New Houses, Communities and Lives in Indonesia

Scott Campbell, Aceh director for CRS, supervised the long road to recovery for hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia who survived the catastrophic tsunami of 2004.

Liz O'Neill, CRS communications officer for the Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia, interviewed him for the four-year anniversary of the tsunami.

Liz O'Neill:

Scott, looking back, did you have any notion of the scope of the reconstruction and rebuilding efforts that would take place over the next four years?

Scott Campbell:

At Catholic Relief Services, people didn't really comprehend the scale of it until 2006, even those of us who had been there for months, because there was nothing in the past that we could compare it to.

The first year, we were very focused on emergency response; setting up temporary systems such as water, shelters, even temporary jobs such as cash for work, cleanup, helping out wood joineries and co-ops and agricultural co-ops. All of that was just to move people from the emergency phase to a more normal recovery phase.

Then we went about discussing how we would reconstruct everything on a permanent basis for all those areas in Aceh affected by the tsunami. That took a lot of time planning, designing and discussing with communities; it was in that planning stage and through the discussion stage that we fully began to realize the immensity and magnitude of the disaster. It's not until you were removing the debris and actually starting the planning and design for the rebuilding process that you saw how enormous the reconstruction effort was going to be. We were also busy building an effective team in different sectors throughout the province.

That in itself was challenging because you were competing with all sorts of other agencies doing the same work. We finally had it all together—with systems in place for accountability and, just as important, quality. When I came in, I thought yes, we want to be building these houses and the entire infrastructure quickly. Yes, speed was important. But I felt, and all of CRS felt, that speed at the cost of quality was never an option.

Our first 1,000 houses took us 20 months because it was through that planning cycle and design…all of those buildings are earthquake resilient. All the types of housing we had to put into place to test to determine what was the best model, considering time, considering cost, and what was appropriate for the people of Aceh. And they weren't always the same from one community to the next. The second 1,000 houses took us 5 months, the third 1,000 houses took us 3 months, and the following nearly 1,000 took a little longer only because of lack of land distributed and made available to us. But we had the process down for the building of houses, hospitals, schools, roads and bridges, and it was a much more manageable situation than when we first arrived—when we had no staff, no partners, no office. It was all put together from scratch, slowly but surely, with a focus on quality throughout.

O'Neill:

CRS went through three distinct phases in the reconstruction process. Can you tell us about those phases?

In 2006, the Sugiarto family used CRS-supplied materials to build their home in Indonesia. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

Campbell:

In those first few days when we arrived in Aceh, everything was about emergency response. Like all of the work we do, it's about saving lives and doing so with dignity. So that emergency phase is making sure people have enough water and food, hygiene kits, blankets, the utensils necessary for cooking meals and so forth.

Once you move out of that initial emergency phase, when people are still living in tents, we transition into temporary recovery cycle, so instead of people living in tents, especially during heavy rains and the monsoon seasons in Aceh, wooden houses were built, off the ground. It was a much more hygienic, dignified way of living. Same way with water and sanitation systems: They were of a temporary nature, but nevertheless necessary to ensure that people had a decent place to live until they were able to move into their permanent shelter.

In that temporary period, that's the phase when we really talked about planning and design, consultation, discussion with communities for longer term reconstruction. That whole part was difficult, in many respects, but really at the heart and soul of what we do. It's not just the physical buildings; it's the building of communities. They had been in the midst of conflict for 30 years. Then they were slammed by a tsunami, where communities had been uprooted, disjointed, leaders had been lost in the tsunami. Communities had to reorganize and reconstitute themselves and their governing structures.

O'Neill:

Tell us what the thinking of CRS was during the discussion phase about how exactly to rebuild communities, particularly housing.

Fitriah stands in front of her new, CRS-built house in Banda Aceh with her daughter Namira and nephew Amalul. Photo by Sean Sprague for CRS

Campbell:

In the recovery stage, a lot of thought was given to the design of the houses in tandem with the government and the regulations and standards of Indonesia. Another important consideration was that Indonesia is a risk-prone earthquake region, so buildings and houses had to be earthquake resilient. A lot of thought also went into cost and using quality materials, as well as how quickly we could get those materials and what their impact on the environment would be.

For example, traditionally builders use bricks in Aceh. But building with bricks is a slower process—and the bricks need to be fired, which had an impact on energy, as well as the forest. We replace bricks with hollow cement blocks, which are cheaper and faster to build with. As part of the earthquake-resistant structure design, we put into place lots reinforced steel—not only columns and beams—which you usually have, but also throughout the walls. So a lot of thought was given to the fact that it should be quality construction, earthquake resistant, and not unduly affecting the environment.

Aceh is rich with fantastic forests, so we reduced the wood we used in all of our construction projects: changed to light-gauge steel instead of using wood. We wanted to take into account the environmental impact of our building supplies, the safety factor of earthquake-resistant design, as well as the cost and speed with which they could be used, all while keeping an eye on our highest concern—quality.

O'Neill:

Four years later, where are we?

Children outside a temporary home in the Lapang 3 camp. Camp residents earned money through CRS cash for work projects and purchased communal land on which to build a new community. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

Campbell:

Now, here at end of 2008 we are almost entirely finished. We have one hospital wing yet to finish as well as our final village of 127 houses. We were waiting for land from the government to be made available to CRS and the community in order to build.

O'Neill:

How do you think the people of Aceh will regard CRS when they look back on this catastrophe, our response, and the rebuilding that followed?

Campbell:

I think people in Aceh will regard CRS in a good light based on the quality of our work—not just the physical structures, but also how we work with communities. It's one thing to put up a building—and it could be the best building in the world, but it doesn't compare with how you work with, engage and involve the communities that are going to be living in these buildings. We're not just building structures, we're building communities.