Reflection

It was a year of disaster, recovery and security. Just ask Denise Furnell.

By Scott Berinato

December 22, 2005 — CSO —

Its coming on Christmas, as Joni Mitchell sang it. But dont worry. This column isnt one of those inane screeds about Holidays versus Christmasa war truly without a purpose.

No, I mention Christmas for a far more important and solemn reason. That day happens to mark a full years passing since one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history: the tsunami in Southeast Asia, spurred by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Statistics suggested that it killed some 200,000 people and dispossessed hundreds of thousands more. Actually, no one will ever really know the numbers. A better measure is to picture a town near you of about 10,000 people. Then close your eyes and imagine that in the span of ten minutes, 7,000 of its residents disappeared, the town was erased, and then that happened again to six, seven, 12 other towns in the next hour.

Thats the scale of the devastation that still reigns over the region. And it has made security and safety professionals some of the most important people there, leading the ongoing recovery effort. Professionals like Denise Furnell.

Furnell works for a nongovernmental organization called the International Rescue Committee. The IRC works in areas overcome by both natural and political strife. Furnell, who says her job makes her effectively a CSO for IRC staffers but also a security aide to locals, calls the turmoil caused by the tsunami, to this day, unspeakable.

Furnell works out of Bandeh Aceh, Indonesia, an area hit particularly hard one year ago, and one that seems unfortunately geolocated for such a massive catastrophe. Aceh must contend with tsunamis, earthquakes, dozens of active volcanoes, dozens more that may become active and, finally, rebel forces across the mountains. (Ironically, in Bandeh Aceh, the tsunami did not spur looting and violence. It spurred a ceasefire and accelerated the peace process).

In addition to managing security in Bandeh Aceh, Furnell has spent time in the past two years in Afghanistan (war), Pakistan (massive earthquake), Uganda (civil war), Chad (Sudanese refugee camps), Chechnya (political unrest) and New York (IRC meetings). Oddly enough, New York City is about the most unnerving place among them. Furnell couldnt bring herself to take a walk outdoors and every time the subway went by, she thought an earthquake was starting. She never got used to it.

Overseas, Furnells job broadly encompasses any and all security tasks, from managing the security of a humanitarian mission delivering food to helping deploy security at refugee camps. Rarely, except in Chechnya, do Furnell or her team travel with armed guards. More than once shes found herself unsafe. Once, in Afghanistan, she faced an agitated mob waiting for a food disbursement. As Furnell will tell you, theres no more unpredictable, unnerving security threat than a mob. She found a donkey, asked the owner to ride it, and the locals thought that the sight of the Australian woman on an ass was so funny that violence was averted, food distributed.

• Print