Mennonite Central Committee

Farmers rejoice in cleared fields in Samalanga, Indonesia

Emily Will
April 18, 2005

Destroyed Land

In early February, the fields surrounding 14 villages in the tsunami-damaged district of Samalanga appeared brown and dead. They were littered with roofing material, uprooted trees, branches, the remains of people's homes and other debris the powerful tsunami deposited there on its return sweep to the sea on the morning of Dec. 26, 2004. The fields were eerily vacant.

In late March, however, this area about a 3½-hour drive east of Banda Aceh had green, emerging rice paddies dotted with farmers hard at work.

A $24,270 Cdn./$22,000 U.S. grant from MCC catalyzed this agricultural make over. MCC partnered with Yayasan Ummul Aiman, an Islamic education foundation, to pay 150 villagers for 25 days of cleanup labor and to supply them with boots, gloves and tools.

Some 300 hectares (741 acres) of fields were rehabilitated.

Rehabilitated Land

With land clean and ready for planting - and with some money in their pockets again and a reason to start looking forward rather than backward - tsunami survivors began to leave the camps where they were dependent on aid agencies for the basics of daily life. Some brought tents and pitched them on the village ruins. Others patched up damaged homes and will live in them until they can rebuild properly.

"It was so exciting to see the people back in the village and that they had left the camp. And their enthusiasm, the big smiles and waves to us as they cleaned their fields, it was heart warming," commented a joyful Steve Steiner when he revisited the paddies. Steiner, of Dalton, Ohio, is serving a short-term assignment working with MCC's tsunami response in Indonesia.

Putting lives back together

Statistics related to the grant reveal how eager these survivors are to get their lives back together. Planners had estimated that the grant would cover the clearing of 100 hectares (247 acres). Instead, it cleared 300. They estimated it would benefit four to six villages. Instead it benefited 14 - some 12,000 people. Planners thought it would be a 25-day project. Instead, it was done in 23 days, with money to spare to begin clearing drainage ditches.

"Senang" is the one-word answer a farmer named Nuripah gave when asked how it feels to be working in the paddies again. In Indonesian, "senang" means "happy." She's especially happy to regain her means of livelihood. Nuripah's fields have been cleaned and she will soon plant them; she is also helping a widow plant her fields. They began their day at 7 in the morning and won't finish until 6 in the evening, with just a couple of breaks.

Nuripah and her husband lost home and possessions to the tsunami, but they and their two children were physically unharmed.

Work in the Samalanga District

MCC decided to work in the Samalanga district after Imam Walidnu Nuruzzahri, director of the educational foundation, came to the newly opened MCC Banda Aceh office to talk about the post-tsunami needs facing his community.

Nuruzzahri had heard about MCC through a fellow imam, an Islamic religious leader, active in an inter-religious peace group, which is based in Solo on Java Island and is one of MCC's partners in Indonesia. He sent four representatives to the weeklong trauma recovery training in January sponsored by the interfaith group and funded by MCC.

"The imam invited us to come and look and what we found is that the area had as much need as on the west coast [of Sumatra] but because there was not near the destruction, it was not getting the attention. We were impressed with the imam's vision and ability to organize the community," Steiner relates.

MCC is one of two organizations working in Samalanga. The other is the United Nations Development Program, which has been repairing area roads.

Well Being

On a scale from one to 10 - one representing the villagers' well-being immediately after the tsunami and 10 their full recovery from it - Nuruzzahri puts them at a six. MCC's grant played a critical role in this by enabling people to return to their fields.

Not bad, considering they still lack housing. Once back in decent houses, the people of Samalanga will reach a 12 on the well-being scale, Nuruzzahri exclaims.