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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Freelance photographer Marco Garcia shows his work at the East-West Center Gallery in the exhibit "Hope for Renewal: Photographs from Indonesia After the Tsunami."

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After the disaster

An isle freelancer captures emotions
and recovery efforts following
the Indonesian tsunami

Covering the aftermath of the Dec. 26 tsunami, Honolulu-based freelance photographer Marco Garcia was talking with relief workers in the remnants of a house in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, when someone found the body of an infant.

Coming Tomorrow Coverage of the 6-month commemorationof the tsunami

"He pulled up the body like a trophy. Everyone was silenced. I could hear my own heart beating," Garcia recalled.

The body was taken away and buried in a mass grave.

"The infant just became a random number in the death toll of the tsunami in Aceh," Garcia said, still shaken by the experience.

Garcia's photos from Aceh province are now on exhibit through Aug. 9 at the East-West Center. The exhibit, "Hope for Renewal: Photographs from Indonesia After the Tsunami," coincides with the six-month commemoration of the tsunami tomorrow.

For Garcia the photos are a way of making sure the victims of the tsunami are remembered.

"We just can't turn the channel. It was too devastating. People have to understand what happened," he said.

Garcia arrived in Banda Aceh on a U.S. military flight a few weeks after the tsunami. Because he did not have a satellite phone or Internet access, he was unable to get his photos to news agencies in a timely manner.

"The pictures, in a sense, were essentially worthless," he said. "The news cycle was beginning to wane."

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COURTESY OF MARCO GARCIA A man stands on the second floor of a shattered home in Banda Aceh. Many have returned to ravaged areas looking for anything of value.

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When he got back, Garcia brought the images to the East-West Center, which saw the value in them and paid for Garcia to return to Aceh last month to take more pictures.

The exhibit focuses on four themes: disaster, rescue, recovery and rebuilding.

The images include Acehnese girls, who could be orphans, laughing and smiling as a school gets out; the facial expressions of people passing a mass grave; and two men triumphantly holding a damaged Quran recovered from the rubble of the tsunami.

Among Garcia's favorite photos is an image from a wedding he photographed last month.

"The husband's mother was lost in the tsunami, but they were rebuilding their lives," he said.

Garcia hopes people leave the exhibit with an appreciation of life and humanity.

"We're all the same. We're all human," he said. "These people cried as much as we would."

Despite all the destruction around them, the people of Aceh have an unshakable faith in Allah, he said.

Garcia remembers talking to a woman who told of losing her husband in the tsunami.

"I burst out crying. She took my hand and she comforted me," he said. "I didn't lose anything and she's comforting me."

In May he met another man who lost his wife and family in the tsunami.

"He saw his family swept away," Garcia said. "He was thinking of letting go because he knew he had nothing to live for. Then a woman and two kids floated by, and he was able to grab them and save them.

"'That's why Allah let me live. I know that's my purpose in life,'" Garcia recalled the man telling him. "'It makes no difference because I have God, and God allowed me to save those people.'"

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COURTESY OF MARCO GARCIA A recovery team from Mexico City, Brigada Internacional de Rescate Tlatelolco Azteca, carries a corpse during a downpour.

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Events spotlight efforts on rebuilding

The East-West Center will hold an opening reception tomorrow for the "Hope for Renewal: Photographs from Indonesia after the Tsunami" exhibit six months after the disaster.

The reception begins at 1:30 p.m. with a discussion and gallery walk-through with photographer Marco Garcia, followed by the reception from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

The reception will be held at the gallery in John A. Burns Hall on the corner of Dole Street and East-West Road. Other activities scheduled at the East-West Center Gallery in conjunction with the exhibit include:

» Tuesday, noon: Education Program Director Terance Bigalke and visitors from the State Institute for Islamic Studies in Aceh will discuss the progress of higher-education rebuilding efforts.
» July 6, noon: Senior Fellow Sumner La Croix will lead a panel discussion on the economic impact of the disaster.
» July 10, 2 p.m.: Dr. Vernon Ansdell (Kaiser Permanente) and Dr. Kathleen Kozak (Straub Clinic & Hospital) will discuss their January visit to Indonesia as part of the Aloha Medical Mission.
» Aug. 1, noon: Education Program Associate Director Namji Steinemann will lead a discussion on the AsiaPacificEd Program's Schools Helping Schools initiative.

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COURTESY OF MARCO GARCIA An Acehnese man rides his bike through the ruined streets of downtown Banda Aceh.

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COURTESY OF MARCO GARCIA Workers pray before recovering bodies.

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