Buku Trocaire Changing Lives - Stories From Indonesia

8/8/2019 Buku Trocaire Changing Lives - Stories From Indonesia

1/32

Changing LivesStories from Indonesia


2/32


3/32

Preace

The Millennium Development Goals

represent an important opportunityto make meaningul change in thelives o millions o people around theworld. When the MDGs are discussed, it isimportant that the issues are made realthrough the lived experiences o people. Wemust recognise the many actors that leadto poverty and inequality as well as themany resources that exist within individualsand communities to cope with and conrontpoverty and inequality.

Trcaire (Caritas Ireland) has been workingintensively in Indonesia or ve yearsollowing the Tsunami in 2004. Duringthis time Trcaire and our partners havebeen supporting communities to buildsustainable livelihoods, reduce their riskto uture disasters and to prepare betteror uture disasters. We elt that it wasimportant to document the human storieso several o these communities. There

is increasing attention on disaster riskreduction and related issues. We must becareul though not to separate these issuesrom consideration o ongoing developmentissues. Communities may be mademore vulnerable to disasters because odevelopment policies and processes which donot give proper attention to environmentalissues, disaster risk, or local knowledge andcapacity. In responding to disasters, our

support should be inormed the longer term


4/322

development needs o communities. ThoughTrcaire entered Indonesia to respond to adisaster, we hope that we have made somecontribution to the longer term developmento the country.

Trcaires organizational mandate statesthat, Trcaire envisages a just and peacefulworld where peoples dignity is ensured and

rights are respected; where basic needs aremet and resources shared equitably and ina sustainable manner; where people havecontrol over their lives and those in poweract for the common good. We want torecognize the strength and resilience thatexists in communities and individuals, andthat they can make change, even in dicultcircumstances. We also want to urge thoseresponsible or policies to be inormed by thereal lived experience o people and recognisethe impacts o their policies on the ground.

We hope that these stories can be acontribution to moving orward the MDGagenda, particularly in Indonesia.

Kathryn RobertsonCountry Representative or Indonesia andTimor-Leste

August 200


5/32

Preace

by Kathryn Robertson

Staying Onwards Ater Consecutive Tragedies

byAnwar Jimpe Rahman

Peaceul Mind, Shaky GroundbyAnwar Jimpe Rahman

Bendy Road to the Community o the People rom the Sky

byAnwar Jimpe Rahman

Organizing or Disaster Risk Reduction

by ELSPPAT

Ibu Titin: Overcoming the Drying Rice Fields

by ELSPPAT

Teak disappears, corn grows,

by EM Ali

Community-managed Emergency Response Activity

by Natalis

Home Garden or Community Health Services

by Natalis

Catfsh Breeding at Sawo

by Alex and Fedi

Children Learning Centre at Beringin Market

by Aperius and Elvina

Community Bridge Building in Lolomboli, Nias

by Aperius and Elvina

Table o Contents

0

05

09

5

6

9

22

2

24

25

27

Page


6/324

Rice harvest in Trieng Cudo Tunong Village, Aceh.

(Photographer: Idealita Ismanto, 2010)


7/325

Trieng Cudo Tunong is a village or

gampong in Tiro sub-district, Pidiedistrict, Aceh province. Its about 20

kilometres east o the provincial capital,Banda Aceh. During the Military OperationsPeriod (Daerah Operasi Militer - DOM), whenAceh was under the control o the Indonesianarmed orces, many young men chose toleave the area. The conict destroyed theirplantations and rice elds. Fear or theirsaety meant that armers could do nothingbut leave their elds to the grass andencroaching vegetation. Getting away wasthe only hope or those that didnt take tothe mountains and join the separatist rebelso the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan AcehMerdeka GAM). One o those who let wasHusin Tursina.

Husin was born on 4 August 970 to AhmadIsmail (60) and Nurhayati Saleh (55). Hisidentity card states that he comes romBanda Aceh but this comes rom a time whenhe tried to distance himsel rom the conictin his home village. This quiet man got awaytwice.When he moved to the city o Medan inNorth Sumatra he got an ID card rom there

When Husin was in Medan, he met a leader

o the state-owned oil and gas company,Pertamina. The man promised him a jobwith a regular pay check and stability. But inorder to get the job, Husin needed to provehis credentials: he needed a copy o hishigh school certicate. Unortunately, thecerticate was back in Trieng Cudo Tunong.Not wanting to waste this great opportunity,Husin decided to go back to hisgampong(village)and get the proo he needed.

Shortly ater he arrived, Husin was caughtup in the armys Red Net Operation, which

was sweeping across Tiro district. His IDcard rom Medan got him in more trouble:they thought he was an outsider. Luckily,there was a letter rom the sub-district oceshowing that he was a local who had moved.Once youre arrested, not many get away.Basically, i youre arrested and you donthave a letter showing that you moved oran ID card rom other place, youre a majortarget, Husin explained.

