After an epic battle to procure plane tickets, I have arrived safe and sound at home for the holidays. My journey began as I departed Nias on Tuesday morning, with no afternoon flights. On Wednesday,after some frantic last minuteshopping, I left at 6:00 am for the airport, and a quick hope to Penang, Malaysia. After few hours layover, and my second breakfast, I deprated for Taipei, Taiwan. The time in Taiwan was filled with a hot shower, a third breakfast (I did have lunch on the plane) and some email checking. Finally, I departed for LA, arriving midafternoon, after a second lunch and a fourth breakfast.
In LA, all my hopes for seeing Tinseltown were dashed as the brisk American evening was to much for my shortsleeves, and the price of a Hollywood jacket was more than my trael budget would allow. This was a good thing, however, as I quickly realized I could barely function following a leisurely meal and shower. So, at 10 pm, I ended Wednesday 31 hours after I started it.
On Thursday, I finally arrived in Toronto, via Phoenix, at 7:30 pm to a splendid blizzard. Meredith met me at the airport with her husband's coat, and we started the 2.5 hour journey to her home in Kingston. We arrived at home by 3:30 am, after several coffee break and a small collision with a reverse-rolling 18 wheel truck. Welcome to Canada, eh!
Friday was my culture shock adjustment day, as I practiced driving in snow, driving on the right side of the road, adjusting to the existence of traffic signals, and shopping in Canadian malls again. So calm and quiet...and expensive!!! Dan and Meredith have a great little starter home, and I certainly felt odd being hosted by them, as the homeless guest.
On Saturday, we drove to Peterborough, with only a few wrong turns, and visited with my mom's family. It was a good turnout, and a chance to see everyone in the semi-annual tradition. My younger cousins are grwing up so fast!!! I finally met my parents there as well.
The next stop, on Sunday was Arkell Road Bible Chapel, my home church, where I surprised many with an unannounced visit. I guess some who knew did not have the chance or perhaps desire to share this info ;) What a homecoming,as I realized what I had really missed during my time away. After church, it was time for Dad's family Christmas dinner and gift exchange at Grandma Sheach's house. There, we received the announcement that my cousin Alyssa is engaged to her long-time boyfriend Ryan. Congrats to them both.
Later that night, after a rousing game of Skip-bo with Grandma, we set out in two cars for the long haul north to Markstay. I guess my dog got tired of waiting, because by the time we arrived, he was over at the neighbour's and we didn't see him until morning. It has been nice and mild the last week, with temperatures ranging in the -5C range, and the coldest day of the week was Tuesday.
On Tuesday, we all went into town for some Chrisstmas shopping. Dad went into the office, to find that the robbers which broke in on Sunday night had come back again the next night, and left only the 200kg. fax/copier, and the oldest of computer monitors. Meanwhile, I got a message informing me that two old friends from the early days in Indonesia, Joel Crocker and Mary Lee, had eloped in Costa Rica. We rounded out Tuesday with an all-u-can eat fish fry, and a family outing to watch "The Chronicles of Narnia" in the theatre - our first family theatre event since 1988. An enjoyable film, and an adequate interpretation of my personal favourite book of all time.
Yesterday, Wednesday, was an adventure for my Dad and I, as we tried to break the beaver dam which has caused the river to flood. The beavers have cut down about twenty huge poplars, more than 30 cm. diameter and 30 meters tall. When we finally found the dam, we realized we hadn't brought the axe, the chainsaw had no gas, and the dam was covered with 15cm of snow, and 10 cm of ice. It was a good adventure anyways, and we got wet and cold.
That's the update so far - I will be staying with my parents until at least Boxing Day, and then back down to Guelph to visit with Grandma and my friends and family at Arkell Road until New Year's. My return flight departs January 2 from Toronto. I'm taking photos and video, so should have some good images for later posts!
Wishing all a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and God's richest blessings for you and your families during this season of joy and rememberance.
Love to all, Chris
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Twentieth Century Tragedy
Dear All, I have spent the last two weeks trapped in the decades of no internet access! The UN office is no longer providing an internet service, and the local internet cafés run so slow that my work email server times out, after trying to load the page for five to ten minutes. I apologize to all who have not received a much deserved response, but I must deal with the work emails first. I am out in Medan for two days for a meeting, so I’ll try to catch up with as many as possible. Other than email, the project is finally rolling at a great pace, and we may reach our readjusted targets.
