Monday, August 18, 2008

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.

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