Sunday, March 19

Yesterday, Saturday, the younger brother of a security guard was married. Actually, he was married Thursday, but they need two ceremonies here, one for each family. The first ceremony is at the bride’s house, and is a farewell party. The second, which we attended as guests of the groom, was a welcome and blessing party. There were several speeches, admonitions, and blessings, while the women of both families gathered in the house to counsel the newlywed girl. Then, we all ate a huge feast of traditional suckling pig. The bride price for this wedding was approx. $3000 US in cash, and then another $2000 in pigs and foodstuffs. I found out why at the wedding – as an honoured guest, I was given the choice parts of one pig. This means not only pork chops, but head, organs, tail. And I got to take it home if I couldn’t finish it! This was good, as I took it home, cut it up and gave most away to the staff.

This reminds me of another story – we were able to help a boy who was hit by a car and needed reconstructive surgery on his leg. After being hospitalized for two months, we finally took him home, to the joy of his family. He gave me his chicken as a thank you gift. Now, we have an extra mouth to feed. His may be the smallest, but it’s certainly the noisiest! When Paul came, he asked why we didn’t just get a dog…

Today was supposed to be the arrival of a much anticipated shipment from Medan – our sofa, dining table, water heater, and the block presses. Unfortunately, the boat was delayed, and will hopefully come tomorrow. Meanwhile, the UNHCR timber finally arrived, more than five months late. With the time for processing and unloading,. We may be able to get some wood on Thursday. I went down to the harbour yesterday to see the wood, and it looks so much better than what we’ve been using – straighter, drier, smoother, and better quality grain. I look forward to using it! Next weeks goals are to prepare our factory site and hire the staff, receive the shipment of timber, and finish our remaining 12 houses of those started. Tuesday the 28^th is the anniversary of the earthquake that destroyed Nias, and we have been asked to receive media at our project site, so that needs to be planned and prepared.

Saturday, March 18

Well, the ship did arrive, but could not get into the harbour, because there were too many other boats in line. Last Thursday the Country Director, Paul Gimson, came from Medan to tour the project. He likes the quality and finish of our houses, but we are so far behind. In honour of his arrival, we had a Housewarming for our new team house. This meant two days of furious labour by our staff: installing water (yeah!!!) for our house (where I’ve lived since the beginning of February), painting the walls, building furniture (I built an entertainment unit), and hiring a caterer. We invited the whole community to come for the ceremony, and almost 100 people showed up. It was not what I expected, as it became much more of a formal ceremony than an open house, but it was a good thing. The pastor of our local church came to give a blessing, the village leaders extended an open door policy to me and the staff, and the women of the community welcomed my female staff in a way I could never impact them. Paul was able to share the vision of SP here, and we committed to working together with our community to impact the greater community of Nias. Paul brought us a digital camera, so I have no excuse for not providing pictures.

Returning to Nias after the meeting motivated me, but also disheartened me as well – the houses are really moving along, but not all of them are started. We are finishing the 20 timber houses we started, and then starting over with the block houses. However, I can’t wait for all the timber ones to finish before we start the next phase. We have got a place for our block factory, and are working on staffing it. The problem is the delay in getting the presses from Jakarta. So, we started to make blocks with wooden molds. The construction of the molds and the preparation of the site was undertaken by our warehouse staff, which took them from their work planing all of the siding for our timber houses. Then, we had some generator problems and our planer had an electrical surge. Fortunately it’s under warranty, so we couriered it back to Medan, and now we wait for parts from Jakarta! The NGO we have contracted to build our windows and doors is moving their workshop, so will not be ready until next month, and we have to find a substitute supplier, or make them ourselves. Also, the timber supply on Nias is already so low, that we will order 100 planks and receive two, and the rest are on standby. The UNHCR first shipment should arrive at the end of the week.

March 14

Also during my trip to Medan, I ended my relationship with Dian. It has been two months, during which time we have seen each other four times, and telephone communication is very difficult. I have made the decision to return to Canada at the end of my contract, July 5, and we will likely only be able to see each other four more times before then. We remain friends, and send text messages when possible, and I still visit with her father and nephews here on Nias. As is typical of me, I mourned her loss by impulse shopping, and bought a laptop. For those computer nerds out there, check out the specs on the Acer Ferrari 4000, which I acquired for less than retail, of course. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1827539,00.asp

March - In like a Lion

Dear All,

It has been so long, and I think the best way for me to catch up is several short posts from where I last left off, nearing the end of February. Tumpal has indeed proven to be a real gift from God, and he shared with the staff one morning his call to work for SP, after a time of soul searching. He has successfully mobilized our beneficiaries to overcome the problem of finding carpenters. With the work of the logistics staff to procure enough materials, we finally got started in quickly constructing our first batch of houses. Tumpal is an engineer, which has proved helpful in modifying our house design to suit individual land issues, etc. For example, one house is wall-to-wall with the neighbours, and another is on a 15 degree grade. The big adaptation in March has been the realization that even if the UNHCR free wood does arrive, it will not be of sufficient quantity in time to keep on target. Rather than waiting longer, we have met with beneficiaries about building houses from cinder blocks. We then visited the shelter project in Meulaboh, Aceh, where SP is building 80 houses per month out of blocks that we make ourselves. I have ordered the block press machines, and we will start a similar production to build our own materials. This has the exciting ability to turn into a microfinance project, where we do a rent-to-own program with the presses, so that the staff we train can start their own business.

The middle of March came all too soon, and with it the monthly meeting in Medan. This meeting was really full, as we have several new staff. Doug Wilson, the manager for our shelter project in Meulaboh is leaving in April. Doug has been very busy lately, as our second shelter project in Panga is also managed by him, and he was the ad hoc base manager there as well. Finally, in February our base manager Meulaboh, Larry Vaughan, had heart surgery and returned to the US for convalescence. Doug is being replaced by three people! My good friend Duncan, who has been building schools in Panga, will manage the housing project as well, and take care of base management. Tim Hereford, a young newlywed, has arrived with his wife Abbey to manage the Meulaboh shelter project. Eric, a long time resident of Indonesia, will take over the base manager responsibilities in Meulaboh, and finally Steven, an MK who grew up in Indonesia will be moving to Nias in April, to help me with the base management responsibilities, freeing me to concentrate on building houses. I am really excited about this change, and the possibilities it brings for catching up in our project here. In short, Steven will be responsible for the staff house, warehouse, vehicles, and administration, while I will be responsible for the materials and construction of the houses.

Information left unsaid - my girlfriend

On January 9, I asked Mr. Ama Eka Gulo if I could visit his daughter. Dian and I met in Medan several months ago, through mutual friends, and have enjoyed getting to know each other. She is a medical school student in her last year. Originally from Nias, her father still leaves not to far from my work site, and I had an opportunity to meet the family when Dian went hone for the first time in almost a year, for Christmas. Here is a photo of Dian and my good friend Katharina, who went home to Germany at the end of February, after one year as our Finance Manager. Katharina and I worked together in Medan.