God bless you all, Chris
God bless you all, Chris
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Question and Answer Time Part 1
Here is a quick Q&A based on questions from my parents - if anyone out there would like to be the interviewer for Part II and beyond, please email me your list of questions at csheach@yahoo.ca!!
Looks for pics in this post too...
1. How are you?
I am doing well - God is good, and I'm learning new things every day.
2. Have you had any more health problems?
Well, there's tummy trouble about once weekly, but I can't even remember that stuff anymore. One thing though, is that the recent moving back and forth between Medan and Nias has left me unsettled and unable to sleep well.
3. Did you get your staff?
Rosa, my office assistant comes tomorrow morning. Other than that, no. We have had a big shuffle of expat staff in Indonesia, with several not renewing contracts. This means the "key staff" in the pipleine for me have been re-routed to other areas, and I may even lose Jacqueline and/or Rosa during the crunch period of December. Conversely, they may lose me for a while...there are some possibilities, and Rosa and i will be working on recruitment this week to come.
4. Did you get your supplies?
The shipment of timber donated by UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) has been delayed, and should arrive two weeks late in the beginning of December. My other materials will arrive on Thursday, unless my warehouse is not ready by then.
5. Did you get your translator?
Well, Rosa is Niassan by birth, but has lived in Medan a long time and is really rusty, so no. however, her ability to help in indonesian will be appreciated.
6. Did you get your office?
The office is in the warehouse, which is slated to have a roof on thursday. the location is excellent, the design quite nice, but the rain delays are only manageable because of the timber delays. Pictures will be posted before the end of the week.
7. Did you get your new house?
Not yet. once the warehouse has a roof we'll start the house. pictures of the ground to come soon.
8. Where are you staying now?
We are renting rooms in a quasi-hotel/resort. The rate for rooms has gone up 500% (sorry for that layman math, all numbers buffs) since the influx of foreigners. Our rooms have no running water between 9 and 5, no A/C, and frequent power outages. This is for more than $20 USD per night. That used to be the price of the best hotels on the island. Fortunately, our rooms are in a singe-story, cleaned room with great linens and a locking door. They 
are shaded so often cool enough with a fan, and are quite attractive. Here's a picture of my old hotel - a dive that cost $10 per night, which included AC, but no running water or toilets, just a hole in the floor. I was in the room over the front door, so at least I had an "earthquake escape".
This is the inside of the Hotel Gomo. Cleanliness was not a priority.
9. How big is Nias?
From http://www.niasisland.com: Nias Island lies on latitude 10 30' north and longitude 970 98' east. It covers an areas of 5,625 km2 which is mostly lowland area of ± 800 m above sea level.
It is the biggest in a group of islands on this side of Sumatera that is part of the province of Sumatera Utara. This area consists of 131 islands and Nias Island is the biggest. The population in this area is about 639,675 people (including Malay, Batak, and Chinese). Nias has a very unique culture and nature which is far different from other areas in North Sumatra. This is because of its separate and remote location from the rest of Sumatra.
10. What church do you attend?
When in Medan, a new church started English services a few weeks ago, called Bethel Church Indonesia. It is a charismatic evangelical Bible-based church which I visit when in town. In Nias, there are no English services available. There is a church about 100 metres from our current residence, which I plan to visit next week. I have been in Nias only two weekends so far. We are also looking at the possiblilty of starting English services here as well.
11. What NGO's are there?
The total number is impossible to tell, but notably present in Nias are World Vision, Red Cross, Church World Aid, Catholic Relief Services and several UN-based agencies (like UNICEF, UNHCR).
12.Who are you working with?
Besides the above-mentioned agreement with UNHCR, we are currently developing an agreement with HELP from Germany, to build windows and doors at their carpentry training facility.
12. Now you don't have a big city with Mc Donalds etc. What is your food like?
First, I ate at McD's three times in nine months in Medan, A&W a few more. Here there are no chains, but there is great local fresh grilled fish with rice, and a Nias specialty is roast pork (not available in many parts of Indonesia). Breakfast is homemade banana bread or donuts, or noodle soup, a habit I acquired in Vietnam, and Jacqueline in China. Lunch and supper are either meat and rice, or fried noodles, or stirfried rice. Here's a photo of Jacqueline with a great plate of boiled pork rind.
