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March 31, 2006: It has been a little over a year since the
two story high tsunami shook the Northern Province
of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Indonesia on December 26, 2005. In
Indonesia alone over 150,000 people were lost.
Entire communities were washed away, families ripped
apart, and lives forever altered in a matter of
hours.
With teams already on the ground, Millennium Relief
and Development Services was one of the first NGOs
able to respond to this disaster. They immediately
purchased water pumps and began pumping over 100
contaminated wells throughout villages. Because of
their knowledge of the language and culture they
became key players in communication between the
local people and the many foreign aid companies in
the area. A Millennium office was opened in a
village affected by the tsunami. This village had
become home to thousands of displaced people from
neighboring towns.
In September of 2005
a training course was given by experienced MRDS staff, which
offered the new team a chance to learn everything they needed to
continue the long term development effort in Aceh. Local
staff had been hired, and research was done to determine the
areas most in need of long term help and recovery. Once the team arrived the community
immediately recognized a difference in the
Millennium staff in their commitment to see long
term development work take place and their desire to
learn the language and live within their
communities.
Since arriving
on the field in October 2005, the team continued to
work on the projects that began months earlier,
particularly in the areas of education and
agriculture. One such commitment has been to
agricultural development. An Agro forestry project
was started in September 2005 when the first pomello
tree seedlings were distributed to one of the
villages near the coast. The project has spread to
two other villages and also includes helping with
replanting of mango and coconut trees. Bringing back
this agri-business is an important component to
recovery in the coastal region.
This initial Agro project started in a village that was a main
center for growing and selling pomello fruit before the tsunami
hit. It was a main source of income after fishing. The business
was centered at a busy bridge near the village. People traveling
between Banda Aceh and Meulaboh would stop at the bridge to buy
the fruit. But more importantly, businessmen from Banda
Aceh would come down daily to buy pomello, transporting them to
Medan, Jakarta, Singapore, and elsewhere throughout the area.
Even though this team is fairly new, and still
researching with the community to determine the best
way to address long term needs, they have already
made a good beginning. They have distributed
books in 21 village schools through “traveling
libraries”. They have also helped a group of women
begin a handicrafts business making woven baskets
for the packaging of fair trade coffee for a local
coffee grower.
Each day lives are feel the impact of a new day as
hope is breathed into a community that has lost so
much. As the team continues to integrate new
ideas and projects into the life of the community,
the local people are being empowered to take
ownership of their future.
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