Tibang today

Tibang used to be a very peaceful and scenic village inhabited by some 1,300 Acehnese, many of whom earned a livelihood through fishing. However, when the tsunami struck on the fateful morning of 26 December 2004, some 500 people perished in the merciless waters, most of them women and children.

As we drove through Tibang that morning, almost six months after the disaster, the devastation was still very much evident. Bricks and tiles were strewn all over the ground. Remnants of walls and foundation stones mutely testified to the former existence of buildings which used to line the streets. Isolated coconut trees which had escaped uprooting were bent at awkward angles resulting from the massive pounding force that had swept across the land. Tombstones from the community cemetary were upturned and broken into pieces. Fish ponds, now contaminated with thick layers of silt, were no longer suitable for rearing fish.

The village itself was very quiet when we first arrived. Of the 800 survivors, many had left the village to seek refuge with relatives who lived further inland. Of the few who stayed behind, some lived in simple wooden shacks with zinc roofs that leaked when it rained. Others lived in tents, a poor substitute for decent shelter in a place where the winds are known to be strong.

Yet, there was also a quiet but palpable resilience among the villagers who remained. They weren't going to let a tsunami wash away their courage and their desire to live. Some were just embarking on their own home rebuilding projects. Others were helping to plant mangrove saplings along the shoreline to help revive the coastal ecological system. One family even tried to grow some crops. They were a brave group of people.