fight, fight...

This morning I found myself in the local “police station”. Well Police station would be an exaggeration. Its more like a big shed with a whole wall missing and chickens wandering in and out at will. The officers were lazing around, one was semi clad and lying in bed, which was easily visible from the well ventilated reporting desk! We had gone to make a statement after a late night incident. Police station

View from reporting deskAbout 11pm we were startled by loud shouts and screaming. When we went to investigate we saw the aftermath of a full-on fight. One of our team had been celebrating his birthday and the local trouble maker decided to beat him up. In his slightly intoxicated state our birthday boy was unable to respond and took a hammering.

The suspect ran off and has not been seen since. What counts for the local police force did show up after we sent motorbikes to pick them up. But they said before they could respond we would need to come to the office and file a report.

Filing a report involved sitting in the chicken shed while a guy took out the only piece of hi-tech equipment around – a typewriter from the 1960’s. It was intriguing to watch him plonking away for the next half hour. Underline was 50 repeated, noisy bangs of the keys.

I asked what the special force’s next move would be and after some head scratching said “well when we catch him we come and ask what you want us to do with him”. Hmm now that’s an interesting justice system. Hope I’m not placed under suspicion by the police I may not make it home for Christmas!

Christmas in England

Hey! We are coming home for Christmas! Last minute change of plan. Got our tickets and will be back by the 16th December. Hope to see as many of you as possible. Love Cheryl & Chris

The week I almost died - twice

If I started the week with 9 lives I am down to 7! I was just sat the other night checking my emails when there was an almighty crash. I immediately fled with various scenarios playing in my head....had my computer screen exploded, did a gas lamp blow up or maybe we were being hailed with stones. When I peered cautiously back into the room it was covered in glass and where the skylight used to be there was a big hole. Carefully swept up but couldn't find any incoming missiles.

What made me think we were under attack?
Well, earlier in the week I had attended a local village court. A disgruntled member of the public had been threatening staff and even thrown stones. He didn't understand why he was not offered the guard job and violence seemed a reasonable retaliation. The village leader called the meeting and he made a public apology to our staff with a promise not to do it again. Everyone was still a bit jumpy and my immediate thought was - the stone thrower is back.

I had a good look round the building and couldn't see any evidence of anything being thrown. The more likely explanation was the builders who had been working up on the roof. I think they dropped something and it dislodged the glass which gradually worked loose then fell.... Just inches from where I was sat, shards of glass had wedged themselves deeply into the table and my computer screen took a nasty slash. I had been really lucky to escape without a scratch.

To add to the adventure we went away at the weekend to a place where you can snorkel. Its also famous for its great surf and big waves. Since the earthquake the coast line has changed and the whole island lifted a couple of metres. The coral is now lifted out of the water and means tip toeing painfully over the razor sharp coral.

Found a small inlet where it looked ok to get into the sea, away from the big surf. Once we were in we realised that the current was being funnelled into the narrow channel and there was no way to stop ourselves being mercilessly thrown backwards and forwards with each wave. I clung on to the rock as each wave hit, trying to keep my head above water. Me hands were being torn by the coral and I couldn’t hold on I smashed into Chris, holding on behind me.

Chris managed to swim out of the channel but the waves which looked small before we entered were towering above him. At this point I had been thrown onto an outcrop of coral and manage to catch my breath. The waves continued to pound the rocks making it impossible to stand up. With each wave the coral ripped into my legs and like skidding over razors. I screamed at Chris to come back in. Finally we hauled ourselves out streaming with blood from our scrapes.

Celebrating survival

Water and tigers

Having a great time in Nairobi. The place we are staying has great food, small pool and large garden...Got chance to go to Lake Nakuru game park. Bit like the one in Constant Gardener with all the pink flamingo's.

Its been good to meet other Medair staff from around the world. Heres a picture of the group.

We are a mix of backgrounds, nationalities and ideas - which makes for some good discussions & some misunderstandings. Had a day messing about in mud and water, putting together an emergency water treatment system.

Priming the pump, dosing the water and admiring our results!

