February in Review

February has been such a crazy month that I don’t even remember what the end of January was like. February 3 was Jacqueline’s last day, so her replacement Rani came down to Nias for three days to learn the job and see the project. Rani has been working for several months in another SP project, a woman’s vocational centre in Meulaboh, Aceh. This project is now being administered by a local charity foundation, and SP staff are being phased out of that operation. This presented a perfect transition for Rani and our Nias team. Shortly after Jacqueline and Rani left, I flew to Medan to help on a special logistics project. The head of Samaritan’s Purse, Frankln Graham, came to visit our projects after a festival in Manila, Phillipines. 125,000 people attended this festival, and approx. 7000 answered the altar call. As I am the only staff here from the last time Mr. Graham visited, shortly after the tsunami, I was asked to return to Medan for a few days and help with the logistic arrangements and coordination. The visit was short, but very successful. It was a great opportunity for our staff to meet the boss, and report on our projects successes. This story reminds me that in January we had a visitor from the US office as well. Ivan from the Communications Department came to do some follow up photos and stories. Immediately after Ivan’s visit to Nias (the next day) Katharina, our finance manager, came with Alcidea, her replacement starting in February, and stayed for the weekend.

February 13 was the time for the monthly manager’s meeting in Medan, so for the third weekend in row, I left Nias. This time, however, I stayed quite a bit longer. On the 14^th, Duncan and I traveled with Tarrigan, an Indonesian SP shelter staff from Banda Aceh office, to Timor Leste. This country was invaded by Indonesia in 1975, and after a long and costly struggle for freedom, gained its’ independence in 1999. We three, and shortly after that Paul, were sent to participate in the field trial of a new method of steel framed house construction that SP is investigating. The potential for quick-response emergency shelter is very exciting. Our time in Timor proved the product isn’t quite ready for the rigors of emergency response, but could possibly be modified to suit the need for rapid construction of thousands of temporary and then permanent houses. Also, it was a great introduction to Timor Leste, a small and very poor young country, with a lot of potential for greatness or failure. Further, I enjoyed getting to know Tarrigan, whom I had never met. This trip also included my first visit to Bali, although only for an overnight visit. It is indeed beautiful, famous for its beaches, surfing, and Hindu temples.

Meanwhile, back on Nias, Faisal, my shelter coordinator, will not be extending his contract, but will move into expanding his own construction company. Within a week of knowing this need, God provided through an incredibly qualified resume appearing in my inbox. After a very hasty plea to our HR Manager, I had this man interviewed and hired. Tumpal will be returning to Nias with me on the 24^th. Rossa has earned a week of R&R, and spent the 14^th to the 21^st visiting in our Banda Aceh office. She will return to Nias with Rani, just before I arrive. So, I will end the month with training two new staff. The most exciting thing for me is that both Rani and Tumpal speak excellent English, and I will have to rely less on my language deficiencies to get the job done. This should reduce stress moving into March.