Indonesia: Aceh [Sumatra] - December 2014
Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text:
Français
In this month of December, I went back to Indonesia. Not to dive, this time. I was reporting for the 10th anniversary of the deadly tsunami of December 26, 2004.
reports
It was a press trip organized by the NGO International Plan. With other journalists, I was able to spend four days in the province of Aceh, in the northwest of Sumatra, where we met survivors of the tsunami of December 26, 2004.
The disaster killed more than 230,000 people in several South Asian countries, from Thailand to Sri Lanka. The Indonesian province of Aceh was the hardest hit, with over 167,000 victims.
These four days were intense, intense and exciting. Upon my return, I published a series of articles for my duck, based on the testimonies and stories collected. You can find them by clicking on the links below:
→ Feature: in Indonesia, 10 years after the tsunami (in the evening editionDecember 15, 2014)
• Banda Aceh, the metamorphosed city
- I saw the black wave, and I ran.
• Tourists discover places of tragedy
→ At the school for the children of the tsunami (in Sunday West-FranceDecember 21, 2014)
→ Ten years after the tsunami, Banda Aceh has recovered (in Ouest-FranceDecember 22, 2014)
→ Rahmat, modest hero of the tsunami in Indonesia (in Ouest-FranceDecember 26, 2014)
Banda Aceh
Before this professional trip, I had already been twice in the Aceh region, but on a personal basis, as a tourist, to dive in Pulau Weh, the small island in front of the city of Banda Aceh, in July 2010 and in may 2014. The underwater world is splendid, the island is peaceful.
I had only crossed Banda Aceh, to immediately take a ferry, without seeing much of the city itself or its surroundings. This time, I was able to visit the great mosque, discover the places of memory of the tsunami and meet a lot of people who accepted to tell me their story, ten years after the disaster, with a patience and a dignity that impressed me. (To be read via the links above).