Although he was not arrested, Husin was notpermitted to leave. He had to orget abouthis big opportunity in Medan. One year later,Husin was a member o rakyat terlatih(Ratih) a civilian militia group ormed bythe security orces. According to Husin, inthose days a platoon was stationed in everyvillage in the area. The people were thusprotected rom joining the GAM rebels.

I elt that I couldnt survive

this way because I needed

money to live. So, I got

close to those stationed in

my village. I asked them i

I could go to Banda Aceh.

The important thing wasto get out o the village. I

couldnt go back to arming.

Whenever you got a minute

to go into the elds, thered

suddenly be a clash and guns

going of.

With the help o a riend, Husin ound a placeat a consultants oce. Husin cut paper and

Staying Onwards ater consecutive TragediesBy Anwar Jimpe Rachman


8/326

made booklets but was not a ull employee.While working there, he asked the boss ora letter o employment. This would give hima good reason or moving rom his homevillage to Tiro.

When he was established in Tiro, Husin didntwaste any time. He took the letter straightto the sub-district heads oce to showthat he wanted to move there to work. Atereighteen months working in a contractorsoce, Husin tried to nd a way back toMedan. The plan was to go rom Medan toMalaysia. He was successul but, because he

was only a high school graduate, Husin couldonly get menial work. He decided to return toAceh, but this time he settled in the capital,Banda Aceh.

On the 26 December 2004, Aceh was shakenby a massive earthquake o 9.2 on the Richterscale. The tsunami ollowed. Husins sister,Khadijah, was swept up by the waves butate saved her rom death: she grabbed atree and held on. Four o Husins nephews

and nieces, however, were lost in the disaster.

Husin decided to go home to his village oTrieng Cudo Tunong.

The disaster at least brought the Indonesian

government and GAM to the negotiatingtable. The rst meetings were held on 27-29 January 2005, acilitated by the CrisisManagement Initiative (CMI) rom Finland.On 5 August 2005, the two parties signed apeace agreement.

There were many organizations that cameto work in Aceh ater the disaster, includingin Husins village. Husin happened toengage with Meulaboh Crisis Centre (MCC)

introduced by a riend o his. One day hewent along to a meeting with other peoplerom his village and one o the organizations,Trocaire, working there in which they tried tocome up ways to deal with the atermath othe disaster and the new reality o the peaceagreement. In this orum, Husin and manyother villages declared that they wanted togo back to arming.

The organization supported the decision and

was ready to supply seeds and equipmentthrough MCC and Caritas Czech Republic

The portrait of a cacao

farmer who was a victim ofAceh Separatist Movement

(GAM) and tsunami, Husein

Tursina with his mother and

his Niece (Isah) and nephew,Muhammad.

(Photographer:

Idealita Ismanto, 2010)


9/327

(CCR), a local partner and implementingpartner o Trocaire in Aceh. There was alsotraining provided in organic and integratedarming methods and in pest management.

The people were enthusiastic. It was veryobvious that they all wanted to get back tonormal lie. They set to work clearing theovergrown elds and most o them decidedto plant chocolate. They worked together tobuild a our kilometre road. This showed thatthey were thinking ahead: besides lookingater their elds, armers also need access totransportation in order to sell their produce.

The eforts o the armers really began to

pay of. In March 200, the armers o TriengCudo Tunong ormed a seuneubok group.In the local dialect, seuneubok means arm.Every seuneubok group has 20 members andseveral groups worked together. The TriengCudo Tunong seuneubok is also known as thecentral seuneubok because it comprises ourseuneubok groups and has a leader: TengkuIskandar, who was a ormer GAM combatant.These days, Tengku Is, as he is known, is also

a member o the Aceh Party a political partyormed by GAM ater the peace agreement.

This seuneubok group is involved with non-members rom outside Trieng Cudo Tunongvillage and outside Tiro district. Husin is thesecretary o the central seuneubok group. Hesays the aim o the seuneubok groups is toimprove coordination among the membersand to respond to local aspirations andneeds.

For example, in seuneubok group A there isa dispute over the border o a piece o landthat the locals cant resolve, so it is discussedwithin the seuneubok groups and brought

to the centralseuneubok.

I the problem isntresolved, its then taken to the governmentsdistrict dispute resolution orum (Muspika),Husin explains.

These groups concern themselves with everyaspect o arming. They analyze problemsand make decisions considered important totheir work. For example, there was a case inwhich one seuneubok group area borderedabout 00 hectares o allow land. This land

was becoming a nesting place or all kindso pests that attacked the nearby elds andthe crops growing there. No less than 0local armers discussed the issue and decidedto prepare a village regulation on localplantations. Several points o the regulationare that: (a) in the case o untended land, theland must be cleared in the period March- October 200, and; (b) i the land is notcleared by October, time will be given untilDecember 200 to consider changes to the

land use or to transer rights over the land orto sell the land to another party.

According to Husin, the aim o the regulationwas to support the success o their armingactivities. When we took the decision atthe seuneubok, there was a list o attendeesincluding government ocials: the head othe sub-district, police chie and the sub-district military commander. We made it so

The smooth skin cacao fruit

gives high expectation for

good harvest in the next

few months.

