A small team goes ashore and we meet up with Budi who has been here for a week helping the victims and who we have worked with before on other campaigns. He has arranged a fishing boat and this ties up alongside the RW for the first of many loads on a long hot day. The currency is diesel and we gladly oblige for the assistance. Problem is the diesel is given away too soon, like on the first load and after dropping the stuff ashore they guy doesn't bother to come back, but goes to get other business elsewhere.

I am not happy with this. We have a lot to get off and we want to be on our way as soon as possible to resupply and head wherever MSF needs us to go. Budi goes back ashore to see what he can do, but appears that all the likely candidates are working elsewhere and cannot come to us.

So we go back to the plan B which is inflatable boat, this is the three day plan and not a good one. Budi has managed to get a small Indonesian flat bottomed boat and we start to hail passing boats like taxis and it actually starts to work! Before we know it we have several small boats lining up and getting stuff ashore for us, they are mostly after diesel, I guess the word got out and things from here go pretty smoothly until; about 1400 when the boats seem to dry up again, lunchtime.

Abby and Christian have gone ashore once more and have visited the hospital which has escaped the devastation and where MSF have set up working with their doctor and nursing staff, as well as a refugee camp which has sprung up in the local council offices, more about that in the following report.

Somehow Abby manages to find four boats that were tied up alongside all standing by and waiting for us to load them.

This all means that pretty much everything that was in the hold is now out and in the hands of the MSF logistics team. The last of the 220l drums of AVgas and JetA1 fuel is now being towed ashore by the inflatables, and once this is complete we will pull up the anchor and head straight back to resupply and head wherever it is we are needed under the instruction of our partner NGO MSF.

All in all a big day and quite incredible that amongst all the devastation that surrounds us we were able to do the job, it was looking dodgy at midday that we would be successful and have to do another day here, but we got there in the end. I am certain our next visit is going to be a lot easier, the first time is always the most difficult when you have no logistical knowledge. The teamwork is really coming together.

Well I hope we have helped MSF get underway here, the roads into Meulaboh from the North are still either destroyed or impassable effectively with trucks, using a boat is definitely the way at the moment to get equipment in. It looks like the Southern Corridor may be opening up again though and this will help land logistics.

All from me tonight, the shore party report to follow. It's 9.30 in the evening and I forgot to add into the update that everyone is shattered and have all gone to bed, no one will be getting a wake up call in the morning, we need to rest as this is all just about to happen again.

Cheers, Rob

Meulaboh, Saturday, 8 January 2005

Christian and I tried to go to the hospital today and film our MSF friends during their work. Thomas said that the best bet to reach the hospital is to hitch a ride with any car passing by. We went out and the streets were relatively quite compared to yesterday. There was a car parking but they were hired by a couple of journalists who unfortunately were going in the other direction.

We decided to walk in the direction of the hospital and along the main road a group of people were clearing the road. There was fire earlier in the day and the road was closed. We can see two thick plumes of smoke from the ship this morning. It wasn't clear whether the piles of rubble was burnt on purpose or it was an accident. Either way, they were clearing the road pretty quick. Wide tracks on road sides suggested that they had help of heavy machinery.

Finally a car passed, I waved frantically to get their attention. They stopped and I asked whether they were going the direction of the hospital, and indeed they were.

The area where the hospital stands was not affected by the tsunami. The building is intact. I don't even see a broken window. But many of its staff are either missing, dead or had to take care of their family. The hospital is now run by various medical missions. Korean Red Cross greets patients as they came in the front section. MSF provides surgical and pediatric care. We interviewed one of their nurses, Elaine, and she took us on a tour of patients there. We spoke to some of the patients too.

We were waiting to see if we could join one of their mobile clinics on their runs. But one of them just came back and they don't know when the next team will take off. So after enjoying their hospitality of rice, fried instant noodles, some vegetables, we left the hospital.

Life was bustling in that part of town. A traditional market was open. I didn't have any reference of what it was like before the disaster but it looks 'normal'. Tricycles offered their services. Less than a hundred metres from the hospital, the regent's office stood unharmed. Meulaboh is the capital of West Aceh Regency. The office is now virtually abandoned, and hundreds of refugees live there. In front of the office there were three big green tents. 'Social Department' was written on two of them and a big red cross was printed on the other.

In front of the office building I saw again more stockpiles of instant noodle packages. The person distributing it said that they hand out 2 packs per person everyday. If they have rice, then that will hand out that.

We walk further to the direction of the wharf. We hitched a ride again on some contractor's car.

Abby