Mixing the cement

After our short mid-morning break, Team Pembantuan was split into two separate groups to mix the cement. I was assigned to the group working at land plot #140. We had to shovel several wheelbarrow-loads of pasir (sand) and mix them evenly with the biru strip or semen (cement) powder. All the "ingredients" had to be in specific ratio - and this ratio was different for cement to be used in different parts of the house. I thought that was rather confusing, but thankfully, the local skilled workers were on-site to help and remind us of the correct proportions to use! In the case of the foundation cement mixture, it was 3 wheelbarrows of sand to 2 bags of cement.

Once the mixture of pasir and biru strip were well mixed, we dug a crater into the middle of the mixture, and then poured air (water) into it. We then left our mini-volcano alone for a few minutes, allowing the water to seep in. Then, slowly but steadily, we started to mix the cement, using a technique apparently devised by some Singaporeans during other Habitat builds. This method was called the "merry-go-round cement mixing technique." :) But humour aside, mixing cement manually was no easy feat! As soon as the water got into the mixture, every scoop of the shovel seemed twice as heavy. We had to take turns to constantly stir the mixture, ensuring uniformity in its composition as well as preventing it from solidifying prematurely.

Once the wet cement was ready, we scooped it into buckets, and then poured them into the trenches (which we had dug earlier) and over the stones which we had helped to place inside.

Later on, Adele, Wai Yan and I were also tasked to distribute water, small bucket by small bucket, from a water distribution truck to rusty water barrels located at the different building sites.

Adele and Hiew shovelling sand into the wheelbarrow that Wai Yan is holding onto

Lark ensuring that our mini-volcano does not crack open, while Hock Teck, Alvin and Hiew take a short breather

A local skilled worker pouring our cement mixture into the trenches over the foundation stones

More signs of life

It was our second day in Tibang, and I suppose the news had begun to spread among the villagers that we, the Singaporean aliens, were friendly and were here to help them. Three of the local womenfolk came by our wooden shack after lunch, and stood outside, observing us. They didn't speak much; they just kept smiling. :)

We also saw more children today. Two of them were girls aged seven, Unar and Nurul. Nurul lost her mother and her baby brother in the tsunami, and was herself washed away by the waves. But she was rescued from the turbulent waters soon after, and was now living with her father, her only surviving immediate family member.

Burhan also came back to visit us, and he brought along his other 13-year old friend, Khairllah. Khairllah lived on the far side of the village with his mum and three brothers. His dad and his other siblings perished in the disaster. Some other young boys also came by to look at us, the latest attraction in the village :) Among them were 12-year old Fahkrurazi, who lost both parents and all his siblings and now lived with his grandmother. Like all the other children we saw, he was very quiet but very inquisitive. It pained me to think that for every child that I saw in Tibang, there were many more who were silenced by the merciless waves.

But some were more fortunate than others. We came to befriend 11-year old Suphan and 8-year old Mursalih. Suphan himself had climbed up a coconut tree when he saw the wall of water crashing towards the village. He and Mursalih were brothers, and their entire family - both parents, a grandmother and a third brother - survived the tsunami by divine providence.

Nurul (left) and Unar sitting on the edge of what is left of Nurul's home

Thay and Aan treated us to dinner

In the evening, Thay and Aan treated us to dinner at a large rumah makan (eating house). We had the honour of having our two van drivers also having dinner with us. It turned out that ganja (cannabis) was one of the regular spices used in local Achnese foods (but not necessarily always used in all dishes!). The meal that we ate tasted exceptionally delicious, especially the leafy one with the spicy kampung (village) chicken meat :) And no, I don't think it was because of the ganja.

At the rumah makan: Alvin, Hiew and Ammar, one of our drivers

The first official briefing

Hosea and I woke up at 6:45 am in the morning and we joined some of the other Team Pembantuan members for a simple breakfast of nasi putih (plain white rice) with teluar (eggs), spicy ikan (fish), cucumber and some mee goreng (friend noodles) at the hotel restaurant.

Thay and Aan arrived at Hotel Cakradonya at 8:30 am, and gave us a formal welcome and briefing for our First Build in Banda Aceh. We were reminded of the socio-cultural norms and taboos of the Acehnese people, and were also told the sort of construction work which we could expect to do while we were on-site. In addition, each of us was given a First Builder vest (green for the Team leader, and blue for the other Team members) to distinguish us from the locals and from other relief aid workers. After our briefing, we boarded the Habitat van and set off for Tibang Village in the north-east, a region about 2-km from the coast.

Thay (left) handing me the green-coloured First Builder Team Leader's vest, while Aan watches

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.

Photo :- Less than half a house

Where was the family when the tsunami pounded away more than half of the concrete walls of this house? I dread to imagine... :-(

Photo :- Tibang fish ponds

The ruined fish ponds of Tibang...the livelihoods of many fishermen have been destroyed.

