Award Ticket from Indian Airlines: Publised on 12 April 2007

I have traveled on a free ticket from India to Indonesia last week!!

Ya, its called award ticket which will be earned through accumulation of miles from a frequent flyer program. Its called 'Flying Returns' which is a joint programme of 'Indian Airlines' and 'Air India'. You get some points called 'miles' for every flight you have flown on their designated airlines. These miles can be exchanged for free tickets.

I had my first flight in life on this 'Indian Airlines' on 27th January, 2001 from Delhi to Ahmedabad in India. I remember the date because I was airlifted for an emergency relief operations to Gujarat which was devastated by the earthquake the previous day.

I traveled with my General Director and I vividly remember him telling me how to put on the seat belt. Those days, travel by airlines in India was very expensive and rarely people travel on flights. After that I have never stopped flying...

Those days, we need to present 3 boarding passes traveled with in 3 months of this airlines to qualify for 'Frequent flyer' membership. I was so excited when I received my first Frequent flyer card.

Recently Indian Airlines has announced that all the points earned up to 31st December 2003 will lapse if they are not redeemed. When I looked at the total miles earned till now it added up to a good 27,885 miles. This is sufficient to exchange for a Mumbai- Jakarta ticket which will cost just 25,400 miles.

Now, how do I get an International flight ticket from India while residing in Indonesia? When I contacted the airlines in India, they require passport, and has to be collected in person. So I tried contacting the airlines office in Jakarta. Since its a small office, they quickly managed to contact India, issued the ticket which was picked up by my office in Jakarta.

One twist here, while the ticket is free, we have to pay applicable taxes to the airlines which cost USD 58.

Finally Returned Back....: Published on 12 Apr 2007

I have returned back from the trip to my home in India on Tuesday. I spent two weeks at home with my family and children. My parents have also came down to see me.

It is supposed to be a leisurely break, but normally it turns out to be hectic. There will be numerous household duties which requires to be fulfilled. Some plumbing, some repairs, shopping, visits to friends and family etc.,

Any way its a break, some thing different from normal work schedule, which I have enjoyed much. My children are growing fast, and the little one followed like a shadow all the time. I have some how escaped to come back here....

After I came back from break, I found my housemate missing. Later I found out that he has shifted to another house. My another housemate is also on leave. So I am forced to stay alone for this whole week. What a drastic change from being surrounded by people at home few days back to just being alone..

At work, couple of things which went wrong in my absence, are being rectified now. One of the biggest issue is around fleet... no vehicle today for our department. They say that we didn't put an order. I had to run around to get it right, and hopefully there will be again vehicles for us..

Strolling in Suvarnabhumi International Airport: Published on 23 March 2007

I am writing this from the new Bangkok airport- Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

It has excellent high speed wireless internet connection, which I am using right now. Of course, it’s free of cost (I don’t know whether its a temporary arrangement or going to be permanent).

Though this is not the first time to this new airport, this time I am having more transit time, of around 4 hours for my next flight. I was strolling around and was being fascinated by its beauty.

From the air, it just looks like a worm. Its built with aluminum structure and is covered completely with glass on the two bulgy sides. The roof is made up of synthetic fabric membrane, which allows light, but not rain. The passenger terminal is in the shape of 'H'. Inside, it’s just like a museum.

A number of artistic works are displayed through out the airport. Of all, I was impressed by a giant sculpture- 3 meters wide, 5.5 meters high and 21 meters long- the "Churning of the milk Ocean". This is from the Hindu mythology where Gods and demons wanted to extract the nectar of immortality (Amruta) through churning of the Milk Ocean. They have used mountain as a churn, snake as a rope, turtle as a base, and a god to balance the churning. They did it for 1000 years, and finally the nectar came.

The story goes on and on.... but don’t forget, the nectar finally falls in INDIA!!

Excellent service from Garuda Indonesia Airlies: Published on 23 March 2007

The restructuring is over, all my staff had moved to my office, computers and desks are organised, and now started my exciting journey to India.

