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February 22nd, 2005 - 08:36AM |
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Photo: Rachel Moresky Emergency room physician Rachel Moresky went to Indonesia shortly after the devastating tsunami of December 26. She spent a month in the province of Aceh, where she served as a health officer for the IRC's mobile emergency relief team. Dr. Moresky provided public health assistance on large-scale measles immunization projects, treated patients in camp clinics and helped set up an ER. She brought home a journal of her experiences, which we're posting here. Banda Aceh Jan. 12 Shortly after reaching Banda Aceh, Hilarie Cranmer, a former colleague from Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and I were sent out into the field to conduct assessments of camps for the next two days. Driving through Banda Aceh, we were immediately struck by the unimaginable scale of the devastation – destroyed homes, overturned cars, and fallen trees were a far-cry from the once naturally pristine, architecturally diverse, and colorful city. As we continued our first drive through the city, we witnessed mass graves along the river bank. While we saw the police excavating a couple of bodies, most human remains along the coast had already been collected and buried. As we somberly stared through the stained windows of our navy van, we were continually awestruck and humbled by the forces of nature that had changed this city forever. Between deliberate puffs of unfiltered clove cigarettes, our driver, Abot opined on the political climate in Aceh. While people were reluctant to voice their opinion about GAM or the TNI, an occasional remark here and there would give us an insight into their feelings. Having been specifically instructed to steer clear of political discussion, we focused our conversational energies on medical and social questions. At our first camp, we were greeted by a spontaneous settlement of approximately 1000 internally displaced people (IDPs). The camp was adorned with billboards of lists of IDPs in the settlement, interspersed with faded black and white pictures of family, and hastily scribbled notes describing loved ones. The conditions in the camp did not meet the SPHERE standards (universal minimum standards during humanitarian assistance) for water sanitation, nutrition, food aid, shelter and sight planning, and health services. People in the camps were living in makeshift tents with less than 2 square meters separating the inhabitants of the camp. Each person had access to less than 2 liters per person per day (for drinking, washing, and bathing). The lack of water increased the risk of communicable diseases, with poorly positioned makeshift latrines and non-existent waste disposal systems only exacerbating the aforementioned risk. We learned that most orphaned children in the camp had been absorbed into the larger community or adopted by distant relatives. I continued to be amazed by the resilience of these children, who had perpetual smiles on their faces, despite having witnessed unimaginable tragedy. Posted By: Kathleen Sands | Asia, Diaries & Journals, Health, Tsunami Relief Permalink |