(Photographer:



10/32

intending that the regulation be adoptedand implemented in all villages in the sub-district, Husin explained with an assuredsmile.

So the program was extended not onlyocused on the revitalization o arming andcacao plantation, but also in setting up andstrengthening community organization. The

community organizations in the village andthe rear villages are now able to managetheir economic activities based on agriculturecollectively with stronger organizationalmechanisms. The village members slowlylet behind the tragedy o tsunami andearthquake and move on with their ownamily and collective economic eforts.

Husein Tursina is

monitoring the cacaoseedling to be planted inhis farm. Good seeds will

yield good cacao..

(Photographer:


The productive farms in Trieng Cudo Tunong Village, Aceh. Trocaire helped the farmers realizetheir dreams of fruitful cacao and green beans.



11/329

When the earthquake o 7.9 on theRichter scale hit the city o Padangon 0 September 2009, Nur Ismi

(42) was playing badminton on the eldat the Denai Pamulang housing complex.Ismi wasnt wearing any shoes because she

was araid it might rain. The sky was veryovercast. Suddenly it elt like a rock hadexploded under her bare eet. The earthbegan to sway. Ismi and her riends croucheddown. When it passed she ran straight orhome.

Ismi immediately searched or her children.Amelia, her ourth child, then in 5th gradeat elementary school, had been bathingat a neighbours well. Aldi, the youngest,

had been playing oot ball at another eldon the edge o the complex. As soon asAldi appeared, Nur Ismi immediately tookthe two children to the Search and Rescue(SAR) building. At the time o the quaketheir ather, Amel Amanie, had been at hisavourite shing hole.

I could only grab hold o a tree, Amel said.When the ground stopped moving I ranhome. I let my shing gear behind, he

added. Amel works in criminal law at theWest Sumatra Provincial Attorney oce.

He then headed straight or the SARbuilding to see i his children andwie were sae. Ater he ound them,he headed back to the shing hole

to retrieve his shing gear. Im a realenthusiast, he added laughing.

The area around Padang is very vulnerableto earthquakes. The earthquake that NurIsmi and her amily survived was only one

incident. Because the city is so at risk onatural disasters, people have decided to dowhat they can to prepare better or disastersand to learn how to protect themselves whendisasters strike.

Around 60% municipality o Padangis a mountainous region to the east othe city. The locals have designated thismountainous area as their evacuation areai an earthquake or tsunami strikes. The SAR

complex was chosen as an evacuation sitebecause it is more than ve kilometres romthe coast and theres easy access by road.

On a Wednesday in May 200, Amelia and herclassmates practice the saety drill they willuse i an earthquake occurs during schoolhours. Amelia goes to school at State School2 Padang Sarai, in the sub-district o KotoTangah.

The children put their belongings in theirbags and take cover under their desks. Theythen head out to the school playground

Peaceul Mind, Shaky GroundBy Anwar Jimpe Rachman

Amelia is one of child victims of Padang

earthquake. In school she received trainings,as part of the curriculum, on how to escape

from earthquake. She is no longer afraid if

earthquake happens, because she knows how

to escape.



12/320

carrying their bags above their heads orprotection. They crouch down together andrecite theAsmaul Husna prayer.

They cease when they hear the call Stop!

The children all look towards the person whocalled. It is Elivia Murni, the head teacher othe th grade. Bu El, as she is ondly known,is not only the head o the th grade. Sheis also the designated leader o the DisasterPreparedness Group at the school. The 2Padang Sarai school is one o 2 schoolsparticipating in the disaster mitigationprogram run by local group Kogami, a localpartner o Trocaire.

Disaster preparedness is now part o theschools special curriculum, which alsoincludes English and Arabic lessons andlearning about local Minangkabau culture.At other schools they teach disasterpreparedness or just one semester, but weteach it all year long, Bu El explains.

Bu El has worked at the school since 200.She remembers when no one there hadany idea about how to respond to naturaldisasters. Ater the earthquake hit Padang,not long ater the devastating earthquakeand tsunami disaster in nearby Aceh andNias in 2004, her pupils returned to schoolbut their grades began to plummet. Thechildren experienced severe trauma. Theygrew very pale and many burst into tearsi there was even a slight tremor. When anearthquake occurred, the parents would headto the school to get their children causing

mass chaos. It wasnt just the students andparents, even we had no idea what to dowhen there was a quake, Bu El continues.

The school has 7 classrooms and 562 pupils.All those children are the responsibility o BuEl and the other 27 staf. Imagine i theresan earthquake and we have no knowledge

about how to respond with that manystudents, she adds.

Ever since the lessons in disasterpreparedness began, the students are betterable to take control and ace the threat oearthquakes. They know the drill: crouchbeneath the desk, carry their bag above theirhead when heading out to the playgroundand then recite the calming prayer asking orGods protection.

The behaviour o the students has changedsince the introduction o the lessons inApril 2005. Bu El acknowledges that, Thestudents grades are good and normal again.Thats because they can study with peace omind.