But the flight was late, went to the airport at 4:30 PM, but there was a technical snag in the aircraft. They started checking in the passengers, and I have also checked in. But no body knows, when the flight will come and when we go.

Meanwhile, our airlines- Garuda Indonesia started serving drinks- that typical indonesian drink 'Tehbotol'. I never drank it, but wanted to give it a try, only to have a few sips and threw it off.

Later they announced that the flight will leave at 9:00 and served dinner for us in the airport. The flight finally arrived and we left Banda Aceh at 9:30. Since the flight reaches Jakarta in the midnight, they have offered free transport to any where in Jakarta.

I have not booked a hotel in Jakarta for the nights stay, thinking that I can get down in Jakarta and book a hotel in the airport counter. But the flight finally arrived in Jakarta at midnight 1:30 and we are all completely exhausted. In Jakarta, the service oriented Garuda staff started giving money for taxi to all the passengers (I saw something like Rp. 150,000 or USD 17).

But when my turn came, I told I require accommodation for the night, which they thankfully obliged. There were four passengers who require accommodation due to various reasons. They took us to a near by Resort called 'FM 7' and provided accommodation for the day, with the breakfast in the morning.

The hotel is a new one, very beautiful interiors. All the furniture- the lamps, desks, bed, toilet etc are very gorgeous. They are like 'Magpie' utensils. I spent the night there, and got up at 9:30 AM, came to the airport at 11:00 AM to catch mu next flight

Finally, I have experienced excellent service from 'Garuda Indonesia' airlines. Please fly with them always!!

Never Interview a known person: Published on 20 March 2007

I Just finished an internal interview for a key managerial position for one of our most experienced and dynamic staff. Generally, it should be the most exciting process, but the problem is that its internal candidate.

So what? What is the problem?

After one hour of exhaustive interview process, the staff was not finally selected.

Whaaat? How can it happen?

Oh, boy, it is very difficult to interview a known person, and tell the candidate a bad news. Its terrible, and definitely compromising.

Here I got a piece of learning, and a piece of advise for others:

"Never interview a known person!!"

IFRC Transitional Shelter Kits: Posted on 19 March 2007

I am having sleep less nights, writing the final report for a Transitional Shelter Project, which ended on 31 December, 2006. This project involves providing temporary accommodation to the people till their houses were built.

After more than 6 months of Tsunami, during June 2005, the NGOs slowly started realising that it is going to take much more time than they thought to complete permanent houses. There were more than 50,000 people who are still living in tents during that time.

So, IFRC has come up with a huge program of providing individual housing kits which can be assembled with in a day. These kits have steel frames and wooden walls, which can be installed at any place. Once the installation is finish, they look very beautiful.

IFRC had its own challenges in procuring steel frames and timber for the kits. As on date, they were able to supply more than 20,000 kits to various agencies and successfully install them. As of now, the supply is still ongoing, since some permenant houses will take more than an year to finish.

We have installed 2733 shelter kits in Aceh main land and Simuelue island. Since the project is finished, we have to cull out all the data, organise, report and archive it for the auditors !!

UN Security Risk Assessment: Published on 17 Mar 2010

The UN has initiated a security risk assessment (SRA) to determine the current security phase of Aceh area.

The security management of this area is being coordinated by UN Department of safety and security (UNDSS). The United Nations employs five specific security phases to describe those security measures to be implemented based on the prevailing security conditions in a given country or in parts of a country. These five phases are standard for all duty stations and will be included in all Security Plans of UN as well as other major NGOs.

The five Phases of the Security Plan are:

Phase One: Precautionary: All travel into the duty station requires advance clearance from the Designated Official.
Phase Two: Restricted movement: Travel is restricted and only essential travels are
permitted
Phase Three: Relocation: Relocation of staff and dependents to alternate locations, only essential staff are permitted.
Phase Four: Programme suspension: Only emergency or humanitarian relief operations are conducted
Phase Five: Evacuation: Secretary General declares evacuation of all internationally recruited staff.