In Kenya

So we weren’t chucked out of our house. Think we are safe for the time being. We are writing a new contract to make doubly sure though!
I am in Kenya for a week on a watsan conference. My team weren’t happy to have me away for a week but I left them in the safe hands of Chris so they couldn’t complain.

Its funny being back in Kenya after 3 years away. It was where we were evacuated to during my crazy Congo days. It’s also where me and Chris had our first weekend away together from the programme. Lots of memories…..

Just when you thought.......

.......it couldnt get any worse
It was the day of bad news and tough negotiation. Chris was welcomed at 9.0 with a visit from our landlady. She showed up on our doorstep with a policeman, a lawyer and the contractor who built the house. She was on the war path and was threatening eviction. She wanted money and we were the ones who were going to pay it! After two hours of tough negotiation, threats, emotion and finally compromise she left. We got a reprieve...shes not going to throw us out just yet. We are going to try and get a lawyer though.

Eviction??

At same time Jose, our logistician, was in discussion with our car hire guy. The drivers are fed up of staying in the hills of Lolomatua at the weekend and one of them mutinied. He got on a motorbike and drove 150km home. That left us without a standby driver in case of emergency; where we are without hospitals, doctors or emergency services.

Our local clinic

Meanwhile a local NGO came to meet Cheryl. They were one of 10 companies that had submitted an application to build one of our health centres. Before the second round of short listing, they received an ominous call. They were told not to bother turning up at the next round, as the contract would be awarded to a local contractor. When Cheryl called round a few more contractors she heard a similar story. People had been told it wasn’t worth continuing with their application….here jobs are awarded on what your family name is, how much power do you have. Its nothing to do with skills or ability to do the job.

Days like this you wonder is it all worth it? We are fighting the way things are done in this culture, belieiving that people are motivated by goodwill and that you can trust what people say.

We are OK!

At 5.10 this evening we felt an earth tremour which lasted a while but was not very strong. It was the effects of a large earthquake measuring 7.9 in South Sumatra. The map shows that it was over 600km from where we are in Nias. There are rumours of a tsunami but nothing is confirmed.

2 weddings and a feastival

Just back from a wonderful three weeks in England. Forgotten how good cheese tastes and how many lovely friends we have. It was a whirlwind of activity starting off with a classy wedding on the banks of the Thames and ending with a countryside ceremony in the hills of Lancashire.

Got chance to let my hair down with my friends from Burundi at the Greenbelt feastival (http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/) There was a even a group from Congo called Kanda Bongo Man to remind me of those butt shaking tunes.

It was three days of camping, portaloos and cold showers. I just didnt want too much luxury after my basic Indo living!

The wedding in Lancashire was lovely. We ate pies and mushy peas, crumbly Lancashire cheese and the bride put on wellies half way though for a trot round the Pendle hills.

We had such a lovely time back home just a shame it was over so quickly and we didnt have more time to spend with you.

Pigs and rain

Rain seems to be very topical at the moment. I know you guys in the UK have been having your fair share. We are at the start of our rainy season and its been non-stop rain for three days. We rely on rain here for cooking, showering and cleaning and it all collects in a tank called a mandi. Normally a mandi is the size of a normal bath but ours is the size of a mini swimming pool. It holds 18,000 litres. We were advised as part of our cultural briefing not to get into your mandi!

A few weeks ago before the rainy season the mandi was nearly empty and we were desperate for rain. Staff were bathing in the local spring, the washing was being done in the local river and water was heavily rationed. I’ve learnt I can get washed in half a bucket of water.

We’ve put in some gutters to collect the rain but also improvise in whatever way we can.

We all got soaked but it was fun and now our mandi is nearly full.

Something else very common to Nias is the pigs. This is in total contrast to our programme in Aceh where the largely Muslim population find pigs disgusting.
We often see pigs being taken to market by their owners except its more like the pigs taking their owner for a walk. ….

