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| IDEP Aceh Recovery Programs |
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Field Reports > Volunteers establish outpost in Samatiga
Reports from Walhi Bali & Walhi Sumut |
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| Sustainable Recovery for Samatiga by
Kat Wheeler |
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IDEP volunteers have worked continually with
Samatiga survivors for over three months now. They share mutual
trust and a respect for each other’s abilities, creating a solid
foundation for successful reconstruction.
In mid January, IDEP established a base in Cot Seulamat,
Samatiga. Since then, teams of volunteers have continually provided
support to survivors there despite heavy rain, mosquitoes, earthquakes
and lack of infrastructure. Program coordinator Christine Foster,
a sustainable development expert with a degree in anthropology,
has led a total of 50 volunteers in ongoing field projects. She
is now designing an integrated sustainable recovery project for
seven adjacent villages.
Emergency Phase
In the Emergency Phase, volunteers addressed urgent
needs by performing the following tasks:
- Construction of 13 pit latrines
- Provision of potable water to 7 camps and villages daily
- Testing of 72 wells and rehabilitation of 12 wells in four
locations
- Training of villagers in well rehabilitation techniques
- Distribution of non-food items
- Clean-up of areas directly affected by the tsunami
- Construction of a clinic/drop-in post
- Informal counseling through ‘partnering’ with
tsunami victims
- Training in simple construction techniques
- Liaising with local NGOs and international donor organizations
for delivery of medicine and equipment
- Construction of an emergency bridge across a waterway created
by the tsunami
- Construction of a temporary meeting hall
- Provision of generators, lamps and cables to two villages
without electricity
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Looking Ahead – Reconstruction
Helping devastated communities rebuild is a daunting task. Most
organizations focus on sectoral reconstruction, a system that
can leave many gaps while rebuilding communities.
IDEP is focusing on integrated, multi-sectoral reconstruction
in a geographical area of seven villages in Samatiga.
As this is being written in early May, Christine is once again
back at Samatiga laying the groundwork for this challenging
program. “We
want to develop a model that will be an integrated approach to
sustainable recovery in this geographical area,” states
Christine. “Our activities will be cross-sectoral and culturally
sensitive with the aim of creating a resilient community.”
Each
part of this complex task will be undertaken with full community
discussion and agreement.
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Phase
One - Setting the Scene (May – September, 2005) |
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| Mapping |
| On her last trip into the field, Christine and her team helped
seven villages to map and assess their communities. Using coloured
pencils, the villages recreated on paper their ruined homes, schools,
wells and community buildings. Then they made another map of the
community as they would like it to look after reconstruction. This
time she will work with them to identify donor gaps and do a deeper
skills assessment of what the villagers can do or would like to
learn. |
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| Community-Based Crisis Response (CBCR) |
| The volunteers will run a pilot workshop on IDEP’s comprehensive
CBCR kit )
in anticipation of a fund-raising drive to disseminate this important
knowledge more widely in communities at risk. |
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| Proposal-Writing Workshop |
| Christine has already given one workshop in basic proposal-writing
to participants from five village to help them access aid from agencies.
She will follow this up with a more detailed workshop. Seven manual
typewriters with ribbons are urgently needed to enable these villages
to submit proposals to donor agencies in Meulaboh. |
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| Volunteer Coordination |
| A group of 15 French volunteers are being assessed for skills
before deployment to Samatiga. |
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| Establish an Information Network |
| Each village will have a public information board with donor lists,
contact lists and community-Based Crisis Response information. |
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| Site Identification for Herb and Tree Nursery |
| This project will establish a nursery of traditional healing
plants and fruit trees. |
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| Site Identification for Bamboo Treatment Centre |
| The Environmental Bamboo
Foundation will establish
a treatment centre and training to enable villagers to construct
lasting, earthquake-proof buildings. |
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| Site Identification and Planning of Community Centre |
| A permanent community centre is planned for Cot Seulamat which
will house the Clinic (treatment, health education and training),
Training Centre for workshops, resource centre, Library for adults
and children, sleeping space for volunteers, a kitchen, office
and toilet. |
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| The Bumi Sehat Wellness Clinic |
| In constant operation since early February, the clinic treated
over 1500 people during the Emergency Phase. Looking ahead to reconstruction,
her team is now creating training modules for health education
and upgrading of midwifery skills. Funding will need to be found
for meeting the clinic’s monthly overheads. |
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| Sustainable Livelihoods |
Villagers have expressed a keen interest in learning seaweed
farming, an industry that provides a monthly harvest and income.
Research is now underway to identify seaweed farmers in Bali who
will train the Acehnese in these techniques, and a budget for start-up
costs is being written.
Rice farmers in this area of Aceh lack a reliable irrigation
system. Once again, Balinese expertise is being identified with
the goal of ‘subak’ experts coming to Samatiga to
assess the situation and train local farmers in sustainable irrigation.
A small project is already underway to help women create and
market Acehnese embroidery.
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| Phase Two – Creating the Infrastructure (September – December,
2005) |
- Establishment of a nursery for Healing Plants and Fruit Trees
- Establishment
of Bamboo Treatment Centre and construction of bamboo model
buildings
- Construction of the Community Centre
- Identification/training
of staff for Community Centre
- Program development for the Community
Centre
- Implement training for seaweed farming
- Create training modules
for health education and midwifery
- Expand training of Community-Based
Crisis Response
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