13.
What is the largest city in Nias? Where are you in relation to it, and the surrounds?
As you can see on the map I posted last week, Gunung Sitoli is the largest city in Nias, and we are currently 5 km. south of the city center, with our new site 1 km. north, near the harbour. You can click on the map to open a larger image, as with all the pictures included in my blog.
14. What are the houses that you are in charge of going to be like? Size? rooms? structure?
Here's the design of our house:
Finally, from John:
15. Do you have a map of Indonesia? Yes, here it is.
Sumatera is the large island on the far left, and Nias is the tiny island underneath the "Pe" of Pekanbaru.
Until next time, Chris
Looks for pics in this post too...
1. How are you?
I am doing well - God is good, and I'm learning new things every day.
2. Have you had any more health problems?
Well, there's tummy trouble about once weekly, but I can't even remember that stuff anymore. One thing though, is that the recent moving back and forth between Medan and Nias has left me unsettled and unable to sleep well.
3. Did you get your staff?
Rosa, my office assistant comes tomorrow morning. Other than that, no. We have had a big shuffle of expat staff in Indonesia, with several not renewing contracts. This means the "key staff" in the pipleine for me have been re-routed to other areas, and I may even lose Jacqueline and/or Rosa during the crunch period of December. Conversely, they may lose me for a while...there are some possibilities, and Rosa and i will be working on recruitment this week to come.
4. Did you get your supplies?
The shipment of timber donated by UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) has been delayed, and should arrive two weeks late in the beginning of December. My other materials will arrive on Thursday, unless my warehouse is not ready by then.
5. Did you get your translator?
Well, Rosa is Niassan by birth, but has lived in Medan a long time and is really rusty, so no. however, her ability to help in indonesian will be appreciated.
6. Did you get your office?
The office is in the warehouse, which is slated to have a roof on thursday. the location is excellent, the design quite nice, but the rain delays are only manageable because of the timber delays. Pictures will be posted before the end of the week.
7. Did you get your new house?
Not yet. once the warehouse has a roof we'll start the house. pictures of the ground to come soon.
8. Where are you staying now?
We are renting rooms in a quasi-hotel/resort. The rate for rooms has gone up 500% (sorry for that layman math, all numbers buffs) since the influx of foreigners. Our rooms have no running water between 9 and 5, no A/C, and frequent power outages. This is for more than $20 USD per night. That used to be the price of the best hotels on the island. Fortunately, our rooms are in a singe-story, cleaned room with great linens and a locking door. They are shaded so often cool enough with a fan, and are quite attractive. Here's a picture of my old hotel - a dive that cost $10 per night, which included AC, but no running water or toilets, just a hole in the floor. I was in the room over the front door, so at least I had an "earthquake escape".This is the inside of the Hotel Gomo. Cleanliness was not a priority.
9. How big is Nias?
From http://www.niasisland.com: Nias Island lies on latitude 10 30' north and longitude 970 98' east. It covers an areas of 5,625 km2 which is mostly lowland area of ± 800 m above sea level.
It is the biggest in a group of islands on this side of Sumatera that is part of the province of Sumatera Utara. This area consists of 131 islands and Nias Island is the biggest. The population in this area is about 639,675 people (including Malay, Batak, and Chinese). Nias has a very unique culture and nature which is far different from other areas in North Sumatra. This is because of its separate and remote location from the rest of Sumatra.
10. What church do you attend?
When in Medan, a new church started English services a few weeks ago, called Bethel Church Indonesia. It is a charismatic evangelical Bible-based church which I visit when in town. In Nias, there are no English services available. There is a church about 100 metres from our current residence, which I plan to visit next week. I have been in Nias only two weekends so far. We are also looking at the possiblilty of starting English services here as well.
11. What NGO's are there?
The total number is impossible to tell, but notably present in Nias are World Vision, Red Cross, Church World Aid, Catholic Relief Services and several UN-based agencies (like UNICEF, UNHCR).
12.Who are you working with?
