Aceh Emergency Relief - Exploratory Team Returns

Dr. Jo Ann, Christie Chiam, Dr. Santhani, Prakash, Arul, Jo Hann

Six members from the KOMAS-SEAPCP Emergency Relief Mission returned after spending a week in Medan and in Aceh. They touched down at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 12 Jan 2005 slightly after 20:00 (GMT +8).

They were in high spirits when they saw us at the arrival hall. Hugs, greetings, handshakes and smiles were exchanged. After the initial relief and excitement in meeting friends and loved ones after a week, we settled in at a nearby fast-food joint for a brief interview with Dharmender Singh from The Star.

Listening attentively to Dharmender's questions

Lead by Mr. Tan Jo Hann, the team briefly recapped their work at Aceh, sharing experiences and observations from their week in Aceh.

Jo Hann gave a brief background on the work of the KOMAS-SEAPCP relief team. Most international attention and relief work was focused in larger town areas with various aid stations and distribution centres, but not all patients could afford to travel to these stations because of the cost of transportation. In addition to that, it was reported that foreign aid missions traveling with armed security personnel also intimidated the locals.

The KOMAS-SEAPCP team carried out relief work at the fringe of the affected areas. Refugees fled to neighbouring villages, congregrated at refugee centers, or simply lived with their relatives and friends. As such, they brought ‘mobile’ treatment and medical aid to refugees, instead of having them travel to the aid centers.

Jo Hann also commented on how the media sensationalized the situation in Aceh. He agreed that the destruction was massive, and that there still were bodies lying around the affected areas, but they found themselves in no immediate danger. The locals were friendly and courteous, and they could communicate and connect with the team in a personal level.

Our biggest advantage in carrying out relief work with the locals is probably the ease of communication we had – Bahasa Indonesia is similar to Bahasa Malaysia, and also since the relief team worked closely with our longtime partners in the KSKBA coalition.

He also noticed that there were wet-markets running a good business a few streets from the area of destruction. It appeared that vegetables and other daily supplies were brought in from mountainous areas and from other parts of the island. The prices were slightly inflated, but sales of local vegetables such as sawi were brisk. Jo Hann even had a taste of chicken rice from a local stall.

Dr. Santhani, Dr. Jo Ann, and Chris Chiam recounting their experiences

Members of the medical team – Paramedic Chris Chiam, Dr. Tan Jo Ann and Dr. Santhini noted that they had sufficient clean water for drinking and daily bathing. They were well-fed and courteously treated by our hosts. The locals even took to referring them as Putera-Puteri Dari Malaysia (Princesses and princes from Malaysia).

Dr. Santhani reported that most of the patients they treated had no illness that posed immediate threat to their health. Other than superficial cuts and bruises, among the more common diagnoses were respiratory tract infections, skin irritation, and diarrhea.

She noted that most of them were still in shock, and indicated that some patients displayed symptoms of post-traumatic-stress. It was suggested that perhaps a psychiatric would be more effective in such cases. For such patients, the team dispensed health supplements and vitamins as placebos to give them a peace of mind, if rather superficially and temporarily.

Jo Hann also clarified that in a disaster managment of this scale, the relief phase would last only two months. The two other ensuing phases would be rehabilitation, and reconstruction – both of which would require more time and effort. The coalition has committed itself to the following two phases as well.

The next two teams will be sent on Jan 19 – Jan 26, and Jan 27 – 7 Feb. If you have a medical background and wish to volunteer, or if you wish to make a donation, please contact us.

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EDIT: We are also featured in today's (14 Jan 2005) The Star (Metro, pg 4), as well as in their online version of the daily.