In Aceh’s recovery, hope for Haiti

Unlikely though it might sound right now, there is hope for Haiti, and that hope is called Aceh.
As I discovered during a recent five-day visit, the Indonesian province — devastated by the Christmas 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami — has made a remarkable recovery.

I’d last been to Aceh shortly after the Christmas 2004 tsunami, which turned the coastal areas into a wasteland. Up to 170,000 people lost their lives in one of the most destructive natural disasters in modern history.

As with Haiti today, it was hard to imagine back then, amid the death and destruction, how the place could ever get back on its feet.

But five years on, and Aceh has been transformed, thanks to a billion international aid effort.

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