What Aceh Has Taught Me
By Allison Zelkowitz, PCI Staff in Banda Aceh

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami killed nearly 167,000 people in Aceh alone. Since that time, hundreds of international organizations have worked to repair the devastation and help the survivors rebuild their lives.

Much has been written about reconstruction progress and the impact of international aid on communities in Aceh. Thus, I’ve decided to talk about Aceh’s impact on me, and the simple but important lesson Aceh has taught me: we can recover from anything.

As a Communications Officer, part of my job has been to interview and write stories about people involved in PCI’s livelihood, health, water, and sanitation projects. One of the questions I always ask is, “What happened to you when the tsunami hit?” Every person I’ve interviewed has had an incredible story to tell, and each has told it calmly, without self-pity. Some were knocked unconscious by the terrible wave, carried for miles, and awoke in a tree or on a hill. Others just barely escaped the tsunami’s force, running for their lives and climbing onto rooftops. Each of them was an exception, one of a small group of survivors—in many villages, sixty to eighty percent of the inhabitants were killed.

Everyone in Aceh has lost family members, friends, and neighbors. I’ve spoken to mothers who had their infants dragged from their arms, grandfathers who outlived their grandsons, and children who, in a few short minutes, became orphans.

I remember the day I truly realized the strength of the human spirit. It was a Sunday, and I was sitting on the beach near Banda Aceh, the same stretch of pristine sand where, three years ago, thousands had perished. I’d come to the ocean because I needed to think, to mull over a personal problem that was weighing on my mind. While gazing at the water, I noticed a middle-aged man playing with a toddler on the beach. A few minutes later, he walked over and sat next to me, setting the little girl in his lap. He explained that she was a child from his second marriage—his first wife, and all four children, had died in the tsunami.

My own problems never seemed smaller.

Encounters like this are a common occurrence in Aceh. As the rehabilitation phase nears completion, I continue to feel blessed that I’ve had the opportunity to meet these resilient people. Although they have suffered incomprehensible losses, they are rebuilding their lives with courage, determination, and dignity. Their strength is an inspiration.

Global Focus: Poverty & Hunger

In a world that houses 6.55 billion people, almost half - three billion people - live below the poverty line, earning less than $2 a day. Among this group, 800 million people are suffering from hunger and malnourishment because they cannot afford to provide themselves and their families an essential daily need: food.

Hunger can manifest itself in many forms besides starvation and famine. Most poor people who battle hunger suffer from chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which can result in weakness, delayed fetal development, stunted growth, and greater susceptibility to illness.

Malnutrition is the single most important risk factor for disease. The more malnourished a person is, the more vulnerable he or she is to disease; and the sicker a person is, the more vulnerable he or she is to malnutrition. In addition to the impact on health, the constant search for food consumes valuable time and energy, causing less time for people in poverty to work and earn much needed income.

Better nutrition is a major key in ending poverty and provides the foundation for achieving better quality of life. Healthy children have the capacity to learn better. Healthy people are stronger and more able to create opportunities that gradually break the cycles of both poverty and hunger.

With countless countries facing food shortages around the world, a global food crisis is upon us. This “silent tsunami” threatens over 100 million people. Addressing the core issues of poverty and hunger is paramount – and the time to act is now.

So do what you can to effect change – whether it’s spreading awareness of the issue or donating to a charity involved in this international work. Each of us has the capacity to make a difference. And together, we’ll have the momentum to plant a seed of change for the next generation to escape a fate of suffering caused by hunger and malnourishment.

Maji Na Usafi Kwa Maisha Bora!
("Safe water for a healthy life!")

By Janine Schooley, PCI Staff

Water has been on my mind lately. This is not only because I am here in Tanzania for PCI’s new Starbucks/Ethos-funded water and sanitation project, but for many other reasons as well. PCI, with its implementing partner, ADRA/Tanzania, and its collaborating partners, WaterAid Tanzania and the Babati District Council, have come together to officially launch and plan for our BAHEWASA Project. (By the way, BAHEWASA stands for Babati Water for Health in Swahili.)
So, what else is making me think a lot about water these days? Water is running through our planning for the project of course. We are learning a lot about the need and demand for water; clean water for drinking, but also water for livestock, for cooking, cleaning, growing food, and overall survival. But it’s not just that. It’s the fact that water here is a microcosm of the contradictions that are Africa. I’m sure you are wondering what I mean by that. I mean that water is both scarce and abundant, important for the poor as well as for the privileged, a symbol of tradition as well as a symbol of our modern times.
Here in Tanzania it is the "wet season". It has been raining almost every day, almost all day sometimes, since I arrived in Tanzania. Sometimes it comes in sprinkles and passes quickly. Other times it pours like I’ve never seen water pour, from the sky, and runs in raging rivers through a town or village.

On the other hand, when you ask anyone in the village of Vilima Vitatu (3 Hills), one of the 11 villages selected for BAHEWASA implementation in Year 1 (total population approximately 31,000), what they most want or need, the answer will come back a unanimous: "water!" Some villages have less than 1 water point per 1,000 population. Imagine what that would be like: have 5 bathrooms and a kitchen in my house in San Diego. That adds up to about 12 water points, not counting the taps outside for the garden hoses. It is mind boggling to think of the difference between that and what the families of Babati are living with.

So, water is critical for the people of Babati who live in villages, as well as for the people who depend upon the tourists who come to the game preserves. Water means livelihood for the cattle herder as well as for the safari guide. It is a common thread running through the traditional societies and the first world visitors who flock to see the elephants of Tarangire in their khaki vests and hiking boots. Water is definitely on my mind.