Besides the above-mentioned agreement with UNHCR, we are currently developing an agreement with HELP from Germany, to build windows and doors at their carpentry training facility.
12. Now you don't have a big city with Mc Donalds etc. What is your food like?
First, I ate at McD's three times in nine months in Medan, A&W a few more. Here there are no chains, but there is great local fresh grilled fish with rice, and a Nias specialty is roast pork (not available in many parts of Indonesia). Breakfast is homemade banana bread or donuts, or noodle soup, a habit I acquired in Vietnam, and Jacqueline in China. Lunch and supper are either meat and rice, or fried noodles, or stirfried rice. Here's a photo of Jacqueline with a great plate of boiled pork rind.13.
What is the largest city in Nias? Where are you in relation to it, and the surrounds?As you can see on the map I posted last week, Gunung Sitoli is the largest city in Nias, and we are currently 5 km. south of the city center, with our new site 1 km. north, near the harbour. You can click on the map to open a larger image, as with all the pictures included in my blog.
14. What are the houses that you are in charge of going to be like? Size? rooms? structure?
Here's the design of our house:
Finally, from John:
15. Do you have a map of Indonesia? Yes, here it is.
Sumatera is the large island on the far left, and Nias is the tiny island underneath the "Pe" of Pekanbaru.
Until next time, Chris
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Long time coming
So, after much pestering from my parents, I am finally going to send a brief update. It will be brief, because I just booted up when a line formed behind me.
I am based, as I mentioned, in Nias. A map will, I hope, follow this post. I am managing a project to build houses first in Hiliduho subdistrict, followed by Gunung Sitoli subdistrict. GS is the capital and only harbour, so our office/warehouse and house will be there, near the harnbour symbol on the map.
Currently, I am working with no translator, no field assistants, no driver, no warehouse, no office and no house. I have an office manager, Jacqueline Plante from Vancouver, who is working wonders managing an office that doesn't exist, and should have a finance assistant soon, who will be able to help with translation. last week was draining, as I met local government, attended meetings, and designed a survey questionnaire without a translator or a driver. This past week, i have been in medan again, as it is Lebaran, the week of celebration after Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. Think of Christmas, New Year and Easter all together, and that was this week. first, every street was a party, then, it was a ghost town. i actually can't leave, because there are no airlines or travel agents open to sell me a ticket back to Nias. i was here to work on translating contracts with benificiaries and building contractors which jacqueline created, so that we can start building as soon as the survey is conducted. i managed to ask the government to do the survey, we'll see what the results are like.
My schedule is getting tighter, as the warehouse/office and house need two more weeks, there are still no project staff hired through HR, and my materials will not arrive until December. Then, I have a commitment for 50 houses before Christmas break, on the 15th.
This is going to be a whirlwind next month or two.
I am based, as I mentioned, in Nias. A map will, I hope, follow this post. I am managing a project to build houses first in Hiliduho subdistrict, followed by Gunung Sitoli subdistrict. GS is the capital and only harbour, so our office/warehouse and house will be there, near the harnbour symbol on the map.
Currently, I am working with no translator, no field assistants, no driver, no warehouse, no office and no house. I have an office manager, Jacqueline Plante from Vancouver, who is working wonders managing an office that doesn't exist, and should have a finance assistant soon, who will be able to help with translation. last week was draining, as I met local government, attended meetings, and designed a survey questionnaire without a translator or a driver. This past week, i have been in medan again, as it is Lebaran, the week of celebration after Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. Think of Christmas, New Year and Easter all together, and that was this week. first, every street was a party, then, it was a ghost town. i actually can't leave, because there are no airlines or travel agents open to sell me a ticket back to Nias. i was here to work on translating contracts with benificiaries and building contractors which jacqueline created, so that we can start building as soon as the survey is conducted. i managed to ask the government to do the survey, we'll see what the results are like.
My schedule is getting tighter, as the warehouse/office and house need two more weeks, there are still no project staff hired through HR, and my materials will not arrive until December. Then, I have a commitment for 50 houses before Christmas break, on the 15th.
This is going to be a whirlwind next month or two.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
The Madness of Medan
The Madness of Medan
Well, I have been remiss in my postings yet again. There is, albeit insufficient, excuse for these remissions. We got the green light for a shelter project on Nias Island this month, and I got the green light to manage said project!
