by Ben Hurley


Two years after the disaster, the Indian Ocean Tsunami sits quietly in the history books, but Indonesia's Aceh Province remains affected by its aftermath.

"I arrived to the area one year after the tsunami and the damage was still visible," Frederike Meijer, a volunteer assigned to Aceh Province by the United Nations Volunteer Programme (UNV), said in a publication released by UNV. "When driving along the damaged road, it took me a while to realize that before there had been houses, trees, and shops standing there."

Despite such residual damage, with the help of international organizations and over one hundred volunteers like Meijer, Aceh's residents are making progress rebuilding their lives.

New Hardships Arrive
Before the tsunami hit, few imagined that life could become harder for the Acehnese. The resource-rich northern tip of Sumatra had seen nothing but war for 130 years, with its people fighting Dutch colonists, the Japanese, and finally the central government of Indonesia.

A 2002 attempt at a peace deal had collapsed five months after it was signed, and the Indonesian government followed with an extensive military campaign against rebels from the Islamist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Human Rights Watch estimates thousands of Acehnese were killed during the fighting, and over 100,000 displaced.

But on December 26, 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami brought new hardships. Only 150 kilometres away from the quake that triggered the wave, Aceh was one of the hardest hit areas, with over 800 kilometres of its coastline affected.

In Aceh and nearby Nias Island, United Nations figures say that 141,000 houses and 2,240 schools were destroyed, 3,229 fishing boats were damaged or lost, green paddy fields were rendered useless, and entire villages were reduced to their foundations. Two-thirds of the total deaths caused by the wave were in Indonesia, with a death toll of 130,736.

Helping Hands From Abroad
An outpouring of international support followed the tsunami. This included the UNV mobilizing skilled volunteers to help with emergency efforts and reconstruction. To date more than 100 international and local UNV volunteers have taken on a wide range of tasks in Indonesia's affected regions, including coordinators, psychologists, urban planners, and education specialists.

Frederike Meijer, a Dutch volunteer, was recruited in October 2005 and assigned to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). She became involved in a project to build 1134 houses in six villages in Aceh Jaya, a coastal area south of the provincial capital. Her role was to register data and verify whether beneficiaries were eligible to receive a UNHCR house.

Refusing more comfortable accommodation, Meijer chose to stay in a refugee tent and use the same washing facilities as the locals. She says that at times the difficult circumstances could lead to tension, including confrontations with people who wanted to receive a house but were ineligible, or those wanting the building to progress faster.

"I felt really disappointed when one day I realized that some people were playing games and in their bid to receive a UNHCR house they weren't providing trustworthy information," she says. "That night when I went back to my camp, my tent was almost blown away by a huge storm and that's when I felt the stress building up over my shoulders."

Despite such difficulties, Meijer and others persevered, and by July of this year, 350 houses had been built, with all eligible beneficiaries receiving one.

Such contributions by volunteers have not gone unnoticed by the local population as they struggle to regain stability. To commemorate the two-year anniversary of the tsunami, Acehnese musicians Mahrisal Rubi and Edy Erwinsyah released a song entitled "Bersama Kita Bisa," meaning "Together We Can Do It!"

Rubi says the song highlights the important role volunteers have played in Aceh's reconstruction.

"The song is a mixture of Acehnese and western jazz-type rhythms that blend together perfectly," he told the UNV. "It's our own volunteer contribution and a sign of gratitude for all the support volunteers have provided to the recovery of our homeland."

In releasing the song, Radio Prima Director Teuku Irwan pointed out that volunteers with skills in communications had played a key role in rebuilding broadcasting facilities just five days after the devastating tsunami.

Fighting Unemployment
While UNV volunteers have provided housing, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has made efforts to rebuild Aceh's economy. After the tsunami, the ILO estimated that unemployment in the province could jump from 6.8 percent to 30 percent. Some 130,000 Acehnese farmers, 300,000 fishermen, and 170,000 small business owners were estimated to have lost their livelihoods.

Over the past two years, the ILO has provided assistance to people relaunching their enterprises and offered vocational training to employees. Local workers were quickly equipped with basic constructions skills so they could participate in public clearing and rebuilding of houses, office buildings, and local infrastructure.

With less opportunity for women to participate in construction work, existing traditional skills were upgraded, and assistance was provided to those interested in business ventures in nontraditional areas.

Hope
Much has changed in Aceh since the tsunami first hit. For the first time in a long time, the region has seen peace. A formal peace agreement between the GAM rebels and the Indonesian government was brokered on Aug. 15, 2005, the results of which have exceeded many people's hopes.

GAM formally abandoned its demand for independence and handed in its weapons, and Aceh was granted generous autonomy. Former GAM rebel leader Irawandi Yusuf won Aceh's first election, which was held on Dec. 11 and conducted with a high turnout.

But whether GAM can find unity amidst disparate opinions and achieve sustainable economic development in the province remains to be seen.

Aceh has seen hope for the future, but the healing process remains slow in the nuts and bolts of reconstructing houses and infrastructure, in the slow return to a fully functioning economy, and in the healing of individual spirits.

"At the slightest tremor my heart starts beating fast and I rush all my family out of our newly built house," 52-year-old Samsudin told the UNV. "I'm still afraid of the ocean, but I'm also grateful to all the people who are helping us rebuild our lives."