Work and play

Ive been out and about recently. Went over to our Aceh programme to do some training on how to set up a business. Now this was all new stuff to me so I had to do a bit of research and some creative thinking. We are promoting sand filters - a simple way to make dirty water clean and drinkable. The entrpreneurs make the filter from concrete, fill it with sand and then sell it for a profit so they can make some more. Simple!? I came up with sandfilter Monopoly where instead of buying properties you go round buying materials for your filter, doing community activities and trying to avoid landing in hospitial (instead of jail). Had lots of fun and by the end of it I think people had a better idea of how to plan their finances.


Also got the job of team hairdresser.


Me and Chris got our second holiday together; this time in Java. Stayed in Yogjakarta, where Hindism, meets Buddism meets Islam. There is a heady mix of religion, culture and arts all jumbled together in a big student town and overshadowed by "the most active volcano in the world".















Visited temples like this one -




Climbed the Mount Merapi volcano but it was decidedly dormant and shrouded in cloud so this is a picture of Chris in the bamboo forest.

Took the preferred drug of Javanese - coffee























and I made a ring.

Busy few weeks

In case you'd wondered where we've got to we are still busy out here......just not done a blog update recently! Since we got back Cheryl has changed her job. Instead of Watsan co-ordinator she's project manager of the Nias programme. This is an interim position until a couple comes out in August to take over. Chris is still her boss though!

Mays been a busy month. Cheryl and Chris were over in Aceh to make sure a donor visit went well and hold a few decision making workshops. This is while opening a new project site up in the hills of Nias. There is a welcome cold breeze up here at 800m and we even need blankets. Its so great to be cold again!! We've traded in the sound of the city for the sounds of the countryside.
The noises start about 5.30 with the pig feeding. They just go crazy and sound like they are being strangled. This is followed by some energetic cock crowing. Just as you turn over to go back to sleep the neighbours start the morning singing practice at full volume.

The nights are not much better as our large team squashes four to a room and you can hear everyone’s movements and snoring throughout the night......It was funny the other night as a mouse was gnawing loudly through one of the beams. Our resident animal hunter, Russ, was first up to sort it out. It took four failed attempts of him upzipping his bug hut, turning on the light, bashing the broom around a bit, thinking the gnawing had stopped, getting back into bed, only to have the mouse start over again. By the fifth attempt he’d resorted to using a spade…..The mouse finally went silent.

Tears and hugs

We have just got back from a week in the UK. It was a time of mixed emotions; happy to see our friends and family but sad to finally say goodbye to Chris’ father. Chris’ Mum wanted a celebration of Malcolm’s life and it was a poignant mix of personal tributes and beautiful music. It was really moving to hear the lullaby that Sheila and Malcolm used to sing to the boys to get them to sleep. Malcolm had been a keen runner when he was younger and the curtain finally closed to the music of chariots of fire.

It was hard to leave after such a brief time, knowing that behind us were a family still mourning. Its times like this when you want your family around you and hugs become so important. I will remember last week for the tearful smiles and loads of hugs. Real hugs where you know the person is hugging you from the bottom of their heart.

An impromtu trip home

On Monday morning Chris' Dad died. He had had been ill with Alzheimer's for maybe 15 years. Had not known us for the last 5 years maybe and been in a home for the the last 4+ years. I knew it would happen eventually but it still came as a shock to get the phone call. Hard to know what to think or feel really. For Dad it must be a release. For his spirit to get out of that shell of a body and mind. For us here it is a sepration, at least for now. My Mum feels it mostly, of course.

Dad's funeral is tomorrow. No doubt there will be many people there. He was a popular guy. We are calling it a celebration of his life rather than a funeral. For me, I have many fond memories. These I will hold onto until I meet him again, which I will. I do believe my Dad is now in Heaven. Find it hard to imagine him 'being at peace' though. Bet he's running .. somewhere. Was always running. Out in whatever counts as hills up there.

So Cheryl and I are home in the UK for about a week to be with family. Like I said impromptu but not altogether unexpected. Dad has now gone home too..

Lake on an island on a lake!