Muhammad Fauzan, a ourth grade studentat the school points the way assuredly as heexplains what he and his schoolmates woulddo i an earthquake occurred: From here(the playground), through there (indicatingthe road in ront o the school) and all theway over to there (in the direction o the SARcomplex).

Amelia has inormed her mother that i anearthquake happens she doesnt need tocollect her rom school. Its enough that theymeet at the saety zone like the other peoplein the area, that is, at the SAR complex.

After gathering in the school

yard to ensure everybody is

safe, the children are requestedto run away from the school

toward a place where they can

meet their parents that has

been determined.

(Photographer:



13/32

Kaki Fainashi Telaumbanua (42) livesright on the edge o a great ravinein Hilimbaruz village, Gomo sub-

district, South Nias district. Her dark ngersare thin and sinuous as she points to theriver threading through the valley ramedby mountains and hills. Beore we had thisroad, going anywhere took hours and hours,she says. Fainashi used to work at the oceestablished by Caritas o the Sibolga Diocese(CKS). She was stationed there rom 2007until 2009. The organization rst came towork in her village on the project namedHilimbaruz I. Hilimbaruz village is 4kilometres rom the oce where she worked.

When the project nished, Fainashi turnedher attention once again to her land andarming activities. Sometimes she went toHilimbaruz village accompanying staf othe organization where she used to work.

Nias can be a complicated place to work inthe sense that only a small portion o peoplecan speak the national language, BahasaIndonesia. Some can use just the passiveversion and most can not speak any at all.Thats why outsiders need a local translator,

just like Fainashi.

The road Fainashi mentioned wasdeveloped ater the two disasters that hitNias in 2005: the earthquake and tsunamidisaster that afected Nias and the entirecoastline o neighbouring Aceh province on26 December and the second earthquakedisaster o 2 March. According to thegovernment, no less than 2,000 people

perished in the second disaster.

Hilimbaruz is a very isolated village in theheart o Nias Island, located at 00 metersabove sea level. The distance betweenHilimbaruz and Lahusa, the capital oGomo sub-district, is about 4 kilometres.The distance between Lahusa and GunungSitoli, the capital o Nias District, is about97 kilometres. Even today, the 4 kilometreroad is only partially asphalted mainly inthe parts prone to landslides. Landslides stilloccur, so the asphalt road is oten destroyedor at least damaged by the rocks and soilthat come sliding down the mountainside.It appears that the local peoples practiceo moving rom place to place to clear landand plant crops is also contributing to the

damage to the road.

The steep slopes are usually cleared byburning of the vegetation around Aprilor May beore the dry season. When thedry season starts in June, the people plantvarious crops, including tubers, on this ormerorest land. Where the river intersects theroad or where there has been a landslide,they build bridges rom coconut trees anduse dirt and rocks to cover it. Around our

kilometres beore you approach Hilimbaruz,vehicles can no longer pass.

Local people wanting to leave or return toHilimbaruz, whether they like it or not, musttravel by oot on this section o the road.According to George J. Aditjondro, a seniorIndonesian researcher and social activist, theroad is the oldest road across Nias Island andwas originally built by the Dutch. It ell intodisrepair as the new Indonesian government

concentrated on developing coastal areas,such as ports to acilitate trade o the islands

Bendy Road to the Community o thePeople rom the SkyBy Anwar Jimpe Rachman


14/322

commodities and tourist areas like TelukDalam and Sorake where surers rom allover the world come to try their luck.

The contour o the land was the mainreason why the Hilimbaruz I project,which swallowed Rp.4 billion, wascancelled. The organization where Fainashiworked decided to reassess the project.The government o Nias Selatan districtstepped in and decided to take over theproject themselves. In December 2007, thedevelopment process was taken over bythe government as a result o the peoplesadvocacy acilitated by Caritas Sibolga.

The second phase o the project was called

Hilimbaruz II and included many activitiesaimed at improving the living standards othe local people. The project took on the tasko rebuilding the 2 houses destroyed orbadly damaged by the second earthquakeo March 2005 and also built water andsanitation acilities. The amount o materialthat had to be moved into the area totalled24 tonnes which had to be moved into thecommunity in spite o limited road access.

The only solution was to work with peoplepower. The question then arose, Will the

local people move all that material? Theproject came to be known as MissionImpossible (ater the amous TV series thatlater appeared on the big screen).

A senior staf o Caritas, FlorentinoSarmento, really wanted to nd the answerto that question. He went back and orthto Hilimbaruz and spoke to the localpeople many times. The locals agreed andaccepted the challenge. Standard pay rateswere established based on the number okilograms carried. Workers received Rp,000(USD0.2) or each kilogram, with theexception o cement. The rate or cementwas based on the number o sacks carried:Rp0,000 (USD $) per sack.

Eventually 6,000 people came to work onmoving the material or the reconstructionin August 200. In that rst month, workbegan on houses. The other 92 houseswere started in October 200 and all werecompleted by February 2009.

