September 2005 relief trip to Banda Aceh Indonesia. We worked building a brick factory just outside of Banda Aceh, Indonesia in a beautiful area directly in front of the ocean. This is basically a pole barn with a thatch roof. Most of the men in this area were killed in the earthquake and tsunami and the women will be able to work here and make money while making bricks to rebuild homes. The weather was hot and we worked putting up the rafters, furring strips, and then we nailed on the thatch roof. There were 6 young Indonesian men working with us and here are 5 of them that stayed on the site the whole 2 weeks. We had a translator, but we communicated fairly well by using hand signals. We had a great time working together with these guys and had a lot of fun with them. We also built and stood the walls for the brick kiln where they will fire the bricks. It was very primitive construction. The destruction we saw was indescribable. There was a 9.4 earthquake for 10 minutes before the tsunami. There was much more earthquake damage than I expected. Many places there was nothing left but a slab where the house once was.
I have published a book with many of these pictures in it. Check it out at: http://stores.lulu.com/afloodoftears