While the UN security management applies only to UN agencies, a number of NGOs adopt it for their own security management. So, there will be an active participation of all the major NGO’s in the security risk assessment. We are currently in security phase three, which is non family duty station. If the security level is decreased to two, then UN allows families to join the staff. NGOs also slowly allow the families
depending on the budget availability, and other internal considerations.

So, from June/ July, we will not be eligible for ‘Rest and Relaxation’ benefits, but will get extra paid holidays as a compensation.

I want to be a Visionary: Published on 13 Mar 2010

We have scrutinised 198 applications for various positions yesterday. This is a part of massive restructuring process which started a month ago. We were a panel of 5 people, who carefully assessed every candidate and looked at their suitability for newly created positions.

Restructuring process is very tedious because one has to operate with several parameters in mind. There is no absolute freedom to chose, and strictly follow the criteria. The people are already there, you just have to identify suitable place for the staff. Its not like fresh recruitment where you will select the best candidate.

In doing that, I have identified that in the panel there are two types of people. Some looked at CAPACITY, while the others looked at POTENTIAL.

People who looked at the capacity are the people who can think logically, and are excellent managers. They can exactly look at the capacity of each individual and each department and identlfy suitable candidates for any given position.

On the other hand, few people excitingly flaunt all the criteria and make decisions. They just trample over the criteria, technical analysis, rules, assessment results and any other systematic efforts. Their decisions are illogical and cannot answer questions probed by people.

They are the 'Visionaries' who can look at peoples Potential rather than capacity. That means, they can see what people can become, instead of what peopel are. They believe in themselves, believe in people, willing to take risks and make bold decisions.

They are the world leaders, who change destiny of the world! I want to be one of them!!

Community Assessment Team: Published on 13 Mar 2007

We are setting up a Community Assessment team with an Assessment Team Leader and 3 staff. They are responsible to conduct all the assessments necessary to run the program. The assessments will be conducted using MPA- PHAST methodology. 6 Staff has already undergone classroom training on conducting MPA- PHAST, and now looking forward to conduct the assessments in the field.

There are three types of assessments which are planned for WATSAN sector:

1. Assessment of Health and Hygiene behavior related to
a. Solid Waste Collection, treatment and disposal
b. Waste Water Collection, treatment and disposal
c. Right use and cleanliness of toilets
d. Maintenance of waste water systems

2. Assessment of community institutions and power analysis with special reference to water and sanitation

3. Assessment of vulnerable people with special reference to access to water and sanitation.

A consultant will be hired to lead the team, conduct analysis and compile the information. The team will conduct assessments in the selected villages with the help of local village leaders, and area staff. The findings and recommendations will be compiled as submitted in the form of a report.

Knee Joint Operation for my housemate: Published on 11 Mar 2007

My housemate had developed a knee problem for the past few weeks. He had to go to the local orthopadeitian for consultation. After a week, the knee is still paining, and finally he could not walk.

As CARE employee, he is covered under complete medical insurance and medical emergency evacuation services. He called up our Emergency evacuation company called 'International SOS' and explained about the problem.

The International SOS has a 24 hour world wide assistance and emergency evacuation services with offices in US, UK and Singapore. It seems very efficient in its service and the service is very good.

My housemate called them on Saturday morning, and in one hour they have discussed through US, Jakarta and Singapore, decided to operate him in Singapore. Immediately they have booked flights, (luckily in business class) and transported him to Singapore. The next day, they conducted all the tests, operated him and sent him back.

The operation is very simple, they have made two small holes near the knee joint, sent a robot with camera, and it done all the stitching required in the knee. The robot is being operated by a doctor infront of a computer screen. It looked like playing some games with a joy stick.

The camera also took clear pictures in various stages of operation inside, which we saw. The technology looks amazing. After the surgery, he waited for one hour till the anesthesia gone off completely, and WALKED back to the hotel room by himself.