The construction o the houses or thoseafected by the disaster proceeded veryrapidly. The houses were designed with

a number o actors in mind. They usedsteel components that could be assembled

Yusni and family are thevictims of the earthquake

in Tuhendraowi Village,

Hilimbaruzo, Gomo, South

Nias District. Caritas Sibolgabuilt an earthquake-proof

house for Yusnis family. .

(Photographer:



15/32

with relative ease. The pieces just had tobe matched correctly and astened. Thehouses were also designed to be earthquakeresistant and were the cheapest option

(compared to wood or metal). Mostimportantly, they were the lightest burdento carry rom Gomo to Hilimbaruz. Thepeoples whole-hearted participation wasreally elt: the project wound up in February2009 our months ahead o schedule.

There was no doubt to the conclusion thatthe Hilimbaruz I and II projects reallyhelped the local people in moving their localeconomy, which was also supported by some

income generating projects by Caritas. Therehad always been a wide disparity betweensuch a remote location and places closerto the main towns. A local woman, Yusni,explained that she increased the prices othe goods at her small stall to make a proto 20-50%. She added that her ather hada more traditional line o work he was atrader who collected local produce romarmers, mainly chocolate, and sold it ora small prot and oten the prot is very

small, At that weekly market all the produceo Gomo is bought and sold, includingcoconuts, rubber, chocolate and patchouli.Animals such as chickens and pigs are alsotraded. Pigs are the peoples main livestockconcern. The pigs are mainly ed leaves romthe tuber crops. With so much arming in thearea, there is hardly a vacant eld in sight:everywhere is covered with some sort o crop.

The development o the road was also useul

in terms o accessing health and educationacilities. Yusni said the road was importantor her village and allowed quicker access tohospitals and schools. Yusni remembers wellthe time when she had no choice but to walksix kilometres to school every day. She had toget up very early and had no time or choresbeore heading of to school.

At one time, Yusnis ather ell ill. It was sodicult to get her ather to the health clinicnear the Gomo sub-district oce. All o my

athers relatives were orced to take turnscarrying him, just like General Sudirman,she said reerring to a amous incident shelearned at school in which the commander o

the Indonesian army against the Dutch hadto be taken to hospital by his men throughvery rough terrain.

Teamwork was also needed when Yusni wentto school in the district capital, Gunung Sitoli.Her school ees had to be entrusted to driverswho worked the route. It took a long timeor the money to nally reach her. Her atherhad to walk to Lahusa, the sub-district centre,on market day and give the money to one o

the drivers heading to Gunung Sitoli. Yusniwould also go regularly to the terminal to seei anything had been sent to her. The system

Before planting green beans in her garden, Ibu

Yusni prayed to the Lord for blessings for the

planting processes and the harvests.



16/324

worked in reverse when Yusni had to sendsomething to her ather, like a letter askingor payment o school ees. The letter wouldbe entrusted to one o the drivers to give toher ather on market day or sometimes sheound a neighbour or someone heading to

her home village and the letter would begiven to them. The same system works today,as both Yusnis younger sisters live near theirschools in town.

Although the road has not been completelynished to date, development continues andconditions are improving. As you approachHiliadulo now, some .5 kilometres away,there is a river lined with big stones thatmust be traversed. The concrete oundations

o the oot o a bridge have been built by theside o the river.

Yusni hopes that, when the road iscompleted, the people o her village willhave easier and aster access to health

and education acilities. Yusnis hopes areperhaps simple. To realize her hopes requiresa lot o hard work and no small amount omoney. Opening up the road to and romHilimbaruz will mean overcoming manyobstacles.

Yusni is taking vegetables from

her own garden every day.

(Photographer:Idealita Ismanto, 2010)


17/325

The experiences o Ibu

Tuti Komala, a resident o

Cipicung village, Cijeruk Sub-

district, Bogor district, West

Java.

Bu Tuti (49) is a housewie who isvery active in her village, especiallyat the local health clinic. She lives

with her husband, who is head o their littleneighbourhood, and her two children inCipicung village. Bu Tuti participated in thedisaster risk reduction (DRR) training held bylocal partner o Trocaire, ELSPPAT. She elt shegot a lot o new experiences and knowledgerom the training, as well as new riends

and a new lease on lie. Unortunately, whenit was time or the training o communityorganizers or the programme, Bu Tuticouldnt put hersel orward because shehad to help prepare or the national census.But she is committed to assisting and beinginvolved in the DRR activities with ELSPPAT.

In the area where Bu Tuti and her amily livethere are places that sufer the efects onatural disasters especially degradationcaused by an illegal sand mining operation,which is controlled by certain powerulpeople in the village. The original aim o theDRR program was to address the problemo access to water or arming because theirrigation system was slowly being destroyedby the sand mining activities. However, inorder to avoid conict, the DRR program

Ibu or Bu = Madame, mother

shited rom looking at the efects o thesand mining to other actors afecting accessto water.

As Bu Tuti tells it, the ELSPPAT programdidnt end when the training was over.Together with ELSPPAT eld staf, Bu Tuti andother villagers held discussions on ways toovercome their water problems. They needed

more water not just or their rice elds andsh ponds but also or everyday things, likehousehold needs and or their local place oworship.

