Day 1 : Friday, 17th April 2009

Our timely arrival at Iskandar Muda International Airport, Banda Acheh via Medan at 1:30 pm West Indonesian Time were met by our Indonesian counterpart, Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Armia Indra Nur Alam of Orthopedic Department of Rumah Sakit Umum Zainal Abidin (RUSZA) which is the main hospital for Banda Aceh. A familiar face to us, he was in HUKM Orthopedic Department back in 2006 when he did his 3 months attachment in Paediatrics and Sports at the department. On the way from the airport we stopped for a hearty lunch at a restaurant with a rather catchy name, Rumah Makan Ayam Tangkap and later adjourned to the Hermes Palace Hotel,Banda Aceh. It was a very hot day indeed with the temperature soaring to about 36° Celcius and we decided to stay indoors for the rest of the day.

Later that night we met with the Head of Orthopedic Department RUSZA, Dr. Azhar who single-handedly took charge of the Department for the past 13 years until Dr. Armia joined him about a year ago. He was alone when tsunami-hit Aceh and have been very instrumental in coordinating one of the largest mobilization of medical relief effort in the modern history of disasters.

We were treated with a special Aceh cuisine dinner along with some Cardiothoracic Surgeons from Jakarta who were on a working visit to Banda Aceh, as well as a few fellow Anesthetists from RUSZA. Dinner was washed down with a late night durian supper by the roadside durian stall which completed our first day in Banda Aceh.

Day 2 : Saturday 18th April 2009

After breakfast, we were brought to RUSZA for a tour and started our session with the Surgical and Orthopedic Masters candidates and the medical students of the Faculty of Medicine,University Syiah Kuala. The seminar room in the Surgical Department was packed with the students and we were given the customary introduction and after the exchange of pleasantries, each of us we gave a lecture which drew enthusiastic questions from the crowd. The session went on for almost 2 ½ hours and we eventually had to end as we were meeting the Dean of UnSyiah Medical Faculty.

The Dean was represented by the Deputy Dean I (Academic) and Deputy Dean II (Finance) and we were briefed of the activities of the faculty as well as future plan of the University. We exchange gifts and soon we were on our way to a Maulidurrasul Thanksgiving Lunch hosted by the hospital staff.

We then went for a tour of the once-devastated city of Banda Aceh and we were visibly impressed with no trace of the said destruction. However, a six-storey power generator ship lying in the middle of the city sends a chilly and grim reminder of the powerful killer tsunami waves that nearly wipe the entire population of this historical city known for its Islamic roots. We paid our last respects to the fallen citizens of Aceh and pray they would rest in peace.

Our entourage moved on to the outskirts of the city to a newly built village, designed to outdo any possible tsunami in future. There lies the Friendship village of China-Indonesia which was the brainchild of superstar actor Jackie Chan who himself came a few times to oversee the construction of this beautiful village and later officiate the opening and handed it to the people of Aceh. From the hills of the Friendship Village, we could see the vast coastline which once was flooded with water levels as high as a coconut tree!

In the evening, we enjoyed ourselves with a gastronomic spread of fresh seafood, cooked in Aceh style, at a restaurant on stilts. Later we were aghast when told that this was the site where once a massive natural grave of thousands of bodies were found piled up on top of each other!

Day 3 : Sunday , 19th APRIL 2009

As our flight was in the afternoon, we only stayed at the hotel and discussed with Dr. Azhar and his surgeons ways to improve our networking and cooperation. A future visit is planned to be more educational as well as providing the needed expertise in areas especially in Arthroplasty and Arthroscopic Sports surgery. The opening of the new hospital complex funded by the Germans will soon see a dawn of a new era in provision of healthcare especially in Orthopedics. We parted with a sigh of relief and a deeper understanding of the challenges the Acehnese went through these post-tsunami years. We pledge to be of assistance and continue the good working relationship with Dr. Azhar and friends and looked forward to bear the MOA flag again to this region.

Thank you.

Report prepared by Dr. Badrul Akmal Hisham Yusoff
1st May 2009