To Aceh

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2244706&l=bbdd1&id=12311763
some pics from Jakarta, Aceh, and Bandung

I was able to go to Banda Aceh about 2 weeks ago and see first hand the post-tsunami reconstruction efforts. it's been about 4 years and so much progress has been made. It's funny driving around and seeing different NGOs', companies', and other organizations' signs all over projects that they have sponsored. What is really neat about it is noticing that these different organizations are from all over the world.

I was really excited to be able to tag along on this trip because I have been in Indonesia for about a year and had not yet made it there. Aceh is not quite a plactoe one vacations and I did not just want to pop up in Banda Aceh by myself to walk around as a tourist, I would not be comfortable doing that. So an opportunity popped up for me to go there with people who know the area, who have a set purpose there, and who don't mind me tagging along :)

I tagged along on this trip with Pak Imam (director of ND) and Bu Gita (his wife and SUPER ND volunteer) to see a bunch of Nurani Dunia projects there. (Pak Imam and Bu Gita have also been letting me stay at their house for over a month now, so nice of them).
Projects to see: Training Center, Radio Station, Boats built for villages to use to fish, School, Housing Complex
also visit Kuala Syiah University

My favorite place that we went to was a training center that Nurani Dunia built. It is available for rent (very cheaply, only charging to cover the costs of electricity and facility upkeep). To rent a hotel or another such facility for training workshops usually costs upwards of USD $200. This only costs about $50. I believe the group that had just finished up there when we were leaving was a group being trained on how to run free and fair elections.


Also on the grounds of the traning center is a radio station, Kiss FM Aceh. This radio station is really cool, because it was made possible by 3 different organizations from 3 different countries; Radio Belanda (Netherlands Radio), Nurani Dunia, and USAID.

We also went to a housing complex for victims of the Tsunami that was part of a Nurani Dunia project.


Aceh is really hot, that's for sure. It is such an interesting place, religiously, politically, and developmentally. It is a region that has been given special autonomy in Indonesia. There is Sharia Law (non-muslims don't need to worry about it). So I did not need to wear a jilbab (have to admit I kind of wanted to just to see what it would be like for a few days, but did not bc I wasn't sure if it was appropriate or not). They are also in the process of developing new local political parties, a touchy practice in the wake of relatively recent free aceh movements. A few of the new political parties are already eligible to compete in national elections next year. I'm just babbling now haha, sorry, I guess if you wanted to catch up on politics in Aceh you would be reading an article or book about it and not my blog :) oops

anyways, that's a bit about my trip to Aceh. great experience.

Also, i recently got an article published in The Jakarta Post :) I am really excited about it:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/08/18/developing-a-future-freedom.html.

Jakarta and Nurani Dunia

I have been in Jakarta for about a month now. I have spent my time volunteering with the Nurani Dunia Foundation. With four other volunteers from Universitas Gadja Mada, I was able to teach English courses everyday for about 2 and a half weeks. The original plan was that I was going to volunteer in Komunitas Proklamasi maybe once or twice a week teaching English and then spend the rest of my time translating articles from the Nurani Dunia website. However, the Pak RW, like the head of the community, was really excited and wanted the classes to be everyday. We agreed on Monday-Friday.

So I showed up on the first day, and there were about 80 children grades 1-high school! Ah. Thank goodness I was not alone, Bu Gita had come with me, we split them in half and did introduction type activities. Then the UGM volunteers , came on over from the office and helped divide the students into 4 classes-- grades 1-3, grades 4-6, junior high, and high school. So grades 1-3 and 4-6 had class at the same time everyday, one with me and the other with the volunteers reviewing what they had done with me. The volunteers were GREAT. They all spoke English fairly well and often came up with fun activities of their own to do with the children. It was really fun, very loud, and definitely the experience of a lifetime.

Komunitas Proklamasi is really interesting. It used to be kind of a conflict/slum area. After some really good programs were implemented there 6 years ago through the help of Nurani Dunia, Komunitas Proklamsi is developing into a really cool place. Drugs are not quite as big of a problem, the conflicts have definitely died down, they are starting a Go Green program, and they have built many useful community areas--such as gardens, a study house, a little art house, an adult reading area, and they are now working on building a music studio.
(the members of Cesplenk practicing in the art house with an enthusiastic audience of children from the community)

The music studio is for Cesplenk Band. The members of this band used to be anak jalanan (street children) and are all from Komunitas Proklamasi. I have gotten to know them because I also did an English course for a group of adults in this community. That was also a lot of fun.

The projects in Komunitas Proklamasi have largely been possible because of donations from companies like Sara Lee Indonesia, GE Money Indonesia, and PLN State Electric Company. Last year a fire in the community burned down 42 houses and ruined the homes of about 150 residents. But because of the community ties that these programs have helped form, the people are currently working together to rebuild the houses that were destroyed.

When we did our Perpisahan (Farewell) for the kids, they were all sobbing! And about 100 of them had shown up that day. It was so touching.

My friend Rauf helped teach too a few times a week, here he is comforting some of the crying kids

I have also spent my time attempting to translate some of the articles from the website, I am quite slow haha, oh well. Slowly but surely I'll get there.
www.nuranidunia.or.id

I am a bad blogger...

So I am pretty much the worst blogger ever and have not updated this thing in over 6 months. So much has happened over those months, but to catch up now would be too hard. I have been home twice and back to Indonesia during that time. I finished up my grant, and now am back in Indonesia volunteering at the moment.

My Kids in Singosari Last Year




In the mean time, I have been keeping pretty busy in Jakarta...