Wow... what a technology!!

Employing Labors for Construction work: Published on 11 Mar 2007

We are coming across an interesting problem with the labors. The local government is interested that the people who are employed as labours for various construction works need to have similar security and benefits as the staff.

Now, if we start employing all the labors, we will end up being the biggest organisation in Indonesia in terms of number of staff. So we are looking for options for effectively engaging labors in our work

I had a consultation with a local agency who will hire labors and engage them in our field areas. This sounded interesting, and we started exploring a bit further. After a brief explanation of the work, as well as site visits, the local agency submitted their quotes to engage around 50 labors for our work.

I have also asked the agency to give an undertaking that they are abiding the labor laws of the local government before negotiating further.

Through this agency, I am hoping that our construction activities will continue with out any major problem.

Fire accident in Barracks: Published on 05 Mar 2007

Some of the survivors of Tsunami had another fatal blow, when their Barracks were engulfed in fire. 24 households lost again everything which they collected for the past two years after the Tsunami.

We have immediately rushed to the spot, and have distributed blankets, utensils and other household items. They were accommodated in another near by barrack. So for the night, there was no problem for them.

The wife of the mayor visited the scene, and donated 5 million Rupiah to the victims. We are also planning to provide some amount, so that they would be able to buy essential items and start their life again.

After this incident, we started thinking about looking at fire safety systems while installing Barracks. Also, there was no place for the Fire Engines to reach the barracks. We were discussing that these things need to be in place while installing Barracks.

CARE International Asia Region: Published on 26 Feb 2007

CARE International has a regional group called 'CARE Asia Regional Management Unit' (ARMU). They had an annual meeting during 12- 14 February, 2007 at Chiangmai, Thailand.

CARE International Strategic Plan has three 'Specialised Core Sectors': Shelter, Food/Food Security, WATSAN. There was a concern on Shelter being a Core Sector.

Its interesting to note that the CARE recipient country offices eventually will form separate NGOs. This is a part of 'Nationalisaion' process. Thailand country office was nationalised and renamed as 'Raks Thai'. Similar efforts are in place for Philippines and India.

DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) and Climate Change is also some of the areas which are being discussed in the Asia Region. This will translate into couple of conferences and meetings in this area.

We are also forming a 'WATSAN Coordinating Group' for our country office. If every thing materializes, we would have an active coordination on WATSAN by the end of this year.

A holiday to Sabang: Published on 25 Feb 2007

Just returned from a holiday trip to Sabang, a little Island north of Banda Aceh. Its a beautiful Island which is visited by many International NGO staff from Aceh. Sabang is the capital of Weh Island, which is part of NAD Province.

There are two prominent locations called 'Gapang' and 'Ibioh' which are just 5 Km apart. Gapang has nice cottages with attached toilet facility and AC rooms for USD 30 a night. Ibioh has basic accommodation with common shower and toilet facility which is available as less as USD 6 a night.

But Ibioh is very beautiful place with good coral reef. So we have stayed in Gapang and went to Ibioh for Snorkeling. The food is good in both the places, but Gapang has better choice of Restaurants. Oxfam, Muslim Aid and Redcross are building houses for Tsunami affected people in Weh Island.

We are 5 people from India, USA, England and Afghanistani traveled to the Sabang by a speed boat which takes just one hour. The price is Rp. 65,000 for VIP class. While returning, the VIP class is much cosier which costed Rp. 80,000.

There are two diving clubs in that area, and snorkeling sets are given on a rent for Rp. 30,000 a day. We saw beautiful fishes and coral reeves in Ibioh. I don't know swimming, but with the help of my friends, I went on snorkeling around 200 m away from the shore. Its totally a different world, and so exciting.

After two weeks of exhaustive restructuring work, its a break which is very much required, exploring new frontiers of the creation....

