More than 160,000 people were killed in Indonesia and tens of thousands were left permanently disabled.

Nurlaili Musa, a resident of Lampuuk village, Aceh Besar, survived the tsunami after being stuck on a barbed-wire fence.

Nurlaili lost her parents and several other family members in the disaster. She was taken to a hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, a few days after the tsunami. There she was treated for more than three months with the help of the Australian Army, which was providing medical support for survivors.

Nurlaili injuries were so severe the medical team treating her had to amputate her badly infected right leg.

"There was no choice but to amputate the leg, it was *a choice between* losing the leg or die," said Nurlaili's younger brother Zulfikar, who was also wounded when he was swept away by huge waves.

Zulfikar had to sign the letter of consent to amputate Nurlaili's leg for the sake of her life.

Living with a disability has been difficult for Nurlaili. At one point, early in the healing process, she became frustrated and fell into depression.

"Nurlaili always blamed me for consenting to the amputation. She would not accept her fate of being disabled for the rest of her life," said Zulfikar sadly.

After the tsunami, Nurlaili lived with Zulfikar and her elder brother in a shelter for displaced persons, before they moved to a house provided by a relief group in their native village Lampuuk which was completely destroyed by the tsunami. While at the shelter, Nurlaili and thousands of other survivors received help from local as well as international relief groups.

During the emergency operation, hundreds of local and overseas NGOs worked hard to help survivors, providing food, shelter and counseling to help overcome the trauma of the ordeal. Nurlaili was also given a prosthetic leg.

By next year, all relief agencies in Aceh will have completed their missions, including the United Nations' agencies involved in the rehabilitation and reconstruction program in Aceh.

Nurlaili and people displaced by the tsunami who once received assistance from the NGOs will then have to provide for themselves to survive.

The Acehnese people must now stand on their own and must be willing to relinquish the abundance of relief aid as hundreds of the relief agencies prepare to leave Aceh. Five years of rehabilitation and reconstruction assistance is enough to get people back to their former lives, except in cases where people refuse to bounce back and recover.

Five years after the tsunami, Nurlaili's life has somewhat returned to normal, but not like before the tsunami. Her carefree childhood is now just a distant memory. She has to struggle to survive with her handicap.

"I am very sad about my condition, which is far more difficult compared to before the tsunami, although Aceh was in a state of conflict then," she said.

Lampuuk in Lhoknga, Aceh Besar, was one of the villages at the center of the armed conflict. The village was a transit zone for Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerillas who descended from the mountains to resupply. The presence of Indonesian Military (TNI) bases in the area surrounding Lampuuk meant fire-fights between the rebels and the TNI broke out frequently.

The presence of NGOs in Aceh has helped Nurlaili recuperate. Although they endured in a barracks at the shelter, humanitarian workers routinely visited them.

"I also received skills training and a sewing machine, as well as my artificial limb," said Nurlaili.

Training in sewing was one of the choices she had submitted to on of the NGOs.

"I thought sewing was a profession I could do with my disability," said Nurlaili.

She was also provided with training to make prosthetic limbs at a factory in Surakarta, Central Java.

"I was ranked third best during the training session," she said, showing the certificate that she earned.

However, she could not apply all the skills in her everyday life. Today, she does not utilize the skills and equipment she has acquired. The sewing machine, which is now broken due to lack of use, is in storage.

"How can I be independent if I don't have capital? Besides, almost all the tsunami survivors in the village received the same training," she said, defending herself.

"In this small village, around 15 people have set up sewing shops and they generally have received cash assistance," said Nurlaili.

She also feels the assistance she received has not been suitable to her talents and wishes.

Nurlaili appealed to the NGO that had helped her, but it was too late as the relief agency had started packing up to leave Aceh.

- JP/Hotli Simanjuntak

Tsunami recovery by numbers

On Dec. 26, 2004, a massive undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people across 14 Asian and African countries.

The quake:

Unleashed energy equivalent to 550 million Hiroshima bombs.

Left more than 1.7 million homeless

Caused damage estimated at US$10 billion.

Drew more than $13 billion in international aid. More than 700 groups aided reconstruction in Aceh province, the hardest-hit area.

Indonesia

Death toll: 167,540, more than half the total.

Homes destroyed: 170,000.

Homes rebuilt: 140,000.

Sri Lanka

Death toll: 34,400.

Homes destroyed: 119,562.

Homes rebuilt: 112,543.

India

Death toll: 14,627.

Homes destroyed or damaged: 85,000.

Homes rebuilt: 70,000.

Thailand

Death toll: 8,324.

Homes destroyed/damaged: 3,615/3,209.

Homes rebuilt: More than 3,000.

Sources: United Nations; Governments of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand; The Associated Press.

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