Letters from Aceh
		INTRODUCTION - Hope, Optimism and Tofu Making - Losses, Gains, Rice and Cake - Getting Our Hands Dirty

Introduction

Bob Seipel, a program manager for Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems Mission Systems, recently reported from Banda Aceh, Indonesia the company's internal news, Boeing News Now.

He visted Indonesia in January as part of a delegation to investigate the progress of the rebuilding in Aceh province on the island of Sumatra, one of the areas hit hardest by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Boeing employees and retirees' donations accounted for nearly $2 million of the total Boeing contributions of $4.5 million split among three international relief agencies, including Mercy Corps. Mercy Corps was one of two organizations that sponsored Boeing's site investigation.

Seipel's responsibility on this trip was to be the eyes and ears of Boeing employees and retirees who gave so generously to this disaster - and to report back on how their dollars and those of the company are being spent in the relief efforts.

The following three stories show what he found in Banda Aceh.