Tsunami Aid At Work

It was Ground Zero - parts of cities, whole villages, literally wiped off the map.

You would think that six months after the South Asian tsunami there would be a lot of progress in the hardest hit part of Banda Aceh, but that is not the case.

Government officials admit the reconstruction has been slowed by bureaucratic red tape. But as CBS News Correspondent Barry Peterson reports, finally, it is beginning to happen.

Echoing across the fields of debris are the first sounds of hope, thanks to people like Graeme Rapley. He's spent his life in construction, but he's never built anything like this: a whole new village to be called Chulpaya.

It's going to be a community when it's done, complete with a school, medical clinic, shops and houses.

"I'm very proud to be part of it," says Rapley.

For the moment, and "just for the moment," he says, he's the mayor.

He works for the International Organization for Migration, funded in part by groups like the American Red Cross.

And what does Rapley want to leave here, beside a lot of structures, when he's done?

"We are going to establish a livelihood for them – a way to make a living," he says. "If we don't, this place is just going to fall to pieces."

And it is construction jobs that will keep this place from falling to pieces - jobs like making the concrete beams for the houses at Chulpaya and for thousands more houses to come. It means 3,500 people throughout the area have work.

Algous Salim is earning money working here, where he will also be among the first residents. When asked how it feels to have a job and a new house for his family, Salim just smiles. His smile is answer enough.

At a nearby village some people have already moved in, and they're getting a prized possession: donated Tupperware to store fresh water and food. It was delivered by people from the U.S. charity, Americares.

"I like it," says one recipient. "Thank you very much for American cares."

Every hammered nail is an echo of hope. It has taken months, but life is finally getting better.

Friday, Petersen will report from Thailand where American dollars and American hands are helping tsunami victims there.