We have just got back from a weeks holiday in Danau Toba which is the largest Lake in SE Asia. Its surrounded by big mountains so its like being in the Lake District but everythings bigger! Bataks have very distinct houses. They are built on stilts and have pointy roofs which are meant to look like buffalo horns. Bataks are vegetarian Christians, with skills in all things crafty – a great combination!

We stayed on an island in the middle of the lake which was a great place to relax. The temperature was much cooler here and you even needed a blanket at night! As well as relaxing we did more energetic stuff. One day we cycled to Ambarita where some Batak relics are found. There’s a group of 300-year-old stone chairs where the king used to put criminals on trial and if found guilty they were sentenced to a grisly death.

We also spent a day trekking from one side of the island to the other. Although this was meant to be a two day trek we did it in one but cheated at the end as we caught a local bus! There is a lake in the centre of the island and the idea is that when you get there you can say “I went to a lake on an island inside a lake on an island!”

Thought it would be fun to try and find some women weaving the traditional Batak blankets (more like thick sarongs). Now because of the total lack of tourists in the area it was down to us to track them down. We caught a local bus to a place we thought they did the weaving. It was a tiny village which was full of coffin makers, not quite what we were looking for! Went to a restaurant to try and narrow down our search. It was then we realised that it was Easter Monday and most places were closed - including the restaurant. The owner helpfully pointed out a hut which was the local café. In there were two ladies chopping potatoes a blind guy and another man who smiled the local greeting “Horas”. Had to spend the time of day with them, drink a coke and finally get to the point of our quest. Where can we find these blankets? The man helpfully agreed to take us to a house where there might be some weaving action! At last two smiling ladies, who were really surprised to see a couple of foreigners, showed us there art in action. It was great to finally see these tradtional hand made looms being used to make blankets in the same way they have been made for hundreds of years.

This last week saw us split up for a few days. No, don’t worry, just work related stuff! Cheryl had fun interviewing in Medan, a city of 2 million, while Chris got to venture into the central hills of rural Nias. Very different.
Chris drove up to Lolomatua, almost to the highest point of the island, some 800m up. This is a green, hilly place with few decent roads – hence need for a good 4 x 4. Gave me my fist chance to see the area where we will be working and talk to some of the local people. Much of the health infrastructure is broken down and barely operational. Most people I spoke to got drinking water from open ponds in the ground. They were pleased to see us. The evening was a welcome relief to the heat of downtown Gunung Sitoli and we got treated to the local rendition of the Beatles track, ‘Hey Jude’ (among others) on a guitar. The duet in local people’s third language was fine until they asked me and Joe (Logistics geezer and all round good bloke) to join in. Suffice to say it all went downhill from there. Does that class as Karioke? At one point it continued in pitch black as the power went out for a few minutes. No-one seemed to mind. Looking forward to going back.

Rustle in the jungle

Since my last message we found a place to move to. It was all done in a mad rush - on Sunday we didn’t have a house, on Monday we’d already started to move. So now our house is right on the sea, is quite a bit smaller and doesn’t have any garden. It's also on the main road and we are competing with traffic noise by day and karaoke by night! Karaoke is a big craze here and it seems you have to be tone deaf to take part! Still we are not out on the streets but this may not be our final resting place! This is me and Chris at our new desks. Chris has an office all to himself because he's the boss.

Haven’t spent much time on Nias over the last week as our programme in Aceh was due a visit. Me and Chris are responsible for what goes on over there too so 1 week in 5 we fly to Aceh.


We are starting a water supply project to a tsunami affected village so we had to go into the jungle to look at the water source. Earlier that week the village had restricted access as an elephant was wandering in the jungle. Her calf was injured and the village had taken it off to be looked at. That made for an unhappy elephant who could charge at any moment. We got the all clear to walk in the jungle and me and Russell headed off to the stream. On the way we came across an enormous footprint of the elephant. We were on high alert and when Russ heard a rumble in the jungle he dived for cover. It was just a bird! Russ is keen hunter back in Canada but out here he doesn’t have his shot gun! These trips can be quite an adventure as we’ve also had reports of tiger attacks, snake sitings and wild pigs!