Photo :- Porcelain amidst bricks

Someone used to eat from this plate. Now the plate lies in shattered pieces amidst the rubble. And what of its owner? :-(

Photo :- Another house virtually demolished

I felt like I was stepping into a war zone.

Our first morning of real work

Our van stopped near one particular wooden shack in Tibang (land plot #184). The local owner of this humble abode had graciously allowed us to unload our equipment and bags onto the floor of his home, and welcomed us to rest under its shade. From there, Thay and Aan introduced us to some of the other Habitat staff with whom Team Pembantuan would be frequently interacting over the next few days. We met Garin, the construction supervisor, as well as Joyo, the construction manager.

It wasn't long before Team Pembantuan was assigned its first task, jokingly called a "warm-up" to precede the actual building work. We had to relocate bricks from the roadside to the building site (land plot #127). In order to achieve this, we formed a human chain, and passed four bricks at a time over a distance of about 10 metres. By lunchtime, we had shifted exactly 2,600 bricks!

Passing the bricks

Our first contact with a village kid

At around lunchtime, we stopped work and returned to the shack in land plot #184, now effectively our home-base in Tibang as well as our summer palace to hide from the scorching sun. There, we consumed our packed lunch. It was delicious! :)

Meanwhile, a village boy cycled by on his rusty bike, curious to see us, the pale-skinned foreigners who had arrived in his village. I suppose we must have looked extremely interesting, donning our brightly coloured First Builder vests, white construction helmets, stylish visors, beige gloves and black Dansaf construction boots. Hosea was the first to speak with the boy.

His name was Burhan. He was 13 years old, and lost his mother and sister in the tsunami disaster. He didn't have many personal belongings besides his prized bicycle. He seemed to like us, and tried to mouth the English sentences which we spoke. And he was very intrigued by a rubber-band trick which Hosea showed him. :)

Burhan was the only child we met in the village that day. And I felt a deep sadness stirring inside of me when I remembered that many of the villagers who lost their lives were children and women.

Hosea with Burhan (left), his trusty bicycle at his feet

Digging, carrying, cutting, bending and tying

After lunch, we embarked on our next assignment at land plot #129. We were to help dig a rectangular trench in the ground, and then to fill it up with large granite stones for the foundation of a new house. For the male members of Team Pembantuan, the digging was reminiscent of our days in the military. ;) Everyone did their best to help, either with the digging or with carrying rocks. Working together with us were the staff from Habitat for Humanity Indonesia, the home-owner (who would eventually live in the new house after it is completed) and some skilled local labourers. All in all, it was a rather back-breaking process.

Later on in the afternoon, we were instructed to cut steel bars of specified lengths. The thicker bars were to be used as main reinforcement bars for the new house, while the narrower ones were to be bent into rectangular rings and fitted along the main reinforcement bars. And so, a couple of us began to do the cutting, while a few others began to bend the narrower steel bars into rings. The rest of us were taught how to tie the rings to the main reinforcement bars using thin wires.

We had only one minor injury to report that day. One of us had accidentally gotten his finger squished under a rock. *ouch*

Digging with our sekop (shovel) and cangkul (mattock)

Wai Yan bending over the pile of batu (rocks/stones) which had to be placed into the dug trenches

Alvin successfully cutting a steel bar

Using the above equipment, we had to bend straight rods into rectangular rings

Lark showing Adele how to tie the steel ring to the reinforcement bar

After a day of hard work

As there was always a constant cool breeze blowing in from the sea, we didn't sweat as much as we thought we would, given our physical exertions. In fact, with the Sumatran mountains as a grand backdrop to Tibang village and with clear blue skies, it felt really comfortable and pleasant to work there. Understandably, a couple of us therefore underestimated the power of the sun, and paid a dear price: being badly sun-burnt by the end of the working day. At around 5 pm, we packed up our items, loaded up the Habitat van, and headed back to Hotel Cakradonya for a much needed shower and rest. Those who were sun-burnt needed to apply soothing healing balms, such as aloe vera gel, to patches of painful, red skin on their faces, necks, ears and arms.

For dinner, we trooped down a few streets to the Banda Aceh Seafood Restaurant, and had a sumptous dinner. It was a good time of laughs and encouragement, and we wondered how much we can accomplish over the next few days in Banda Aceh. After our meal, we took a brisk walk in the neighbourhood. The Peunayong district where we stayed seemed to be a rather safe area. Most of the fighting between the rebels and government forces seemed to be concentrated in a much further region of Aceh. We returned to the hotel by 9:30 pm and turned in for the night.

Dinner at the Banda Aceh Seafood Restaurant was very good