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Indian Ocean tsunami: Emotional reunion in Aceh 10 years on | Indian Ocean tsunami: Emotional reunion in Aceh 10 years on |
(about 11 hours later) | |
It's hard to recognise Lhoknga at first. | It's hard to recognise Lhoknga at first. |
The trees have grown back so enthusiastically that, from the road, the tiny village seems hidden behind a lush green curtain. | The trees have grown back so enthusiastically that, from the road, the tiny village seems hidden behind a lush green curtain. |
We stop the car on the outskirts, and I set off down a side road leading south toward the steep hills, looking out for a familiar face - and wondering how much it will have changed. | We stop the car on the outskirts, and I set off down a side road leading south toward the steep hills, looking out for a familiar face - and wondering how much it will have changed. |
Ten years ago, I remember a very different scene. | Ten years ago, I remember a very different scene. |
In the days immediately after the tsunami - with everything flattened - you could see long distances in every direction from here - straight to the sea, perhaps two kilometres (1.4 miles) to the west and back towards the regional capital Banda Aceh. | In the days immediately after the tsunami - with everything flattened - you could see long distances in every direction from here - straight to the sea, perhaps two kilometres (1.4 miles) to the west and back towards the regional capital Banda Aceh. |
And everywhere was mud, and debris, and misery. Emergency workers had just started trying to collect the dead, and hundreds of bodies lay in neat rows on the roadside. | And everywhere was mud, and debris, and misery. Emergency workers had just started trying to collect the dead, and hundreds of bodies lay in neat rows on the roadside. |
Emotional reunion | Emotional reunion |
It was in a makeshift camp for survivors in the grounds of a nearby mosque that I first met Mawardah Priyanka. She was 11 years old, exhausted, grimy and alone. | It was in a makeshift camp for survivors in the grounds of a nearby mosque that I first met Mawardah Priyanka. She was 11 years old, exhausted, grimy and alone. |
Her parents had both been killed when the wave - perhaps 35m-tall when it first hit the nearby coastal village of Lampuuk - reached their home. | Her parents had both been killed when the wave - perhaps 35m-tall when it first hit the nearby coastal village of Lampuuk - reached their home. |
It would be days before she discovered that her big sister, Mutiyah, 16, was still alive. | It would be days before she discovered that her big sister, Mutiyah, 16, was still alive. |
In the months that followed, I kept in contact with the sisters as they moved from the chaotic camp to their own tent, and eventually into a new brick and wood home built for them by the British charity Oxfam. | In the months that followed, I kept in contact with the sisters as they moved from the chaotic camp to their own tent, and eventually into a new brick and wood home built for them by the British charity Oxfam. |
Mawardah went back to school. Mutiyah soon got married and moved away. Another, much older sister, Ita, came to share the house at Lhoknga. | Mawardah went back to school. Mutiyah soon got married and moved away. Another, much older sister, Ita, came to share the house at Lhoknga. |
And then, about eight years ago, I lost touch with them. | And then, about eight years ago, I lost touch with them. |
It's hard to get my bearings as I walk down what used to be a dirt track. Now it's a paved road, with a new bridge over a small stream. | It's hard to get my bearings as I walk down what used to be a dirt track. Now it's a paved road, with a new bridge over a small stream. |
On the right, I see a cluster of familiar buildings - concrete bases, with very simple wooden walls and tin roofs. | On the right, I see a cluster of familiar buildings - concrete bases, with very simple wooden walls and tin roofs. |
Someone shouts out that a foreigner is coming, and suddenly a tall, beaming figure is rushing out of the door. | Someone shouts out that a foreigner is coming, and suddenly a tall, beaming figure is rushing out of the door. |
It's happy, emotional - at times awkward - reunion for both of us. I'm immediately struck by how little Mawardah seems to have changed - height apart - and how much my return evidently means to her, and two days later, to her sister Mutiyah who travels in from the countryside. | It's happy, emotional - at times awkward - reunion for both of us. I'm immediately struck by how little Mawardah seems to have changed - height apart - and how much my return evidently means to her, and two days later, to her sister Mutiyah who travels in from the countryside. |
And I feel a rush of guilt that I didn't do more to try to stay in touch after various local and foreign contacts - who'd acted as intermediaries in the early days - left the province. | And I feel a rush of guilt that I didn't do more to try to stay in touch after various local and foreign contacts - who'd acted as intermediaries in the early days - left the province. |
"There is nobody to care about me - nobody loves me like my parents," says Mawardah tearfully, the following day. | "There is nobody to care about me - nobody loves me like my parents," says Mawardah tearfully, the following day. |
The tsunami destroyed all trace of her parents - no photos of her mother or father remain, and Ita now is preoccupied with her young family, leaving Mawardah often alone with her chores, her wooden desk and a simple mattress on a concrete bedroom floor. | The tsunami destroyed all trace of her parents - no photos of her mother or father remain, and Ita now is preoccupied with her young family, leaving Mawardah often alone with her chores, her wooden desk and a simple mattress on a concrete bedroom floor. |
Empty houses | Empty houses |
But it soon becomes clear that the disaster has shaped Mawardah's life in other, more positive ways too. | But it soon becomes clear that the disaster has shaped Mawardah's life in other, more positive ways too. |
At the age of 21, she is a confident, intelligent and ambitious young woman. | At the age of 21, she is a confident, intelligent and ambitious young woman. |
She's won several educational scholarships from a local cement factory (now restored after the tsunami), and is studying English at a private college in Banda Aceh. | She's won several educational scholarships from a local cement factory (now restored after the tsunami), and is studying English at a private college in Banda Aceh. |