About to be evicted

So the amazing hill top residence I told you we were living in last week; the one with the large tropical gardens, ocean view terrasse and extensive office and living space. . . . we have to move out of it! The Catholic priest that owns it has sold it to the diocese without telling us. We were given 5 days to move out and on Sunday had no place to go. Another problem is that new owner thinks this place comes with all the furniture and fittings but the reality is that we were sold it all by the previous tenants. So everything from the generator, hot water boiler, air conditioning units and even the water pumps belong to us. I can see some serious negotiation ahead.

News flash

Thanks for all your messages of concern following the recent earthquake in Indonesia. Just to reassure you we are both fine. The quake happened near the West Sumatran town of Padang, some 500km away from Nias island. It was felt by our colleagues in Aceh but they were not injured.

Head hunters

29thFeb
This update is a while overdue. Mainly due to lack of internet access. Two weeks have already passed since I arrived on the island of Nias. It’s a culture that takes a bit of time to get to understand and as we will be working in some really remote hill villages we have to make sure we get to grips with their customs and beliefs.

We are based in the islands biggest town - Gunung Sitoli which we were amazed to see has its own museum. Got the chance to be shown round by the curator on our own private tour. It has not reopened to the public since the earthquake when 100’s of their exhibits were damaged. The Chinese and the Dutch have had the most influence here. The Chinese bringing noodles and effigies of dragons and the Dutch bringing religion and the idea that it’s good to bury your dead. Before they used to prop the dead up on chairs outside their house. Glad they don’t do that anymore!

The Nias’ are renowned for their aggression and upto the 1980’s the practice of head hunting was still going on. And I don’t mean poaching good staff from other NGOs! They would take a big sword jump the fence of the neighbouring village and try to return with the head of the village chief. This would secure the hand of the fairest lady in the town. The curator could remember this happening in his village when he was a child. His father spied the head hunter approaching the village and him and some friends saw him off. You can still see houses built in the traditional way like this one reconstructed at the museum. They are strong, earthquake proof and built from local materials. Sadly they are slowly falling into disrepair and craftsman skilled in this building technique are hard to find.

People here prefer the modern concrete designs of a rectangular block and corrugated iron roof. In the rebuild after the earthquake this monotonous design is multiplying like Monopoly houses across the island.

We are living in a big hill top compound. It used to be a restaurant with a terrasse over looking the sea. It’s a great location but just too big for what we need.

Romance in the sludge

18th Feb
I hope everyone had a great Valentines Day. They spilt up me and my beloved; sending him to Nias and leaving me to attend a conference on Sustainable Household waste management. Which translates as how to deal with other peoples toilet effluent! So I spent the 14th Feb listening at ground breaking ways to treat, dry and transfer human sludge. How romantic!!
Medair is actually leading the way in a closed septic system for individual households. Its much more common to see open septic systems which contaminate the high water table. Ours even has a treatment garden where plants such as bananas and papaya help to break down nasty bacteria before it’s released to the environment.
I did get to spend 2 days in a posh hotel eating lovely food, drinking decent coffee and trying to talk intelligently about sanitation. Off to Nias island soon where things are a bit less civilized.
Thanks for everyone that prayed for Chris last week. He was taken ill at the weekendwith suspected malaria. His temp was very high nearly 39oC so we gave him the malaria treatment. He is much better now and back on the biscuits to replace all the pounds he says he’s lost!!

Got the shakes

Spent most of last week in the West coast of Aceh. There is construction still going on in many places and its hard to imagine that just over two years ago everything was flattened. As we traveled the 6 hours south of Banda you pass through the NGO villages each one a bit different in colour and style. Some said it reminded them of Butlins camps and it is a bit like that. We are working near Calang where everything was destroyed; the population was halved and no infrastructure was left.
On the second day we continued South to the place known as “ground zero” by the press. Spent a day in Meuluboh where we met UNICEF (a potential donor) and caught up with some old friends from Tearfund. Meuluboh was the nearest town to the earthquake’s epicenter and it was known as “ground zero” by the press. When they rebuilt they just moved the town North to an unaffected area. Now it has big, fancy houses and wide tarmac roads.
Last night I was woken up to the bed swaying from one side to another. Just a reminder that we very close to a fault line and earthquakes are a reality.

