Boxing Day tsunami - one year on

By ABIGAIL CASPARI in Rotorua
Today will be like any other Boxing Day for Taupo pilot John Funnell except for one thing - he'll be phoning his good friend Mawardy in Banda Aceh.

Mawardy was an interpreter for Mr Funnell and his team from Heli Harvest when they went Banda Aceh after last year's Boxing Day tsunami to work with Oxfam.

They were among the earliest civilian operators in Indonesia as they were able to get there under their own power. Others were forced to travel by boat because of the distance.

Mr Funnell says he still thinks about his time in Indonesia and it has made him value his family a lot more. However, he doesn't think today will be any different to other Boxing Days. He says he has seen a lot of sadness during his 30 years as an air ambulance pilot and it's not something he likes to dwell on.

"I'll certainly give Mawardy a call to see how he is coping but I will just get on with life."

Mawardy lost his fiance, parents, his grandmother, sister and niece in the devastating tsunami.

The 29-year-old was working in Singkil on Boxing Day when the 9.15 magnitude earthquake rocked the Indian Ocean, generating a tsunami that left at least 215,000 people dead or missing.

Singkil is in the south of Aceh province, and though it was shaken by the earthquake it was not hit by the tsunami.

Marwardy's home village and entire family were.

Mr Funnell was so struck by the Mawardy's story and the young man's resourcefulness, he paid for him to come to New Zealand, arranging his visas and travel.

Mawardy spent several weeks in New Zealand improving his English before heading back to Banda Aceh.

The two have kept in touch and Mr Funnell's biggest concern for his friend is that he has not been able to move back home.



However, Mawardy is one of the luckier ones because he lives in a waterproof building with many still taking shelter in tents.

Mr Funnell remembers seeing people who had not eaten for more than two weeks and were living on contaminated water.

"I think that is a lesson for all of us.

"Every family should prepare so they able to sustain themselves for two weeks in the case of disaster."

Mr Funnell said he gave some money to Mawardy which included a donation from those in the Central North Island search and rescue team.

Mawardy gave some of the money to his sister so she could feed and clothe her family and used some of it to make crayfish pots so he could set up a crayfishing business.

Mr Funnell said he would not hesitate to go and help in the relief effort if there was a similar disaster.



"I have no fear.

"There is so much to be done in these big disasters.

"You can be part of a team that can make a huge difference."

The Taupo pilot was not the only person from the Central North Island to see the devastation first hand.

Rotorua's Anna Barnett, who is now studying law at Victoria University, suffered wounds to her leg and back and an eye infection after being caught up in the tsunami.

Rotorua police photographer Wayne Hendrikse spent three weeks in Thailand as part of a New Zealand Police delegation helping with the clean-up following the Boxing Day tsunami.