A Ride on the Elephant!!: Published on 17 Feb 2007

I just came back from a fantastic elephant ride near a village called SAREE, 70 km from Banda Aceh. I went along my house mate to see the elephants and enjoy a ride.

There were around 6 elephants, which are tied to the trees by Iron chains covered by water pipes. The age of each elephant is between 20- 30 years. There was also a baby elephant of 3 years. There were some 38 elephants in that forest area, but these 6 elephants are Domesticated.

We asked if we can have a ride and the care taker wanted USD 30 for a one hour ride into the forest. We negotiated a 15 min ride for USD 10 and we had to manually climb on the elephant on its bare back. The elephant graciously sits on the ground, so that we can easily climb.

We both along with the care taker climbed the elephant. Wow, the elephant now carrying more than 200 KG of weight. After few minutes, our bums became numb, and we had to ask the care taker to cut short the trip to take us back.

There are three species of elephants- The African Bush Elephant, The African Forest elephant and the Indian Elephant. These elephants we saw are one of the four subspecies of the 'Indian Elephant' variety called 'The Sumatran sub species'. They are very small, and are also called Pocket variety, with a height of around 2.5 meters, but with big tusks.

Any way, Its Fun to do something on the week ends!!

Aid is not Charity: Published on 15 Feb 2007

Yesterday, after attending the seminar for the whole day, I reached the office only to find a press clipping of that day in my inbox. The newspaper reported one of my barracks (temporary settlements) having problem with drinking water. The people complained that the water is salty and yellowish, and they are getting skin rashes when they take bath from the water.

Immediately, I have to call my staff and went to the barrack, and found clean water flowing continuously through the taps. When we inquired, we found that they were mixing both ground water as well as municipal water which is meant for drinking. More over the municipal water delivered dirty water for few hours due to maintenance activity.

I have asked my staff to separate drinking water from bore well water, and label it properly. Also we will be conducting water quality tests for both the waters and see if there is any serious problem in the water quality. If things are still worse, we might need to supply drinking water through tankers.

On coming back to the house, my house mates started having serious discussions regarding our efforts. We have already provided shelter for them, but why do we need to do maintenance activities also. I was trying to explain to them that the concept of aid moved far beyond Charity. Now access to aid is a fundamental right. Aid should be provided in sufficient quality, quantity and in a dignified way. All the major agencies follow these principles which are famously called as 'Red Cross Code of Conduct'.

Risk Analysis for Operations: Published on 15 Feb 2007

I was revising the Risk Analysis matrix for our Aceh Oprations today. We had a new government taking over the governance of the Province. And I have started listening to their speeches in yesterdays seminar, which made me to add few risks and start devising strategies to mitigate the same.Some of the new risks are:

- There might be massive re-organizing of government/ BRR departments, and new officials might be posted in senior positions, who do not have background information of NGO activities. This might affect projects which are in partnership/ collaboration with other government departments. NGOs need to build up relations again from scratch.
- There are plans to split/ merge existing Kabupathan and Kechmatans all over Aceh. This might affect our structural orientation which is currently along the cluster of villages.
- Internal conflicts between government agencies (especially between BRR and provincial government). This will delay in policy matters- like Barracks decommissioning policy etc.,
- Pressure from provincial government to extend work beyond Tsunami areas, preferring NGOs who support their Provincial Infrastructure development, sidelining NGOs who stick on to the Tsunami Response etc.,

BRR Seminar on Sanitation: Published on 15 Feb 2010

Finally, we have finished the two day seminar on Sanitation, followed by the field visit today. BRR has organized a workshop named ‘Sustainable Household Sanitation for Reconstruction in Aceh and Nias’ during 13- 14 February, 2007 followed by a field exposure visit on 15^th February, 2007.

The seminar was very successful with more than 300 people from Local Government, City administration, representatives from regencies, NGOs, and the funding agencies. There were display stalls from few vendors where they displayed some of their products. Government representatives of Health, Environment and Public Works ministries from Jakarta also attended the meeting.