Belts and braces

Helping out a transporter stuck in the mud!

We’ve now been in the field sites for four days! Our first day was spent with our donor! Not as bad as it sounds as he’s an old friend from back home. We knew about as much as he did…..not very much. As soon as I arrived in one project site they wanted to take me up a mountain to look at a spring they are thinking about using to supply water. I managed to hike up there but began to feel queasy on the way down. I’d just had lunch and didn’t manage to keep it down.. Not sure what the Indonesian staff made of me stopping every 10 minutes to deposit the contents of my stomach!!!! Felt much better afterwards though. Now they all suspect that I am pregnant. No chance.
Just getting used to how things are done here. It’s a constant take your shoes off put them back on. I must have done this 20 times today. The other thing is not using your left hand. I practically have to sit on my hand when I eat to make sure I don’t offend anyone. Its even bad to wave with your left hand. Then the cold bucket wash. No matter how hot it is I find it difficult to chuck cold water over my head….brrrr.
Also have to get used to the lingo of some Canadian colleagues. I was a bit worried that my Watsan manager was talking about wearing suspenders. This is apparently what Americans call braces!!

First days work

This is our first real days work in Indonesia! No we are not just here on holiday…..We were woken up at 5am to the call to prayer from the local mosque. Our body clocks are still out of sync. At breakfast I was still at 1am UK time. We are currently in Banda Aceh which is the capital of the province worst hit by the tsunami. We had to go and be checked by the police. I wasn’t sure how exactly they would do this – check my UK criminal record, phone my last boss…..? It was nothing too sinister just had to have our photos taken and get an ID card.
Spent the rest of the day in the team house in a briefing with the current Country Director. Things are becoming progressively clearer as we hear more about where we are going and what we are supposed to be doing. More and more people are turning up to join the team and today a logistician and a nurse arrived. This is great as the first thing Joe the logs guy did was buy laptops and a TV for the team house.
Our new project in Nias has just made it onto Alertnet’s website. Check out the following link! http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/220382/117026504316.htm

Arrived safely!

Yippee! Got to Banda Aceh, in Indonesia a couple of hours ago. Even better - so did our luggage, every last bag! Better still, despite being some 10kg overweight (luggage not us) we did not get charged, praise God. Took us 30+ hrs to get here, 3 flights and arrived to 35C and 95% humidity. All in all a good day but now we are tired so time for some zzzzzz.....

Smiling on Saturday

Its now Saturday and the stresses of the week seem to have subsided. We are on the way to applying for a new loan although this wont happen before we leave. We just have to trust that things will go through after we leave on Tuesday. Can now start to think a bit more about packing and preparing to leave. Had a lovely surprise party on Thursday night. Our friends from church put together an English tea party full of all the stuff we will miss in Indonesia - cream scones, twiglets and cucumber sandwiches!
We are running out of time to say our goodbyes but fitted in another farewell tea on Friday. Its quite good having our friends cook for us because since we packed up our flat we are surviving with one pan and some odd bits of cutlery.
Tomorrow is our farewell in a local pub, oh and also my birthday! Hope lots of people turn up!

Frustrating Thursday

6 days before we leave for Indonesia. Everything was going fine - flat packed up, stuff taken to Lancaster & stored in Mum's loft. New tenants found. Then the bomb dropped! Our mortgage has been withdrawn!!! This is after 3 months of paperwork, searches, evaluation and a signed agreement... some technicality that we will not be in the country at exchange of contract. We called the solicitor & mortage lender but noone would listen or reconsider. So with 6 days to go we are back to the start with buying our flat. Do we still leave knowing if we do we lose the sale, try and raise personal finance, persuade our families to remortgage their homes? I felt like weeping! Chris was out of the house when I got the call and seemed to take it all in his stride saying , 'we will find a way'. Spent the evening phoning family and friends to gather advice and cash.... see what tomorrow brings.