Singapore Volunteers Learn About A Cobra in Tibang, Banda Aceh

BANDA ACHEH, 24th July 2005: The second volunteer team from Singapore spent five days building in the community of Tibang, in Banda Aceh, working on five houses for families who lost their homes to the tsunami.

Some of the Singapore volunteers: (rear from left) Martin Liew, Chen Jenn Haur, Simon Ting (front) Lim Siew Choo, Poon Lai Fong, Sim Hwee Kiang and Jass Kee. Sand first: Lim Siew Choo and Martin Liew sift sand in Tibang

Though Banda Aceh is only a few hundred kilometers from the prosperous city state of Singapore, it represented a completely new experience for the Singaporeans.
 
Journalist Poon Lai Fong had never worked on a build site. “None of knew what to expect before we came here. We all felt if we could do our part in helping these families then that was an important contribution to the community.”

Producing shelter: Chen Jenn Haur and Simon Ting help with a roof beam

Sand first: Lim Siew Choo gets stuck in

More walls: Simon Ting lays a brick on one of walls.

Fellow builder Simon Ting is a chemical engineer by profession. ใWe are not builders but we can help the skilled workers with moving bricks, mixing cement, and tying wire for the structural reinforcement.ไ

They also heard firsthand about the terrifying ordeal that the December tsunami had wrought. ใOne of the families whose house we worked on held onto the coconut trees when the waves came through hereไ said civil servant Lim Siew Choo. ใThe twin sons told me the wave was like a cobra as it moved up and down and side to side as it engulfed the people and the houses.ไ
ส
The Singapore team spent from 18th to 22nd July digging holes for septic tanks, moving bricks for the masons, mixing cement and laying bricks.

The houses they worked on were started by the first Singapore team that built in the same community two weeks ago. ส It was a first in many ways for team leader Sim Hwee Kiang, the new Global Village co-ordinator for Habitat for Humanity Singapore. ใThis is my first experience working in another country. I felt it was important to lead this team to understand and to contribute to the community.ไ ส ใWhen we all return back home, our experiences will help to inspire other to come out here to help the people of Banda Aceh.ไ ส ใFew of us have any experience in building but we felt it was important to come here to motivate the local people in rebuilding their lives.ไ ส

Tibang suffered heavy damage that is still evident in the mass of rubble and debris that remains seven months since the tsunami hit.
ส
Habitat for Humanity will build 300 houses in Tibang over the coming months. To date 11 houses have been completed with five under construction and 30 more scheduled to begin at the end of July.