Sunday, April 22, 2007

Starting a Banda Aceh blog ...

Hello, folks! I thought I'd try using this blog format to post some text and photos from the big island of Sumatra, Indonesia. A Wikipedia location map of Indonesia is to the right, and a more detailed picture of Sumatra is on lower left.

I will use this space to periodically post some photos and text so you can see what I see out there in Indonesia. In addition to the blog, I've added Aceh-related news items from Google News on the left-hand side of this page.

I will be departing Michigan, tentatively, on May 4, arriving in Banda Aceh in May 8 after overnight stops in Singapore and Medan. (I need to spend a whole day in Singapore to get the non-immigrant visit visa for Indonesia.)

First of all, where am I going? See the figure at left. My posting will be in the city of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province at the northern tip of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. For a quick-and-dirty look at its history and culture of this very unique province of Indonesia, check out this Wikipedia article.

This is the area of Indonesia that was devastated by the
December 26, 2004 tsunami. Anywhere from 100 - 250 thousand people lost their lives. Here's some "light" reading from the World Bank on what they're trying to accomplish, through projects like ours, in Aceh province and Nias island.

Currently, there are a total of 17 projects that aim to bring this province back to its feet and bring it into the Indonesian mainstream. You can see the list of projects here. (The page loads VERY slowly, probably because it's on a local PC server in Jakarta!) Our project is No. 13 on the list.

The project to which I'm assigned ("Infrastructure Reconstruction Enabling Program" --- IREP), will be to help the Indonesian agency in charge of the reconstruction effort coordinate the efforts of five regional reconstruction offices to design and construct infrastructure in the province and the island of Nias.

To see some photos of the various reconstruction project areas that a European photographer took in and around Aceh recently, point your browser to this page (may load very slowly).

OK, folks, watch this space!


13 comments:

Justin said...

nyah nyah! o.O

Howard said...

Must do something about spammers...

Justin said...

Updates! Updates! Booooring!!

Howard said...

I'm still here in Michigan, Justin ! You'll have to wait till the weekend when I'm in Singapore!

Justin said...

Booooooo!

Bob said...

Hi Howard,
It May 7th and I am sure you are nearing your final destination. Hope your traveling what comfortable. I am looking forward to info. on your final destination and some information on the locals. Best wishes. Hope to hear from you soon. Bob Peterson

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great travelog - it has been very interesting to see your travels while we are also traveling in Italy and France. Take care - see you soon - GIO and Kathee

Jim Ogata said...

Hi Howard,
I see you guys are still trying to develop the rest of the world. This is a nice website I can see you learned a lot about website development. I could recognize you and Juan but I have not met Brad in nearly a hundred years. Victor Gillepse and another group of ex PC/USAID have been stranded up in Laos for the last thirty years or so camping out at Vientiane.

The photos take me back to when we worked for Shimizu and took these very same flights back and forth from Bengkulu-Jakarta-Singapore-Bangkok. I can't believe Aceh was hit by a tsunami did you sugar coat your photos or use a rose colored lens on your camera?

Keep up the good work, haven't heard from Ferry yet.
Jim

audrey said...

Hi Howard,

Looks like the word for the day in Banda Ache is Durian. Now I'm going to have to find one and try it. Looks like you're getting all settled in, your house is fabulous. Have you seen any fake rolex watches in the markets? I'm looking for one. Take care and have fun,

audrey

Anonymous said...

We need more pics of construction, reconstruction, destruction, etc etc !!!!!
Yang tunggu di rumah di Cottage Glens.

Anonymous said...

Hi Howard,

How interesting! I need to learn how to do someithng like this...although my life is nowhere near as interesting these days.

Thanks for keeping us all informed.

Randy

Anonymous said...

Hi Uncle Howard, Looking forward to more updates!! Very interesting. Corrie

Anonymous said...

long time not visited your blog, Update ! before Shot up Mr. howard with Agy's Gun! bang bang

www.bagusinaceh.blogspot.com