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Denise Furnell on the Indonesian Tsunami

Denise Furnell, safety and security adviser for the International Rescue Committee, talks to CSO about security challenges in Indonesia a year after one of the worst natural disasters in history

By Scott Berinato

Page 2

"The 12-month factor is a security concern. People who have been dramatically traumatized consciously realize that its been one whole year. For some people it may seem like not much has changed."

Denise Furnell

How desperate was the situation in Bandeh Aceh when you arrived, and what is it like today?

You're talking about the total devastation in 15 minutes of many, many communities that had taken a lifetime to build. It's going to take a lot longer than a year to rebuild. You've got to reestablish supply lines. Port facilities were destroyed. You've got to build temporary [facilities] just to be able to get the temporary things in for the people who need them. But this isn't a hopeless case. It's a slow process and everyone in the States will see that from Katrina. It takes time.

From the safety and security perspective, what does the one-year anniversary of the tsunami mean?

The 12-month factor is an element of concern to me; it's something I've been briefing the team on for a few weeks now. Because this is when people who have been dramatically traumatized consciously realize that, "My goodness, it's been one whole year." And for some people it may seem like not much has changed. And they're going to go through significant grief because they've lost a lot of family members. They're going to get this really clear reality check. It's understandable in a traumatized community that they want to have their voice heard. So it wouldn't be surprising to see some demonstrations and protesting, and as soon as you get a crowd together, anything is possible.

What are some of the cultural challenges in the regions in which you work?

We've got a mix of cultures with the internationals on our team who are then trying to mix with the nationals in the region we're working in. So first the internationals have to appreciate the culture and history of where they're working and the nuances of the culture. Sometimes you can't take someone working one place and transfer them 200 kilometers because they'll effectively be a stranger in a strange land. That affects program design. What are the risks of, say, a water and sanitation program versus an education program? How will that particular community react to that stuff? What are the ways to mitigate those responses?

Do local attitudes toward security itself vary much?

They do. A classic example: In a first-world country, if we were in a finance department, the people physically counting money are in a secure room locked away from everybody. In some cultures that's exactly what you cannot do. Money counting must occur in front of witnesses. So it has to be done in an open space, which would horrify security professionals in some places. But this is the public-witnessing routine, and this is the safe way to transfer and count money.