"The tsunami was like a mountain rushing toward us," one survivor said, describing the horror of the colossal waves that engulfed the entire area. It was hard to imagine that the coastal town had once been a densely built-up area. Most of the houses had disappeared. A sudden rainsquall struck the tsunami-ravaged town, causing an overpowering stench to rise from dead bodies, and I instinctively covered my nose with a handkerchief. I was in Banda Aceh in April 2005. The northern Indonesian town had barely started recovering from the devastation caused by the unprecedented natural disaster, which killed an estimated 200,000 people. But tsunami survivors were not entirely flustered despite the overwhelming sense of loss they were feeling. People were slowly regaining composure while struggling to restore a life of peace and stability. I encountered a woman working among men to remove rubble under a scorching sun and asked her why she was doing the tough work. "If I do nothing I am overcome with grief, so I work and earn some money," she replied. It is not easy to take the first step forward when you are in such dire straits. But she was already fighting to rebuild her life. This "Women by the Side of Rubble" series is a project I launched in 1999. What inspired this project is my belief that women, anywhere in the world, are endowed with a deeply loving and receptive heart that supports their willingness to make great sacrifices to protect the people they love. I have been focusing on women living in disaster-hit areas in my pictures for this series. In this spring, I visited the areas hit by the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster in the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with the support of JOICEP, a non-profit organization. I hope my works will help make the situation and life of people in these areas better known to people in other parts of the world. Indonesia Population:ca 215mn Territory: approx. 1,890,000km² Capital: Jakarta Ethnic Groups: Mostly Malay (Javanese, Sundanese, and other ethnic groups). Languages: Bahasa Indonesia (a form of Malay). Religion: Islam (87%), Christianity (9%), Hindu (2%).