The Head of WATSAN in BRR told that around 50,000 houses are built by NGOs with out proper sanitation systems, and BRR will take responsibility to install proper sanitation systems

The Mayor of Banda Aceh told that he will ensure all housing agencies build appropriate sanitation systems and requested to look at centralized systems as an alternative for urban Banda Aceh.

The Director, Ministry of Health asked NGOs to increase the budget in Sanitation, which can be adjusted by fewer requirements of health budgets.

BRR told that they would be able to finance sanitation systems, in case the NGOs are struggling with their budgets.

The new Governor’s speech was readout which emphasized on a minimum of secondary treatment system, water tight septic tanks, no water to be released into drains with out treatment etc.,

Several NGOs emphasized that change should begin with Government agencies, especially mentioning about BRR Septic tank designs.

CARE is actively involved since more than two months in designing and planning for this seminar along with other NGOs. 6 of us participated in the workshop along with Simuelue WATSAN Coordinator, and I have made two presentations along with my colleagues in the seminar. We have also contributed to the final recommendations and conclusions of the seminar.

Our model for septic tanks is well appreciated because of its simple design, locally manufactured and low cost when compared to other agencies. CARE is spending around 4 million per household, while other sophisticated systems are costing around 9- 13 million. Nevertheless, we will keep on improving the design based on community feedback, and look for reducing the cost further.

Hygiene Promotion Strategy: Published on 12 Feb 2007

I am preparing a strategy for Hygiene Promotion. We have trained our staff in MPA- PHAST and they are ready to get into assessments. We are hiring an expert to lead the staff in doing assessments.

According to the strategy, the Hygiene Promotion consists of 10 steps, such as:

Step 1: Preliminary training for staff (MPA PHAST)
Step 2: Qualitative Assessments
Step 3: Selection of Target Behaviors
Step 4: Develop Hygiene Promotion Strategy
Step 5: Collect Quantitative Data (baseline)
Step 6: Producing and testing of promotional material
Step 7: Train community workers/ other NGO staff
Step 8: Launching a Promotional Campaign
Step 9: Midterm Evaluation (2008)
Step10: Final Evaluation (2009)

Now, we are focusing on the second step- Qualitative assessment. The qualitative assessment will explore the behavioral patterns in the following areas, but not limited to these areas only.

1. Collection and storage of drinking water
2. Usage of Latrine for Children over 3 years of age
3. Usage of Latrine for all household members
4. Handling of faeces handling for Children under the age of three
5. Hand washing practice at critical times using critical techniques
6. Hand washing practice at critical times for mothers

We hope that we would come out with a strategy by the end of March, 2007.

New Governer was Sworn In: 08 Feb 2007

An Important day in the history of Aceh- The new Governor was sworn in yesterday after more than 30 years of insurgency.

Irwandi Yusuf, 46 years old, was a former separatist leader himself. He was arrested in 2003 and was sentenced to 9 years of prison. But he escaped from the jail when Tsunami struck his prison in 2004.

Muhammad Nazar, a former student activist was also sworn in as vice governor.

It is amazing to see the sequence of events which lead to the present situation. Irwandi joined GAM (The Free Aceh Movement) 16 years ago, and have started providing leadership to the insurgency in Aceh. The Indonesian Government was able to finally arrest him in 2003 and sent him to Jail. But the mighty 2004 Tsunami struck his prison, and he was able to flee abroad. When the elections were announced, he contested as an Independent candidate against 7 other mighty politicians and former military officers. He won with 38% votes which sent shock waves across Indonesia.

The city was quiet, most of the shops are closed in Banda Aceh. We have received notice from the security department not to go for field visits, and restrict the movements between office and home. 150,000 people are expected to attend the cermony, while 40 cows are slaughtered for them.

The office of the Governor was beautifully decorated for the ceremony. When I asked some local people, they are skeptical of how the new Governor is going to rule. One person said- If they are going to follow their earlier principles, we will just migrate from Aceh.