The DRR activities in Gentengneighbourhood, Cipicung village, mainlyconcerned access to water or the riceelds and sh ponds. Beore joining theELSPPAT program, the local armers acedmany problems and the ow o water wasso limited that some sh ponds could nolonger be used. Bu Tuti maintains that thelocal people repeatedly asked the villageauthorities to improve the water channels byallocating local budget unds but the villageauthorities did not pay any attention.

Bu Tuti has witnessed the changes thathave occurred among her ellow villagers,especially the armers, since the ELSPPATprogram began. There was a new resolve inthe people o Genteng to overcome theirproblems. There was a new spirit in whichthey gathered together in village orums toaddress their problems. In these meetings,the peoples awareness began to grow.This new spirit enlivened the discussion onways to get the water owing again. Theyknew that one o the problems concernedleakages in the irrigation channels. Theydecided to collect money over a period o

time to x the leakages. (The collection osmall contributions continues to this day.)

Appendix .

Case Study Story

Organizing or Disaster Risk Reduction


18/326

The locations o the worst leakages wereidentied together and they calculatedthe costs o mending them and set aboutcollecting the necessary unds. With the

money collected, they began the repairstogether. All our o the worst leakageshave now been xed with the assistance oELSPPAT.

One o the important changes that happenedater the ELSPPAT program, according to ByTuti, was the rebirth o the spirit o gotongroyong in which people work togetherto meet common challenges. The peopledevoted their time and labour or ree in

order to x the irrigation channels. In theend they were rewarded because the waterbegan to ow once again to Genteng. Thearmers and shpond owners were very

pleased because their eforts had not been invain. The problem o dry elds and ponds wasovercome and all because o the solidaritybetween them. Nowadays, the ow o water

is considered stable - more and better thanit used to be - and the abandoned shpondsare operational again.

Behind the success o their eforts, Bu Tutieels happy and proud because she wasinvolved in acilitating the resolution that sohelped the people who sufered. Althoughshe received no remuneration, she says thatthe presence o ELSPPAT in her village hasbrought the water needed and resolved

many problems. And in uture, Bu Tuti iscommitted to applying the knowledge sheobtained in the ELSPPAT trainings to benether community urther.

The experiences o Ibu Titin

Suheni o Kampung Babakan,

Cisalada village, Cigombongsub-district, Bogor district,

West Java.

Ibu Titin Suheni (5) is a housewie whoparticipates in many activities withinher village, including at the health clinic

Ibu or Bu = madam, mother

and the governments village developmentprograms. She lives with her husband andve children in Kampung Babakan2, Cisalada

village, West Java.Ibu Titin says that her involvement in a non-government organization (NGO) programlike that run by ELSPPAT was somethingnew or her. Under this program, Ibu Titinparticipated in two trainings, namely, thedisaster risk reduction (DRR) training andthe community organizer training. Joining

2 Kampung = hamlet

Ibu Titin: Overcoming the Drying Rice Fields

Case Study Story 2


19/327

in these trainings allowed Ibu Titin to learnmany new things. She is not only ableto make new riends, but also has moreopportunities to discuss issues and learn

ways to meet common challenges. In theDRR acilitator training, Ibu Titin learned a lotabout responding to and managing disastersituations. Meanwhile, in the communityorganization training, Ibu Titin learned manylessons on communicating and working withpeople who need assistance.

According to Ibu Titin, the ELSPPAT programdidnt stop with the two trainings. There wasollow-up. Together with an ELSPPAT eld

staf member named Dwi, she worked onone aspect o the ELSPPAT program in hervillage, namely, the DRR component. TheDRR activities in her kampung o Babakanaimed to overcome the problem o limitedaccess to water in Lumbung eld (0 ha.)and Arsiun eld (0 ha). Beore the ELSPPATprogram came to her kampung, the armerswere aced with a situation in which theirrice elds could no longer be used becauseo the water problems. The armers limited

eforts to address the problems had not beensuccessul. They had not managed to nd away to overcome their problems.

According to Ibu Titin, ater the ELSPPATprogram came there were a number ochanges in her village, especially among thearmers. There was a renewed desire to dealwith the irrigation situation. The armers hada new spirit and began to organize villagemeetings. In those meetings, the armers

awareness began to grow. The armersrealized that water was their primary need inmaintaining their elds and producing theircrops. There was a new spirit to continue themeetings and to plan ways to get the waterowing again.

One o the important changes that happenedater the ELSPPAT program, according to IbuTitin, was the reawakening o the spirit ogotong royong in which local people worktogether to meet common challenges. The

people devoted their time and labour or reein order to x the irrigation channels thatwere damaged or out o operation. In theend, the water began to ow once again to

Babakan. The armers were pleased becausetheir eforts nally succeeded. The problemo their dry elds was overcome becauseo the solidarity among the communitymembers.

