The activities described here have been carried out by various members of the Oxfam International affiliation, including Oxfam Great Britain (the lead Oxfam agency in the Tsunami response in Asia), Oxfam Novib (Netherlands) and Oxfam CAA (Australia).

Summary:

• Oxfam's Aceh programme extends its activities to Calang area, in Aceh Jaya District, on the West coast of Indonesia.
  
  
• Internally displaced people wish to return to their communities.
  
  
• Approximately 4,360 people are currently taking part in Cash-for-Work activities in Banda Aceh.
  
  
• The timeline of 'transition to the reconstruction phase' was extended by the Indonesian government beyond the agreed date.

Case studies

Oxfam extends its programme to Aceh's West coast

The project will cover the sub-districts of Sampoinet, Setia Bakti, Calang, Krueng Sabee and Panga, where 70 villages have been totally destroyed by the tsunami and another 30 have suffered partial damage. Up to 20,000 people are living in Internally Displaced People (IDP) settlements in the area, "There is little physical evidence that communities living on the coast ever existed, only concrete floors remain. Houses were completely destroyed; bridges swept aside; roads have disappeared into the sea; wells filled with sand; cars, boats, trees, machinery and people were picked up and deposited up to 3km inland", said Oxfam's programme manager Jeremie Delage.

Jeremie and eleven other Oxfam staff visited the area in the third week of March to evaluate the needs and immediately started the project. "As incomprehensible is the suffering of survivors and their incredible sense of community, resilience and determination in rebuilding their lives", he added.

Ten days after the team arrived in Kreung Sabee, there were 2,324 people participating in Cash-for-Work activities. The projects first focused on the reconstruction of public works, such as clearing up villages, repairing irrigation cannels and building bridges.

Two JCB backhoe diggers will be sent in early April and will be used to support these activities. While Cash-for-Work activities are ongoing, Oxfam field staff will work with village committees to develop community action plans that will lead to more focused interventions in livelihood recovery. This is part of the overall recovery strategy for Calang project, which aims to enable women and men to re-establish their livelihoods. The project will also strive to improve household food security for the lower income groups, stimulate local economic growth and help create employment opportunities. "Information is still being collated to assess the damage to different livelihood groups. However it is apparent that agricultural land is damaged; tools are lost; the fishing fleet was destroyed; shops and small business were swept away", Jeremie Delage concluded.

Besides livelihoods recovery, the new project also aims to improve IDPs access to water and sanitation and reduce the levels of death and illness in the affected communities.

A full cargo of water and sanitation equipment will land shortly with bladders, tanks, pumps, distribution pipes and other water and sanitation items. Oxfam's Public Health Team will set up initial temporary water points, rehabilitate contaminated wells and drill new ones. All water and sanitation activities will be supported by public health promotion activities and will make sure that needs of women and men are assessed separately and met accordingly. In addition to these water and sanitation activities, Oxfam will carry out a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of Calang town water system.

Distribution of non-food items will also be part of Oxfam's work in Calang. In order to support the men and women affected by the tsunami regain their dignity, Oxfam will distribute sanitary towels, underwear and hygiene products as well as basic household items such as torches, radios and kitchen utensils.

"Oxfam's intervention will be 'demand driven', gender specific, and wherever it is appropriate, we will use existing community structures", explains Jeremie Delage. An estimated 15,000 people will benefit from Oxfam's activities in Sampoinet, Setia Bakti, Calang, Krueng Sabee in the next few months.

Oxfam works closely with partners in Aceh

Through the Partners Support and Liaison Unit, Oxfam's programme in Aceh is funding 37 local and national organizations.

The organization's activities revolve around providing basic health care, education, livelihoods and community participation in the decision making process for the Aceh recovery and rehabilitation plan.

Funds have been granted to those who needed to rebuild their offices and re-establish their capacities. Funds will also be available for the implementation of programmes after the proposals submitted by Oxfam's partners are evaluated.

Thus far, Oxfam has granted more than £320,000 to local and national partners. Some of these partners are working and supporting Oxfam's project areas, such as in the distribution of non-food items and Cash-for-Work activities. The Partners programme extends to Medan located in the North of the Sumatra province. Aceh Besar, Banda Aceh, Aceh Barat and Nagan Raya, Pidie, Bireun and Aceh Utara in Aceh province.

Indonesia

Providing Shelter to Affected Communities

Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are continuously moving from IDP sites back to their communities. In Meulaboh, IDPs have also moved from the tents to the barraks in the last two weeks. In Calang, some IDPs have expressed to Oxfam staff their desire to move out of their tents and into the barraks.

In Aceh Besar, the Shelter team arranged and conducted a "carpenters training" workshop for the Lamno Project. The training focused on the design, material choice and construction techniques to ensure durable buildings in the event of a serious earthquake.

Water and Sanitation Activities

In Aceh Besar eight trucks provided water to 38 IDP sites and 20 returnee locations supplying just under one million litres of water this week. Since January 2005, a total of 6,307,497 litres of water has been delivered to the affected communities.

Forty-one camps were also monitored in Aceh Besar this week, with the supervising of latrines, bathing sites, water supply, drainage, and solid waste management. No significant problems were encountered and support activities continued as normal.

In the villages of Blang Manget in the East coast (Pidie, Bireuen, Aceh Utara, Lhokseumawe) well cleaning, septic tank cleaning and repairs, building of new latrines and other works continue as normal. Lastly, Oxfam is cleaning wells, sceptic tanks and installing public latrines in Kuala, Timur East and Timur Mosque villages.

Helping Rebuild Livelihoods - Cash-for-Work Activities

Oxfam estimates that approximately 4,360 people are currently taking part in Cash-for-Work activities in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar this week.

The planting of mangroves in Alue Deah Teungoh is now finished (initially 100,000 seeds were planted) and following its success the same support techniques are being implemented in other villages. As part of the Oxfam's livelihoods programme in Lampuuk village, women have started planting watermelons.

Since late February, JCB backhoe diggers have been helping clear roads and villages in Lamno and Maulaboh, Aceh. The machines were donated by JCB, who shipped them from Singapore to Medan, in North Sumatra province. Oxfam paid for the transportation from Medan to their final destinations. Drivers were hired and trained and the backhoes are now servicing the villages of Lhut and Murkan, in Lamno, and also communities in Meulaboh. Three more machines have been received in Banda Aceh central office and are on their way to Lamno and Calang, where Oxfam is opening a new project. "The machines are cleaning a vital access road of tsunami debris, enabling communities to go back home and rebuild their lives and livelihoods", said Mat Cousins, Oxfam's Project Manager in Lamno.

Working with partners

Indonesia Media Technology (IMT), Jakarta based partner has launched its website on tsunami response co-funded by Oxfam, the Asia Foundation, Mercy Corp, Save the Children and HIVOS. For further information please check their website: www.indotsunamirelief.com.

Other Business

A government's press release announced on March 17th that the timeline of 'transition to the reconstruction phase' was extended beyond March 26th. The press release also announced that an initial Master Plan for reconstruction of Aceh was to be completed on March 26th and that the government believes more time needs to be allowed for further consultation with donors countries, agencies and humanitarian organizations. The press release stated that, "In order to allow maximum participation from all relevant parties and in view of the meaningful contribution that humanitarian organizations have made and will continue to make, the Government will extend the transition period to reconstruction past March 26th, for a period of 30-60 days initially."

Oxfam is looking at ways to play a more active role in coordination of aid in Aceh. The government has been repeatedly highlighting the importance of coordination in the new phase of the response (after March 26).