12 Jan 2005

The day the United Nations went fully operational in Aceh, Global Sikhs started operations in Pulau Weh, the northern most point in Indonesia, 30 miles north of Banda Aceh.

Global Sikhs, the only international relief agency currently operating on this Island, established its ops centre {POSKO Global Sikhs) in a vacant government building close to Sabang town centre. The team has been deployed on three fronts. A team of doctors and nurses are stationed at the Sabang Public Hospital, a team of support workers are based at the Posko and a further rapid deployment team are based on the ship Sean Paptito 2 which is anchored in Sabang Bay.

Pulau Weh with a population of 25,000, has seen massive damage though not a great loss of life, this due mainly to ancestoral advice and the fact that the island is fairly hilly and as such people of Pulau Weh could escape the wrath of the Tsunami. There are an estimated 5000 displaced people on this island with more displaced people arriving from Bande Aceh daily.

The medical team based at the hospital got off to an early start today, with 2 doctors manning the the OPD whilst a surgeon got busy with the operations. A team of medics also set up an outdoor medical centre close to a displaced persons camp in Sabang and attended to over 70 people including children.

The afternoon saw the 2teams of medics visiting camps further out of town. One camp had 800 occupants and the medics managed to screen and treat 600 and are planning to return to the camp tomorrow to complete the screen and treat programme.

The teams also plan to visit more camps in areas that are not close to Sabang. Iboeh, a village to the north of the island has been identified by the recce team that visited it today as an urgent place to visit. The victims are being supplied with rice and fish by the authorities who have a huge task at hand. The doctors have adviced the support team that fresh vegetables must be provided to these people who will suffer from malnutrition if the diet is not complete. The support team will source the vegetables locally and supply these to the camps being visited by the medical teams tomorrow.

More to follow