So, the beautiful photos of my palatial house (not yet posted) will be farewell photos, as I move to the island. Also promised were photos of our team in Indonesia, and those are coming together now. Finally, I have some introductory photos of the new project!
For today, here’s a picture of me taking a break on the broadcast tour...
Chris
Well, I have been remiss in my postings yet again. There is, albeit insufficient, excuse for these remissions. We got the green light for a shelter project on Nias Island this month, and I got the green light to manage said project!
So, the beautiful photos of my palatial house (not yet posted) will be farewell photos, as I move to the island. Also promised were photos of our team in Indonesia, and those are coming together now. Finally, I have some introductory photos of the new project!
For today, here’s a picture of me taking a break on the broadcast tour...
Chris
Thursday, September 15, 2005
I'm still alive...
Well, the last few weeks have been interesting, to say the least. I planned to blog about my new house, and the transition to there, but of course I was assigned to travel with our broadcast team from the US, which delayed moving in for a little while. Traveling with the team was a great experience, as I got to finally see all of the various projects SP is doing here in Indonesia. Although I have traveled to Banda Aceh before, I had never seen the shelter projects there. As soon as I find them, I’ll post some pictures from the trip. The sound guy got sick in Sri Lanka before arriving in Medan, so part of my job description was boom guy. For every interview, I was the guy holding the big boom mike over the nervous interviewee, trying to keep it out of the shot. It was good to hear first-hand stories of how our work is changing people’s lives. We met people who have a new house, a new job, and a better education because of our work, and it really justified for me the long hours far away from home. We can only pray that lives will be impacted permanently through our help.
Right now I am on a MAF plane, just leaving Nias for the second time in two weeks. We had a great couple of meetings here, working to develop a program for building houses here as well. So many people were affected by the earthquake in March, and still have no house, only tents. We’ve been asked to work in a remote mountain area, where 1500 houses are needed, but we’re waiting for funding in order to do this project. Out of a need for 30,000 houses since March, so far none have been built, and only about 7500 promised, including our potential project. It seems a lot of agencies are also running to the end of their funding. It is good that at least in Aceh we have been able to commit to building almost 2000 houses, and will have completed several hundred by the end of the month.
After returning from my big tour last week, our Regional Director arrived from the US, and Paul took him on a tour for a few days, leaving me to take care of Medan office. They had an inauguration ceremony for our first shelter project. Although we have completed one small project, and soon a second in the Banda Aceh area, this project south of Meulaboh is much bigger, and was started in early March. We have been working in this community since the first week of January, first with emergency shelter and water purification. Finally, we were able to invite some dignitaries and organize a community celebration to recognize the first people moving into their new homes. Although I was unable to attend, I will attach pictures of this great event.
Meanwhile, back in Medan, I finally did move into my new house, which is actually a team house. So, although I am the permanent resident, any team members coming to Medan for a break will stay at the house, rather than at a hotel. We are able to rent this massive home, and furnish it nicely and staff it for much less than a hotel bill, and it’s much more cozy and comfortable for all. I enjoy having different company over almost every night, although the new cook isn’t so happy about it!
I also haven’t properly introduced my office or the staff, which I intent to do this weekend.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. There was one other thing that kept me busy this week. You may have heard that there was a plane crash in Medan. It landed about 5 kilometers from our office, three from my house. It landed in a residential area, on a major highway. The plane really only cleared the runway by 500 metres, before crashing on the road and exploding in a ball of fire. Out of 117 people on board, only 19 survived. An additional 50 people on the ground were killed. I took a team from our Medan office to respond right away, and we were at the wreckage within an hour of the crash. Yet another once-in a-lifetime-is-enough experience. We handed out bottled water to the emergency crews frantically trying to rescue anyone and put out the fire before it spread further. The governor of North Sumatra province was onboard, and the former governor. Neither survived the crash. This led to a national day of mourning and a state funeral, as well as a ceremony and funeral for the unidentifiable bodies the next day. The city was hit hard by the losses, and between the road closures, funeral processions and general malaise, traffic and business was at a standstill for the rest of the week.
Well, that’s it for today. We have a management meeting tomorrow, and need to find funds for Nias houses by next week, so that should keep me busy for a little while.