Visited an Orthopaedition: 05 Feb 2007

Our CARE doctor took me to a private clinic yesterday, which is supposed to be the most famous in the city. We took an appointment at 7:30 with a token number of 25. We reached there 5 minutes before the scheduled time, and the person took our token and said wait.

Then started the endless waiting of about an hour, before we could finally see the only 'Orthopedist' of the town. His name is Azaruddin, who is specialist in spine. He travels all over Indonesia and I was told that I am lucky to have an appointment with him.

The clinic was crowded like an airport, and for all tests like x-ray, blood, the patients need to go to diagnostic lab some where near by. Here, we get only prescription. There are many doctors, I presume, many specialists.

The doctor looked at my leg, had few turns and twists at my knee, and told there is nothing to worry. I wanted an x-ray, but he told that it is just a sprain, and x-ray is not necessary. He wrote the prescription while I paid around 6 USD.

But, my leg is getting better, and I realized that my body got used to shelling out a couple of bucks before it gets all right

We had to go to medical shop far away for the medicine. And while taking the medicine, we have realized that they are the most expensive medicine. 16 capsules costed around 20 USD. We kept on wondering how will a common man would be able to afford a total of 26 USD for one visit to a specialist? May be for the local people, they would have separate medicine.

Fantastic Fleet: Published on 04 Feb 2007

We are having a new housemate from Plymouth, UK. He is an elderly man who is going to look after the fleet. So, in the house, most of the conversations is around fleet.

Operation of fleet is much easy and simpler in the initial stages of disaster, where security is a big issue. Security controls the movements of expatriates, and if becomes easier for the fleet to monitor the movements of the vehicles.

But, in the situation of lessened security threat, it becomes quite difficult to control the fleet. We were struggling with two models of fleet management- centralized and de centralized. Each model has its own merits and demerits.

If the fleet is centralized, the users will not be able to get vehicle when they require urgently. If the fleet management is not shrewd, the drivers will take advantage on both sides- users and their management.

If the fleet is under users, there will not be any coordination, and 6 vehicles will travel in the same direction with one person each. Also, the users will not have any idea how to manage and control the drivers and avoid theft of fuel and spare parts.

So, the new manager is expected to solve all these issues, and satisfy both the users and his team. He has a vast experience through out the world managing successful transport systems.

CARE has a fleet of around 70+ four wheelers, 10+ trucks, 100+ motor cycles etc., It is a herculean task for the fleet manager to successfully manage all these monsters.

My right knee is sprained: Published on 03 Feb 2007

I am having a sprain in my right knee. It started suddenly on Thursday evening when I was trying to come out of my room to go home. I couldn't walk, and slowly went to my chair and sat.

Earlier that day, I went to the field to inspect the construction activities done by the contractor and came back. I have jumped, climbed, scratched, kicked various walls to ascertain proper quality. I don't know whether that made a problem.

There is no swelling or pain when I sit, but when I start walking, I am having little pain in my knee. Today morning, as it is a non working day, I called up our security to issue a radio message for a vehicle. I called up our Doctor, and she took me to the hospital for x-ray.

But, there was no orthopedist available on Saturday. Most of the private clinics are closed on Saturday and Sunday. So we went to emergency section for an x-ray, but they suggested that it would not be useful if no body is going to look at it. I have asked, what will people do if they met with an accident on Saturday. They told, if it is extreme emergency, they they will handle some how.

Apparently, there is only one orthopedist in Banda Aceh, and he keeps on traveling. People normally take the injured to near by Medan for treatment.

So, I got some useless pills, and had some shopping and reached home. My house mate, after hearing the story telling that one should not get sick on Saturday and Sunday.

The Boeing Company Visit: Published on 31 Jan 2007

Today we had a delegation from Boeing, the largest global aircraft manufacturer in the world from Seattle. Since the emplyees and the company donated substantial amounts of money, they wanted to come and see how their money is being utilised for the Tsunami Rehabilitation.

