United Nations Radio

And, looking back at another Christmas-time disaster - it will soon be the fourth anniversary of the December 26th Indian Ocean tsunami. So how is life there now?

Construction workers

The Indonesian province of Aceh was the hardest-hit with more than 168-thousand dead and 130-thousand houses destroyed. Today most of the houses have been rebuilt and Banda Aceh is a bustling provincial capital. UN Radio correspondent Sophie Boudre returned there to see for herself:

SOPHIE: A group of men play chess at Lhok Nga's fishermen's association. It's Friday, the Muslim holiday, so nobody's out fishing. Three years ago I followed Shuykri on his first day back at sea there. At that time, he was still grieving the loss of his whole family, unable to step on a boat. Things are different now, he says:

SHUKRI: Kalo sekarang, karena saya sudah berkeluarga lagi, sudah normal sikit. Keluarga saya pemandangannya sudah hilang sikit. Kadang2 ada juga, sekali2 sampai tahunnya. Cuma kalo biasa ini sudah hafal sikit. Karena berkerja balik, mungkin sudah banyak pikiran ke kerja, sudah hilang sikit.

SHUKRI VOICE OVER: "Now that I am remarried, my life is a little normal again. I don't think of my family as much, but the memory still haunts me during the Ramadan, or the tsunami anniversary. I'm back to fishing again, so I concentrate my thoughts on work."

SOPHIE: Lhok Nga lost 70% of its population. It was entirely rebuilt by the international community, from schools, roads and bridges, and the harbour and boats. Of the hundreds of fishermen operating there before the tsunami, only 60 are left, mostly the younger ones. For Shyukri, the loss of the elders is challenging:

SHUKRI: "Banyak kali pengaruh! Kita tk bisa mencari ilmuh. Kalo dulu kami bisa tanya sama ayah, sama abang... kalo sekarang kita mikir-mikir dengan kotak sendiri !"

SHUKRI VOICER OVER: "It makes a big change. We have nobody to turn to when we need advice. Before the tsunami, I would ask my father or my uncle about the fish, the currents or the wind... But now we can only rely on ourselves!"

SOPHIE: The tsunami destroyed more than 800 km of coastal infrastructure. The international community and the government poured a generous 8 billion dollars into the reconstruction efforts. As the central agency that oversees reconstruction closes down in 2009, the newly autonomous Aceh government will have to manage all assets and monitor remaining projects. Satya Tripati, UN Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias, says the transition must be seamless:

UNORC: "BRR and its partners have built more than 400 health centres. Now, once it transitions into the hands of the district and provincial government it will be important that these health centres have doctors, have equipment and have recurring expenditure in the budget so that the facilities are utilized in the best interest of the people. Same holds too for the schools, or the roads. A lot of our surveys that ILO has carried out in the past show that there's a great interest in building new roads, but not enough interest in maintaining existing new assets"

SOPHIE: In Banda Aceh, one village stands as a model of planning and rebuilding. Situated right on the seafront, Lambung lost 3/4th of its population when the tsunami struck. Today, 400 newly-rebuilt houses line wide avenues with escape signs and a 3-storey safe house with a rooftop helipad. But as the surrounding villages were being built at high speed by NGOs, Lambung residents waited till this year to get their new village.
Its chief, Zaidi Adan, explains why:

KEUCIK: "Kalo di tempat semula, kalo ada kebakaran, kejadian2, kita tk bisa keluar dengan begitu cepat karena tk ada jalan, harus melewati di samping2 rumah orang. Jadi, saya mau buat desa ini lebih bagus daripada sebelum tsunami. Walaupun lambat tapi pasti."

KEUCIK VOICER OVER: "If something happened in our village, we were not able to evacuate fast enough because there were no streets. The only way out was jumping between houses. So I wanted our new village to be better than before the tsunami. We had to wait but it was worth it."

SOPHIE: With the consultation and participation of all the remaining villagers in Lambung, Zaini designed a masterplan - a rarity in Aceh - taking land from existing plots in order to create escape routes. A huge sacrifice, even graves had to be relocated. SEGUE Despite the challenges, Lambung today is a model for Aceh's reconstruction. But unfortunately, it is one of the few villages that lives up to the reconstruction motto... 'Build Back Better'.

For UN Radio in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, this is Sophie Boudre.

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