Thanks for reading!
God bless you all, Chris
Right now I am on a MAF plane, just leaving Nias for the second time in two weeks. We had a great couple of meetings here, working to develop a program for building houses here as well. So many people were affected by the earthquake in March, and still have no house, only tents. We’ve been asked to work in a remote mountain area, where 1500 houses are needed, but we’re waiting for funding in order to do this project. Out of a need for 30,000 houses since March, so far none have been built, and only about 7500 promised, including our potential project. It seems a lot of agencies are also running to the end of their funding. It is good that at least in Aceh we have been able to commit to building almost 2000 houses, and will have completed several hundred by the end of the month.
After returning from my big tour last week, our Regional Director arrived from the US, and Paul took him on a tour for a few days, leaving me to take care of Medan office. They had an inauguration ceremony for our first shelter project. Although we have completed one small project, and soon a second in the Banda Aceh area, this project south of Meulaboh is much bigger, and was started in early March. We have been working in this community since the first week of January, first with emergency shelter and water purification. Finally, we were able to invite some dignitaries and organize a community celebration to recognize the first people moving into their new homes. Although I was unable to attend, I will attach pictures of this great event.
Meanwhile, back in Medan, I finally did move into my new house, which is actually a team house. So, although I am the permanent resident, any team members coming to Medan for a break will stay at the house, rather than at a hotel. We are able to rent this massive home, and furnish it nicely and staff it for much less than a hotel bill, and it’s much more cozy and comfortable for all. I enjoy having different company over almost every night, although the new cook isn’t so happy about it!
I also haven’t properly introduced my office or the staff, which I intent to do this weekend.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. There was one other thing that kept me busy this week. You may have heard that there was a plane crash in Medan. It landed about 5 kilometers from our office, three from my house. It landed in a residential area, on a major highway. The plane really only cleared the runway by 500 metres, before crashing on the road and exploding in a ball of fire. Out of 117 people on board, only 19 survived. An additional 50 people on the ground were killed. I took a team from our Medan office to respond right away, and we were at the wreckage within an hour of the crash. Yet another once-in a-lifetime-is-enough experience. We handed out bottled water to the emergency crews frantically trying to rescue anyone and put out the fire before it spread further. The governor of North Sumatra province was onboard, and the former governor. Neither survived the crash. This led to a national day of mourning and a state funeral, as well as a ceremony and funeral for the unidentifiable bodies the next day. The city was hit hard by the losses, and between the road closures, funeral processions and general malaise, traffic and business was at a standstill for the rest of the week.
Well, that’s it for today. We have a management meeting tomorrow, and need to find funds for Nias houses by next week, so that should keep me busy for a little while.
Thanks for reading!
God bless you all, Chris
Chris at the scene of plane crash in Medan, Indonesia
Chris at the scene of Mandala Airlines crash in Medan, Indonesia
Copyright Chris Sheach 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
I'm back
Aftter my second tour of Aceh in as many weeks, I am back to a massive pile on my desk, and people going crazy all around me. As soon as I finish my end of month reporting, I have stories, I have photos and I will post them. Dad, Ethan, I got your mail and will respond.
From behind the eight-ball,
Chris
From behind the eight-ball,
Chris
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Nias News
Off the coast of Sumatra is a small island called Nias, a mostly undiscovered surfer's paradise. One of the least developed areas of Indonesia
Although only moderately affected by the earthquake and tsunamis of December 26, 2004, a series of strong earthquakes on March 28, 2005 crippled the island. destroying the majority of buildings taller than one story, closing the ports which provided access to mainland markets and family, and destroying roads, blocking access to many parts of the island. Samaritan's Purse responded immediately, with an initial assessment team on the ground the next day.
I was able to get to Nias shortly after, and was involved with medical evacuations. Through the course of the next few days, Samaritans’s Purse and Mission Aviation Fellowship were able to evacuate more than 200 people via helicopter from inaccessible areas of Nias to hospitals in
<- Pilot Roy Harris checks his load before lift-off
One of many medical evacuations ->
Chris on a medical evacuation flight
We continued in Nias throught the next three months, involved in managing a food distribution with the World Food Programme,
and distribution of tarpaulins and blankets to the tens of thousands left homeless, 
as well as supporting a water purification programme.