The Boeing team consisted of Regional Vice President of SE Asia- Mr. Paul T. Walters, The Director of Global Corporate Citizenship department- Ms. Linda D Martin, and two other Boeing staff along with senior staff from Mercycorps USA.

We had a presentation of CARE's work in Indonesia, particularly related to Tsunami rehabilitation. Some of the major achievements of CARE for Tsunami Operations are

Total Beneficiaries since Tsunami: 350,000

Current Beneficiaries: 180,000

Total Budget (2004- 2009): 83 million USD

Current Staff Strength: 717 National, 28 International

No of Audits (2004-2006): More than 30 audits

Building 2728 transitional houses and 1835 permanent houses.

One of the biggest challenges are the procurement of timber. NGOs have decided not to procure timber locally which might devastate local forest resources. So, everybody tried to import from far off places, and the Indonesian government was not able to adequately facilitate shipping of timber. The first lot for CARE arrived only in September 2006. In some cases, the finest ever available imported timber was refused by the community, since they are unaware of that particular timber.

1st and 2nd of February, we are taking them to the villages, and letting them to interact with the beneficiaries.

Village Blangphon: Published on 29 Jan 2007

(You can see beautiful houses in the tranquilising foothill, with springs near by)

I went to a village called Blangphon near saree, which is a resettlement colony for Tsunami victims. Tsunami not only killed people, but also wiped out land areas also. So, people who lost their habitation lands in the Tsunami were accommodated in some interior forest areas. One such resettlement site is Blangphon.

CARE is building 232 houses, while BRR is building 74 houses. more than 60% of the houses are complete, and now we are installing septic systems for those houses.

There is a gorgeous spring nearby, and the settlement just looks like a resort. We are building a school, hospital, mosque, market and other buildings. The electricity lines were already laid, and there is an approach road to that area.

Surprisingly, there were roads deep inside the forest, and the people told that its is for illegal logging. All the surrounding area is military land (I dont know why), and people do illegal farming in that area. Since it is illegal, they only look for short term cash crops, which creates immense soil erosion.

First meeting with the new Boss: Published on 22 Jan 2007

Today we had our first meeting with our new Boss!! He looks interesting, and tried to get to know all the departments and activities. As usual, the major emphasis is on the budgeting and monitoring the budget.

The Disaster Risk Reduction and Community Development combined together which is being called as ISDRR- Institutional Strengthening and Disaster Risk Reduction. They have various plans and capacity building initiatives lined up: Village Planning, Site Planning, Disaster Management plan and Community Plan. They are trying to differentiate between spatial and non spatial plans which I didn't understand.

Next comes the Livelihood team who have already distributed 40% of the cash grants which is 4.8 billion Rupiah, equals to around USD 539,000. The second grant is supposed to be distributed in another one month. There are 206 groups which covers 5000 households who are receiving this 'Cash Grant'. Its yummy.... ya

The WATSAN team is still struggling to recruit staff and making sure that the contractors deliver good quality of work. The targets are increasing and we have started including Rain Water Harvesting Systems also in the budget

Infrastructure team have finalised the contract for the Schools and looking for DED of Drainage and Roads in several villages. They also have GIS team, who are understaffed at present. They are asking for more staff

Finally, the major division- Shelter do not have anybody to report. All the positions are vacant as of now. They dont have much budget but more problems. All the houses are under construction and many are in the process of completion.

These meetings go on and on and on, and we have to rush out because we had another NGO coordination meeting at UN Compound.

Ya. I am tired

Clocked 100 Visitors: Published on 20 Jan 2007

Its an exciting time for me to see that I have just clocked 100 visitors. Precisely 101 as of now. I dont have any idea who is visiting my page, but since I have converted my blog for public view, atleast 5 people are visiting per day. Like this week, I had 35 visitors. Comparing to blogs whose visitors run into hundreds of thousands, its is like speck of the dust. But it is important for be, since it gives motivation to write much better.

Thank you guys!!