Bu Tuti eels happy and proud because shewas involved in acilitating the resolutionthat helped her ellow villagers. Althoughshe received no remuneration, Ibu Titin issatised with the success achieved in the

activities with ELSPPAT.Ibu Titin hopes that, with ELSPPAT workingin her village, the water problems that haveafected the rice elds can be completelyresolved. And in uture, Bu Titin is committedto applying the knowledge she obtainedin the ELSPPAT trainings to benet hercommunity urther.


20/32

Ibu Sri Jayamo is collecting raw fodder for hergoats, as part of revolving scheme from LPUBTN.

She is looking for gembilina leaves every afternoon

using bamboo stick and sicle.



21/329

Sri Gunarti is 9 years old. Ever since shewas young Sri Gunarti has undertakena variety o occupations. She once went

to a big city and worked as a housemaid andas a cook to workers at a construction site.She once worked hauling sand in a diferentregion.

Her hometown o Bantengan, Penadaran,is within the administrative district

o Grobogan, Central Java. This littleneighbourhood was surrounded by orestsmanaged by the state-owned enterprisePerhutani. Almost the entire area wascovered with teak trees, with a higheconomic value. But the local people did notenjoy the wealth rom this resource. At thevery most, they could only collect the leavesand small twigs to use as rewood. And eventhen they had to ace the company ocers.Thet o the wood occurred on various

occasions. Every local resident wore thestamp o the thie. That was the time whenthe New Order regime was very powerul(prior to the downall o President Suhartoin 99). In the New Order era, the prosperitythat came rom local economic resources wasbeyond the reach o the people who livedthere.

Then one day the authoritarian regime ell.The eeling o being under political pressure,

discrimination and poverty was overturnedand action could be taken. The orest, whichhad once seemed so rightening because itwas always guarded by men with uniormsand guns, suddenly became a gold minethere or the taking.

As a result, thet o the teak wood, ormblandong, as the activity is known locally,became the main activity o almost all thepeople living on the ringes o the orest. The

disintegration o the Suharto regime, whose

centre seemed so ar away in the capital,Jakarta, spread to the districts where thepeople o Penadaran responded in their ownway: mass thet o the teak wood. Theresno denying that the thet also involvedmembers o the security orces. Almost allthe people joined in the mass mblandong,including Sri Gunarti.

One o the locals remembered the golden

days in the area when the thet rst began:When we mblandong, getting your handson Rp 200,000 (approximately USD $20) wasa small thing. Basically, i we worked a monthat it, wed have enough to build a goodwooden house. But you know how it is, nomoney was saved. As soon as we got money,we went to the market, bought drinks orgambled. Basically, what we got one day wasspent straight away.

But just like the seasons, everything changes.Theres the ebb and the ow. From the endo 99 until 200, the orest area o 902,200hectares was plundered by the local people.Only the stumps o the trees remained. Whenthe wood was gone, so was the work.

Sri Gunarti had one other problem besidesthe destruction o the orest that had keptthem all in the money: her husband, Jayamo,had an accident when he was elling the

trees. A nerve in his back was damaged andhe was all but paralysed. Sri explained it thisway: I even had to sell our house to coverthe costs o his treatment at various places.But there was no improvement. In the end,we had to accept it. Since that moment, Sribecame the head o the amily.

Ater the teak trees were all gone and theland was bare, the Perhutani companychanged its policy to allow the local people

to plant new crops on the proviso that theyalso tended thegembilina the trees the

Teak Disappears, Corn GrowsBy EM Ali


22/3220

company was planting to replace the teak.Gembilina trees take ve years to mature andwhen they were harvested the local peoplereceived 5-20% o the prots. Nearly every

amily in the area received two hectares oland. Sri also took up the ofer but, becauseher husband was incapacitated, she onlyworked one hectare.

Most o the locals also planted corn. Besidesbeing easy to plant, corn crops are easy tomaintain and they mature ater just threemonths. But corn can only be grown in therainy season. During the dry season the landwas let allow.

There were other problems too. Most othe people were cash poor and had to dealwith agents. Sri told o her experiences atthis time: We owed money or the seeds,the ertilizer, pesticides and other thingsto the agents. I the market price or a sacko ertilizer was Rp 50,000 (approximatelyUSD $5), the agent would charge as much asRp0, 000 (approximately USD $). We onlyneeded a ew sacks and the agent would

prepare it all. At harvest time, ater deductingto pay the debt, the agent would buy theremainder at whatever price he wanted.

In some ways the agents were disparagingbut in other ways the local people neededthem to keep the wheels o the economyturning. Accessing a bank loan was notan option: most armers were scared oapproaching a bank. They didnt have achoice but to go to the agent.

Sri was among those who thought about itand wanted to try something diferent. Shetried growing cucumbers but, unortunately,the crop was stolen just beore harvest. Shealso tried growing tobacco and made a protonce. Unortunately, the next crop ailedbecause o the weather and she suferedheavy nancial losses.

At the end o the next corn season, Sri choseto plant kacang hijau (green beans). Sridescribed the process: The seeds were more

expensive than corn. But corn needs threemonths to mature, while kacang hijau can beharvested ater only two. In the beginning alot o people teased me about it. They said

thatkacang hijau

wouldnt grow here. ButI paid no attention to what they said. I justwent ahead.