Over the next two days, as we talk in her small house, visit her school and lunch with her close circle of friends, I learn more about the trials and complexities of her life, and it strikes me that Marwadah's experiences reflect the broader circumstances of Aceh in the decade since the tsunami. | Over the next two days, as we talk in her small house, visit her school and lunch with her close circle of friends, I learn more about the trials and complexities of her life, and it strikes me that Marwadah's experiences reflect the broader circumstances of Aceh in the decade since the tsunami. |
First there's the house - one of 140,000 built with the staggering $7bn (£4.5bn) in international aid given to Aceh. | First there's the house - one of 140,000 built with the staggering $7bn (£4.5bn) in international aid given to Aceh. |
Marwadah's was built quickly, and it shows. The roof leaks, its walls are flimsy, and I remember some unpleasant squabbles in the early years about which relatives would ultimately own it. | Marwadah's was built quickly, and it shows. The roof leaks, its walls are flimsy, and I remember some unpleasant squabbles in the early years about which relatives would ultimately own it. |
But the building has served its purpose, and the family readily admits it is better than the home they had before 2004. | But the building has served its purpose, and the family readily admits it is better than the home they had before 2004. |
Elsewhere, it's clear that a significant number of houses are now unoccupied - they were built in a flurry by a badly co-ordinated assortment of often competing aid agencies, flush with money and sometimes more anxious to spend it fast than to address the interests of local communities. | Elsewhere, it's clear that a significant number of houses are now unoccupied - they were built in a flurry by a badly co-ordinated assortment of often competing aid agencies, flush with money and sometimes more anxious to spend it fast than to address the interests of local communities. |
"I give the aid effort 65 (out of 100)," says Muslahuddin Daud, a World Bank official who himself nearly drowned in the tsunami. | "I give the aid effort 65 (out of 100)," says Muslahuddin Daud, a World Bank official who himself nearly drowned in the tsunami. |
"A lot of things are not perfect: $7bn - in many ways we could do better. A lot of houses are empty... redundant. We had more than 500 aid organisations and... a lot of overlapping. | "A lot of things are not perfect: $7bn - in many ways we could do better. A lot of houses are empty... redundant. We had more than 500 aid organisations and... a lot of overlapping. |
Mr Daud said too much foreign money made people feel "entitled to get aid" and become lazy. | |
"Aceh has got stuck in terms of growth - the ability to manage the resources is not there," he said. | |
'Strong woman' | 'Strong woman' |
Then there's peace. | Then there's peace. |
Before the tsunami, Aceh was wrestling with a violent separatist rebellion. Even as an 11-year-old, Mawardah remembers the impact it had on everyone's lives - the fear, the road blocks, and the clashes in the hills behind the village. | Before the tsunami, Aceh was wrestling with a violent separatist rebellion. Even as an 11-year-old, Mawardah remembers the impact it had on everyone's lives - the fear, the road blocks, and the clashes in the hills behind the village. |
But the disaster acted as an immediate catalyst for peace talks, and today the province continues to benefit from an autonomy deal that ended the conflict. | But the disaster acted as an immediate catalyst for peace talks, and today the province continues to benefit from an autonomy deal that ended the conflict. |
The new government has since introduced elements of Sharia - which many here, including Marwadah, publically support. | The new government has since introduced elements of Sharia - which many here, including Marwadah, publically support. |
But critics say public floggings and other punishments are an abuse of human rights, and that foreign investors are increasingly steering clear of a province that is now falling behind the rest of Indonesia in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction. | But critics say public floggings and other punishments are an abuse of human rights, and that foreign investors are increasingly steering clear of a province that is now falling behind the rest of Indonesia in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction. |
"We like Sharia. And I am a good Muslim," says Marwadah, but she believes the officials who police the new laws are often "hypocrites". | "We like Sharia. And I am a good Muslim," says Marwadah, but she believes the officials who police the new laws are often "hypocrites". |
Late one afternoon, we stop at Marwadah's college in Banda Aceh where she's got a Thai kickboxing class with a group of other male and female students. | Late one afternoon, we stop at Marwadah's college in Banda Aceh where she's got a Thai kickboxing class with a group of other male and female students. |
"She's a good student. She works hard, studies hard. As a girl, she has a spirit like a boy. She's strong. She doesn't give up easily," says her English teacher Maulizan Za. | "She's a good student. She works hard, studies hard. As a girl, she has a spirit like a boy. She's strong. She doesn't give up easily," says her English teacher Maulizan Za. |
He worries about inflation, but - like almost everyone else I ask here - believes that life is significantly better and safer than it was before the tsunami. | He worries about inflation, but - like almost everyone else I ask here - believes that life is significantly better and safer than it was before the tsunami. |
"My friends are my family now," says Mawardah, finishing the hour-long kickboxing class and getting ready to drive back home on her sister's motor scooter. | "My friends are my family now," says Mawardah, finishing the hour-long kickboxing class and getting ready to drive back home on her sister's motor scooter. |
"I want to be a strong woman. After I graduate from this college I will next study in America, and get a job like a reporter. I feel my future will be bright," she concludes, then bursts into a confident, full-throated laugh. | "I want to be a strong woman. After I graduate from this college I will next study in America, and get a job like a reporter. I feel my future will be bright," she concludes, then bursts into a confident, full-throated laugh. |