Endless Sun , a wooden a 40 metre 700 tonne custom-made shallow draft boat
equipped with two Boston Whaler skiffs will depart from Jakarta to take
it's maiden humanitarian voyage on Wednesday, March 9 th , 2005 to deliver
relief supplies to the worst hit and most inaccessible areas of the tsunami
disaster along the Northwest coast of Aceh. Sailing for 7 days Endless Sun
will reach areas that other relief agencies have been unable to access due
to poor or non-existent ports and roads and to get supplies where airlift
drops have been infrequent or impossible.
The most recent body count for the Indonesian area of Aceh has about
125,000 buried bodies with close to 112,000 missing and close to half a
million homeless. The Acehnese have had their livelihoods and
self-sufficiency taken away. The amount of aid pouring into the area is
well beyond the distribution capacity of the Indonesian government, NGO's
and UN agencies to handle alone. The difficulty in coordinating the
efforts of the many agencies involved has resulted in delays that have
reduced distribution of much needed supplies. The advent of the monsoon
season in Aceh looms, posing yet another challenge.
Yayasan Andaru Selaras, (the NGO Shooting Star), YAS , funded by AsiaWorks,
Asia's leading experiential training and consulting company (
www.asiaworkstraining.com ), and in partnership with Yayasan Indonesian
Development of Education and Permaculture (IDEP) ( www.idepfoundation.org )
have outfitted Endless Sun with relief supplies that will rebuild
communities and livelihoods instead of creating long-term dependency to aid
which refugee camps and orphanages foster. Dr. Hafiz Pasha, UN
Assistant-Secretary-General and Director of UNDP's Asia Pacific Bureau who
has visited UNDP's Aceh and Jakarta offices this week has said, "It is time
to focus on rehabilitation and infrastructure and to let people return to
their homes and start making a living." YAS , IDEP and Endless Sun and
it's crew have exactly this mission in mind and will deliver commodities
and self-sufficiency items such as brick presses, mechanical carpentry and
fishing implements to empower local communities to rebuild
themselves. Cargo on Endless Sun will also include personnel from NGOs and
aid agencies requiring passage along the Northwest coast and for evacuation
of people in need of medical care. JOURNALISTS ARE WELCOME TO BOARD ENDLESS
SUN at any of "it's ports of call" and can also fly to locations where
the boat will stop to cover the story from the ground. Good logistical
communications, radio and satellite communications and on line services are
available for filing stories. A documentary film-maker will be on board
and footage will be available.
AsiaWorks and YAS founder, Chris Gentry, was one of a small group of
volunteers to arrive via boat to first attend the horrific tsunami
aftermath in Calang, Aceh. The vessel, Sumber Rejeki traveled to Aceh
under IDEP and details of this journey including a short video clip can be
found at ( www.asiaworkstraining.com/chris_in_aceh.htm ). Endless Sun is
the vision of Chris Gentry who explains, "When a tragedy of this magnitude
occurs everyone has a responsibility to get involved. I couldn't stay at
home knowing how the victims of Tsunami were suffering. At YAS we have
both immediate and long-term development plans to help the affected
communities rebuild for the future and Endless Sun is a big part of our
picture. Our help is just beginning."
Project personnel are divided into two teams, an office coordination team
and a mobile delivery team. Procurement of items by IDEP and YAS will be in
Surabaya, Jakarta and Medan to be delivered by cargo ship or truck convoy
to warehousing where it will be picked up by Endless Sun . Once in Aceh,
the mobile delivery team will offload either in port or directly onto the
beach where there is no port or harbour access. Once off loaded local NGOs
and aid agencies will be responsible for delivering commodities to affected
communities in line with their programmes. The Endless Sun will be in
regular communication via radio and satellite phones and with the office
coordination team, local NGOs and aid agencies to determine its delivery
and pick-up routes.
The Project is designed around a 12-week cycle. In each 12-week period it
is anticipated that the mobile delivery team can make 5-10 trips along the
coast delivering 500 tonnes of commodities at a time. After each 12 week
cycle, project effectiveness will be measured in tonnes of aid delivered,
the number of communities reached and the impact on the local community .
Additional funding to continue a regular schedule of trips is being
solicited through both YAS and IDEP.
The YAS and IDEP mandate is "Helping people in Indonesia to help
themselves." Since 27 December 2004, IDEP efforts raised over US$330,000
in donations for the 18 projects they support in Aceh including on site
mid-wives, permaculture and cottage industries. YAS has raised
approximately US$100,000 from corporate and individual donations, and with
its asset the Endless Sun , is now in a viable position to continue aid
delivery to the region.
[permaculture] Endless Sun and the Slowboat to Recovery in Aceh,
Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson, 03/26/2005