Eye Witness Describes Banda Aceh Tsunami Devastation As "Unimaginable"
By Jeremy Reynalds (01/18/05)
The humanitarian aid organization World Vision is continuing its vital relief work in areas devastated by the recent tsunami.
But how do the organization's staff react to being plunged into the middle of such a devastated area as Banda Aceh (on the northern tip of Sumatra) in Indonesia, where World Vision videographer Tom Costanza is currently located?
In an article on World Vision's web site, Costanza described what he saw and felt upon his arrival in Banda Aceh.
"The destruction here is unimaginable," Costanza wrote. "Buildings are crushed, flattened and splintered. Cars and buses look as if they've been picked up and tossed. Bodies in bags line the sidewalks in piles of four, five, six or more. Here and there a corpse lies out in the open. And this is two weeks after the quake. It's hideous. You can smell death in the air as you drive down the streets. The one-two punch of both an earthquake and a tsunami has been devastating. It has to be seen to be believed."
A teenager whom Costanza met at a World Vision food distribution told the videographer about the morning the day the tsunami struck.
Costanza said Mustafa spent that Sunday morning the same way he always spent Sunday mornings—playing on the beach. Back at home, he later felt the earthquake. Then according to Costanza, Mustafa heard what he described as a "volcanic eruption."
The waters came and swept him and his family away. Mustafa was rescued by some adults and shortly afterward his dad was also saved, Costanza wrote. But Mustafa's mom, two sisters and two cousins were lost in the tsunami. Mustafa's father (who had a stick stuck in his neck when they found him) is now hospitalized with broken ribs and a broken pelvis from being crushed between two trees. Mustafa is living with his aunt and receiving food assistance from World Vision.
One of the World Vision distribution team members described the tsunami which killed seven of his family members (including his father, mother, brother and sister) to Costanza.
This man's description of the tsunami was the most dramatic he had ever heard, Costanza wrote. "He described the wave as a black wall of water about 30 meters high. ‘It looked like a big, black cobra,' he (told Costanza)."
Commenting on the team member Costanza wrote, "He came to work at World Vision because he wanted to help others. He hopes it will make him forget."
Costanza said that World Vision continues to do "incredible work under difficult circumstances."
Last Sunday World Vision distributed tarps and on Monday gave rice, noodles and high protein biscuits to 550 people.
One woman Costanza and a colleague talked to lost two of her three children in the tsunami. Along with 20 other people who also lost everything, she is now living in an A-frame covered with those donated tarps from World Vision.
In addition, Costanza wrote, World Vision has opened the first of what he called "child-friendly spaces." These large tents, Costanza said, are places where children can come and relax by singing, playing, drawing and dancing.
According to Costanza, "Counselors are there to facilitate the fun and provide much needed emotional support to these traumatized children."
One such child is 6-year-old Idawati, Costanza wrote. "She was at her grandmother's house when the tsunami came. It destroyed the house and killed both her parents and her younger sister. When Idawati arrived at the children's center she looked lonely and was clingy. She still needs a great deal of attention, but now she plays with the other children and likes to draw."
Individuals wanting to help World Vision continue to provide assistance to tsunami victims can go to www.kintera.org/site/pp.asp?c=fvKVLbMVIwG&b=277370&lid=tsunami_donate&lpos=main1text.
Due to a new bill passed by Congress, donations made through Jan. 31 2005 for tsunami disaster relief are eligible for a tax deduction on U.S. 2004 income tax returns.
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