Concrete Pixels

I served as a Consultant with one of the development projects of UNOPS-United Nations Office for Project Services in Indonesia early last year (2007). The project is the reconstruction of hundreds of schools devastated by the 2004 notorious tsunami in Banda Aceh and neighboring areas and the high magnitude earthquake that struck the island of Nias in March 2005. I was assigned in this island, the biggest of the group of islets in the West of Sumatra. I came here 2 years after the 8.++ magnitude earthquake and I was struck by the devastation and stories of the people. I have the strong desire to serve with this kind of work especially after looking at how the children in this island are coping with their temporary schools. This island is unique in many ways. It is the only island where majority are Christians in “world’s biggest Muslim nation.” The Sunday worship is vibrant in almost every church. Majority are protestants. It is the only island I saw where you can find corals even at the mountain tops, a manifestation that this island rose up to where it is now from the bottom of the ocean many million years ago. This island sits on the Pacific ring of fire. Building structures in this island requires very good foundation design as the lower areas are swampy and the higher grounds have mostly soft rocks/(coral-like). Construction projects in this island face a real challenge due to the lack of construction materials,equipment, laboratories and skilled manpowers. It’s very difficult to attract reliable firms in the island due to the remoteness of the place, isolated for many years. It is unknown to the world until the deadly earthquake struck the island in 2004 except perhaps from few surfers as deep south in the island is the famous surfing paradise. Nias is considered as one of the surfing capital in the world. Each party will not be complete without the traditional Nias dance. But this is not the reason why I call this place “the dancing island”. It’s physically “dancing” every week even without music… it’s an unbelievable earthquake that frequently occurs sometimes twice a day. There’s never been a time when I was there when the island never rocks at least once a week. It’s amazing to note however that while the modern concrete houses and bridges collapses, a traditional house like this survived the killer earthquake:-)