Well, today is Indonesian Independance Day, which gives me a chance to send a couple of posts! First, I had a great time at home, visiting with my family:
First, of course my sisters, here before Meredith's wedding.
Then, my brother-in-law Dan, here with his wedding night boxers!
Also, my dear dog, Kodi.
Not available for photos are the greatest, my parents and grandparents. When I get my photos of the wedding, they will be included in the photos!
First, of course my sisters, here before Meredith's wedding.
Then, my brother-in-law Dan, here with his wedding night boxers!
Also, my dear dog, Kodi.
Not available for photos are the greatest, my parents and grandparents. When I get my photos of the wedding, they will be included in the photos!
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Where is Chris Sheach now?
Hello Everyone! This may very well be my last group email! I am creating a web space to post my bulletins and news items, so that I can deal with email letters on a one to one basis, without having to constantly repeat myself. You can find the web link below, please check back as often as you wish for photos and news, I really will not be upset if you never look, and are greatly relieved not to be getting mass emails from me. Also, please share this link with anyone you feel may be interested in my current status.
Just to recap, the last year of my life has been a momentous one. Last August, I was offered an internship with Samaritan’s Purse in Vietnam, working on a water filtration project. When the tsunamis struck in December, I was reposted to Indonesia, and offered a contract for the remainder of the year. I was still in Indonesia when my younger brother Alastair was killed in ahead-on collision near our home in Canada in February, but I was able to return home for three weeks. My first year with Samaritan’s Purse (SP) was completed in July, when I returned to Canada for my sister Meredith’s wedding and one month home leave. I returned to Indonesia August 7, to start my new contract for one year.
My position in Indonesia has primarily been in a support role, in logistics, procurement and operations management. SP currently has 17 different projects in the tsunami affected areas of Aceh province, and I am responsible to provide those projects with the materials, equipment and personnel necessary to complete the work. These projects include building houses, water and sanitation, building midwifery and health clinics, food distributions, various livelihood projects, such as agriculture and fishing, a women’s support and training centre, and computer training centres. I work closely with our Human resources manager, and the support teams at our 4 different bases of operation to keep the supply chain moving. I currently live in the city of Medan, an area not affected by the tsunami, but the largest urban centre on the island of Sumatra. This enables me to work with the airport and port facilities, and provides access to a much bigger purchasing supply of stores and manufacturers. This position may change in the very near future, and I will keep my new site updated.
If you have any specific questions, I really do want to hear from you, and don’t forget to share an update on your own lives as well!
From Indonesia,
Chris Sheach
Operations Manager, Medan
Samaritan's Purse Indonesia
Just to recap, the last year of my life has been a momentous one. Last August, I was offered an internship with Samaritan’s Purse in Vietnam, working on a water filtration project. When the tsunamis struck in December, I was reposted to Indonesia, and offered a contract for the remainder of the year. I was still in Indonesia when my younger brother Alastair was killed in ahead-on collision near our home in Canada in February, but I was able to return home for three weeks. My first year with Samaritan’s Purse (SP) was completed in July, when I returned to Canada for my sister Meredith’s wedding and one month home leave. I returned to Indonesia August 7, to start my new contract for one year.
My position in Indonesia has primarily been in a support role, in logistics, procurement and operations management. SP currently has 17 different projects in the tsunami affected areas of Aceh province, and I am responsible to provide those projects with the materials, equipment and personnel necessary to complete the work. These projects include building houses, water and sanitation, building midwifery and health clinics, food distributions, various livelihood projects, such as agriculture and fishing, a women’s support and training centre, and computer training centres. I work closely with our Human resources manager, and the support teams at our 4 different bases of operation to keep the supply chain moving. I currently live in the city of Medan, an area not affected by the tsunami, but the largest urban centre on the island of Sumatra. This enables me to work with the airport and port facilities, and provides access to a much bigger purchasing supply of stores and manufacturers. This position may change in the very near future, and I will keep my new site updated.
If you have any specific questions, I really do want to hear from you, and don’t forget to share an update on your own lives as well!
From Indonesia,
Chris Sheach
Operations Manager, Medan
Samaritan's Purse Indonesia
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