There was however widespread panic among the population. Many inhabitants, rather than going home, fled to the hills, located in the centre of the island. Others simply preferred to leave the island. Each day throughout the week, close to 3000 people left Gunung Sitoli to seek refuge in Sumatra.

On our arrival different aid organizations, having come from Banda Aceh and other neighbouring countries, began to arrive on the island to set up the first operations. During the first days, helicopters allowed us to ferry around 40 injured people a day from Gunung Sitoli to hospitals in Sumatra and Nias. From here, their injuries could be properly assessed. According to officials, the death toll from the March 28 earthquake is 630, with 2236 seriously injured, with 3800 reporting minor injuries. Gunung Sitoli and Telukdalam, the southern most point of the island, were the hardest hit areas. These were followed by Tuhemberua, on the north-eastern point, and Lolowau, on the west coast. As much of the aid was concentrated around Gunung Sitoli and Telukdalam, we decided to make an assessment of the situation in Tuhemberua, where 42,000 people live.

Exploring the areas without aid
Olivier and Thierry, the team’s two doctors, located a helicopter that could drop them into the area. They spent the first day in a small medical centre. The following day they explored the surrounding villages. They organised in total six medical evacuations, but since all emergency needs were attended to, they left on the third day for Sitoli before returning to Sumatra.

As for me, I spent the first day preparing for an ‘exploratory mission’, trying to find an interpreter and a motorbike. Given the size of the island (120kms long, 40kms wide) and the state of the roads, motorbike is the most suitable form of transport. What’s more, you can stop whenever and wherever you like to make the best assessment of what’s required.

In the first village of the area I visited, all the houses were completely destroyed. In the second, 135 out of 200; and in the third, 60 of the 100 houses had been destroyed. My exploration wasn’t over but I already had an idea of the basic needs required. I contacted the teams in Sumatra by satellite phone. In Banda Aceh, Sigli and Medan, they had gathered tents, food and other material to be sent to the affected area.

820 tents, 1000 reconstruction kits
Having finished my evaluation, I headed back to Sitoli where I found two 10 x 12m fishing boats capable of pulling up anywhere. I loaded each boat with 4.5 tons of energy biscuits provided by the World Food Program that I distributed in eight villages of Tuhemberua. From April 6 to April 8, three boats loaded with material arrived from Sibulga and Meulaboh. In total, we had 820 tents, 1000 reconstruction kits (including nails, shovels, hammers, saws, plastic sheeting) and other various items (soap, petrol lamps, saucepans, etc.)

	We began distributing the tents to around twenty villages before giving out the reconstruction kits. As well as my translator, I had a boat crew of eight sailors to assist me, plus Boedi, a logistician, and Irwan-Sya, an Indonesian nurse, both of whom had come from Sumatra to give us a hand.
© Bruno Kowalczewski / MSF

Useful – and much sought after – aid
Using my motorbike I’ve been able to notify the villagers of the time and place of distributions. This system has been working well: people have been coming from afar to receive material, even if it means walking 15 kilometres with a 37kg tent on their back. My motorbike trips have also allowed me to get a realistic idea of the effect of the aid we’re providing. The days following distribution, everyone in the villages is hard at work erecting temporary shelters.

That said we had to confront many difficulties and tense situations. In fact, during the distributions, we’d been giving priority to the families whose houses are more than 75% destroyed and thus completely uninhabitable. This sometimes angered those whose houses were less affected, and who, fearing an aftershock, didn’t want to stay in their houses. They too wanted material to build temporary shelters. On several occasions the tension was such that we had to temporarily interrupt distributions. In the end, we estimate that in the district of Tuhemberua 90% of emergency needs have been met.

Difficulties providing and adapting the aid
When I arrived back in Gunung Sitoli I was struck by the contrast between the number of NGOs on the ground and the amount of relief work actually up and running. On April 13, the night before my departure for Sumatra, I visited a village two kms from Gunung Sitoli where 149 of the 150 houses had been destroyed by the earthquake. They are still without water and tents.

	In total, the island of Nias has 500,000 habitants. The number of houses is estimated to be 100,000 and 20% of these have been completely wiped out. However, of the 25,000 shelters needed, so far aid efforts have only been able to provide five to six thousand! The other worry is that aid has so far been concentrated on a few easy-to-reach areas. What’s more, some of the methods used have been totally unsuitable. During the week that I was in Tuhemberua, a Malaysian boat passed but it was unfortunately too big to get anywhere near the coast. If we hadn’t been there with our fishing boats, the boat wouldn’t have been able to unload the 30 tons of rice on board!
© Bruno Kowalczewski / MSF

We’re going to continue our work on the island of Nias, in the district of Lolowau, where 2,500 houses have collapsed and where only 100 tents have so far been distributed. Our objective is to distribute not only reconstruction kits but also hygiene kits (jerrycans, toothbrushes, etc.).

Since Wednesday April 20, Bruno has been back in Nias. The two fishing boats are already making there way to Lolowau, while Bruno and Irwan Shah travel the district on motorbike. Over the course of their first day, they’ve been able to assess the situation in eight villages, in a mountainous region where the transportation of material will certainly be a challenge.

MSF intervenes by assessing the needs of the population and by distributing emergency summlies to help them rebuild shelter and regain autonomy. Food distribution with boats.

» Read other feature articles

Overseas Field Work - Recruitment info evenings