Indonesia Earthquake Response

Photo courtesy of Dr. Lidja Stojanonovski-Matjnoski, IMC

On March 6th, 2007 a 6.3 earthquake struck the inland region of West Sumatra, Indonesia. A two person Humanlink team was on the ground less than a week later to provide technical support to the international and local aid organizations in the area. The team consisted of Humanlink Executive Director Jonathan Thompson and technical volunteer Jeff Allen.

Map courtesy of UNOCHA ReliefWeb
 
Landing in Padang we attended a late night meeting with representatives from Oxfam, IOM and IMC to find out more about the angencies' response and to offer our services. The following morning we made our way to the provincial response center (Satkorlak), housed at the governors compound, to gather more information about the coordination efforts. It was an excellent opportunity to examine the available INTERNET services and to look over the impressive amount of maps and information that had already been amassed.

Before leaving Padang for the towns of Solok and Bukkit Tinggi we located a local wireless INTERNET service provider to determine the availability of suitable INTERNET connectivity in the affected areas. We later met with Jaya in the town of Solok to learn about his wireless Internet capabilities . We are keenly aware of the importance of local service providers, large and small, and strive to include them in all of our activities.

Arriving in Solok the devastation was wide spread but the local response was impressive and the residents of the town had already started to rebuild their lives. We moved onto the town of Bukkit Tinggi where the regional coordination center had been established by the local government. People gathered at the converted sports center which was brimming with relief supplies to view photos of the aftermath and to identify loved ones.

We were pleasantly surprised that aid teams in the area were having little difficulty connecting to the INTERNET either by way of their mobile phones or wireless laptop cards. The CDMA and GPRS data services in the area had limited coverage but worked quite well within the city limits. Even in rural
areas where CDMA was unavailable low speed GPRS service was in use, both for aid workers and for the unaffected citizens. As one aid worker told us, “I've got my wireless card and mobile phone and we're getting by.” We tested the services and found the CDMA service satisfactory. Aid organizations in Indonesia are fortunate to have these services which are not readily available in other parts of the world.

The response by the local organizations was exceptional and our services were, thankfully, not in high demand so we moved on to North Sumatra and the Aceh region. Upon arrival in Aceh were set about interviewing local relief organizations to determine the suitability of INTERNET and communication services in the area. It was clear that connectivity, while expensive, was satisfactory in the city of Banda Aceh but it wasn't long before we crossed paths with people who were in need of our expertise. We met briefly with members from the UNFAO and provided a feasibility report for wireless work they were interested in undertaking.

“Many thanks for the very readable report, particularly the suggested way forward. Based on the information gathered we will hopefully be in a better position to decide on the next steps.”

Dr. Rudolf Hermes
Chief Technical Officer Fisheries
UNFAO
Rehabilitation Support and Coordination Unit

During this time we also began rebuilding the network for our host aid organization. This consisted mainly of setting up a DHCP server, cleaning the system of any viruses and spyware and installing Mozilla's Firefox browser with the Adblock Plus extension. We found the Adblock plus extension to be invaluable in this low bandwidth setting where advertisements and flash animations on a page could significantly slow down the load time and the network as a whole.

Before finishing our work in Banda Aceh we were asked by a team in Lamno to visit their site and assess their technology. We found that we could complement their existing system by integrating a freely available ClarkConnect server. One of the greatest benefits of installing the ClarkConnect was the ability to use a web caching proxy known as a Squid proxy. A proxy server collects local copies of web pages the first time they are accessed so that future requests for the same pages can use the local copy, instead of making the user traverse the limited satellite connection. This greatly increases the overall speed of the network and enables team members to work more efficiently.

“Thanks for your helpful visit. Of course, it helped us a lot.”

Jean Baptiste Chardon
Logistics Officer, IMC
Lamno, Indonesia

As most relief organizations receive their INTERNET through a satellite connection the smallest changes can have a tremendous impact on efficiency.

During our time in Lamno we also met up with CHF who asked us to look into the possibility of a sharing bandwidth with another organization in the area. We provided another feasibility study and we left it to CHF to negotiate the rest.

“I would like to thank you and Humanlink for helping us to attempt to resolve
this problem. Myself and all CHF staff hope this relationship will happen
soon. Working without INTERNET is like eating without rice!”

Heri Mardinal
IT/PRS Specialist
CHF International/Indonesia

The success we had led our host to ask us to repeat it in Banda. Once we finished installing the server the staff noticed a considerable speed difference. Another significant benefit of installing Clark Connect is the ability of the web proxy to cache anti-virus updates. For those machines running the same anti-virus or anti-spyware software all it took was one machine to download the update, which took approximately 30 minutes over the satellite link, and the rest of the machines could then download the same update from the local server in literally seconds! The same was true of any application that the team needed and to make it even easier we placed all these utilities in a shared folder which made installation on any of the machines a snap.

In order to ensure the continued success of the Clark Connect installs and the other work we had done we followed the same regimen in every site. Upon arrival Jeff Allen would interview the staff, asking them about any problems they were having and what their needs were. In addition to these
interviews, Jeff developed a checklist of aspects of the IT infrastructure to investigate and analyze. We would then compile this information and our plan of action into a briefing that we would pass on to the person responsible for the site. Once we obtained their approval we would then make any necessary changes making sure to include the local staff in the process. We left them with a final briefing on the changes that had been made, how to maintain the changes and where to get help should they encounter any problems. Not only would their new found knowledge serve them well at work but also outside of work where their knowledge of these tools and utilities would enable them to work more efficiently. Finally, all of our efforts were summarized in a handover report detailing the changes we had made and recommendations for any additional changes that would benefit the organization.

Before leaving Aceh for the States we were asked to make one more stop in Jakarta to install the same equipment in another office. We spent several days on our way out of Indonesia working late into the night to complete our third and final installation before catching our flights home. Most installs were done at night while the staff was out of the office so that we would not interrupt their work. We would often return to the guest house in the early morning hours hot and tired but content with the fact that we were making a difference.

The work was hard and the hours long but spending time with the incredible international and local staff, knowing that the work we were doing might make a difference in someone's life and walking home through the rice paddies at the end of the day made it all worthwhile.

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