When harvest time came, Sri laughed or joy.It was a bumper harvest and the market pricewas very avourable at the time. The peopleo Penadaran started to take a closer look atplanting kacang hijau just like Sri. A coupleo people did it ater that, but not many, shesaid.

In addition to arming, Sri also tends hergoats. The goats are kept in a simple yardbehind the house she now occupies ater herold house was sold. There are our goats, alllooking at and well-kept. The goats wereprovided by a saving and credit group calledNgudi Rejo, supported by a local partnero Trocaire, called LPU, a social economicagency under the Archdiocese o Semarang.LPU (or LPUBTN Lembaga Pendamping

Usaha Buruh Tani dan Nelayan) supports theeconomic eforts o the local armers andstrengthen the local saving and credit group.The program covers the attening o thegoats. When they are sold, 70% o the protsare kept by the owner and 0% goes backto the saving and credit group where Sri is amember.

Sri and other armers in the area also startedreplacing the commercial ertilizers they had

relied on with organic ertilizer made romchicken droppings, known locally as belek.The experiment proved very worthwhile.Besides reducing the cost o production,the results o using the belek ertilizerwere better than when they used normalertilizer. On one hectare o land, when thearmers used actory-made ertilizer, theycould expect a corn harvest o .5-4.0 tonnes.Ater they used belek, the yield increased to6-6.5 tonnes.


23/322

Joining together in armer groups also helpedother aspects o their lives. I members wereonce dependent on the agents, they can nowwork through the group to access working

capital. Within the armer groups they workon other productive initiatives too. Thereis an initiative known as lumbung hidup,or example, whereby Perhutani allocatesland o up to one-quarter o a hectare to thewomen. They plant peanuts and a variety ovegetables and the prots go into the cashreserves o the womens armer groups.

The local people are increasingly aware oissues o ood security and managing their

daily consumption. As long as they canproduce it themselves, they dont have tobuy their oodstufs at the market. We havealso planted vegetables around our homes.Turns out, its nice to eat your own produceand you dont need to spend your money. Wehave planted other things too, like ginger,

turmeric, and other spices, which can beused or cooking and or medicinal purposes.These kinds o crops were also developinginto little home-based businesses, Sri said

describing the activities o her armer group.The people in Sris neighbourhood arebecoming more creative and productive.They are starting to grow owers, whichare in high demand around Christmas timebut are oten not available. And they haveestablished a kind o scholarship system orchildren in which they are given goats tolook ater. From an early age, the children arebeing taught to be responsible.

These days, theres always a smile o Sris lipsshowing her great hope or the uture. Andalthough hes not back to his usual sel, herhusband Jayamos health is improving.

Pak Jayamo and Bu Sri Jayamo harvested their corn, Rp 3500 for one kilo of corn.



24/3222

Appendix 2. Some Stories o Field Experiences

Story

Rain during two consecutive days (4-5May 200) caused major ooding in6 communities where Caritas Sibolga

(CKS) was running Disaster Risk Reductionactivities: Sieaewali, Sohoya, Luahamoi,Lolomboli, Hambawa, Pasar Beringin.

The CMDRR team (Community ManagedDisaster Risk Reduction) o CKS togetherwith parish acilitators came to communitiesafected by ood and made quickassessments together with DRR communityorganizers (DRR CO. A quick meeting wasconducted to distribute jobs or emergencyresponse. People in the communitiesevacuated children, elders, women, theirvaluables and livestock. Women helped each

other to worktogether to prepare ood).Children were evacuated by using a rope(Pasar Beringin).

In this emergency response action theCKS CMDRR team tried to be consistent inapplying community managed principles.From the beginning the team told thecommunity that it should make this as theirown activity the community organizersand the villagers are not only receivers o aid

but should be the persons who manage andcoordinate the whole process o emergency

response.. Supported by the national Caritas,Karina, CKS provided emergency relie suchas ood to the ood survivors and distributedrelie to 0 households.

In the whole process, all o the DRRcommunity organizers worked activelyto organize to record accurately thedetails o ood afected amilies and toprepare and distribute relie items withthe accompaniment o the parish and CKSacilitators. They were able to ensure thatthe emergency relie was distributed airly.This case became a proo that the DRRcommunity organizers could efectively servepeople in need. In the evaluation meetingater the emergency response activity the

vilagers as well as the community organizerssaid that they were very happy with thisexperience. It was the rst time they had thiskind o relie distribution. Initially the reliedistribution was done by the village chie andthey elt this was oten unair. But now theydid it by themseves and all o the villagerswere able to get the relie. Two subvillageseven took their own initiative to share theirood relie to other subvillages to express

their solidarity.

Community-Managed Emergency

Response Activity

CO Members were packaging rice and noodle

distributed to villagers

A woman was signing

a letter of receiving

aid witnessed by allmember of Community

Organization of

Luahamoi


25/322

Baringin Village is one o 7 villages

accompanied by the Caritas Sibolga(CKS) Disaster Risk Reduction

(DRR) project, located in the Sub-Districto Sosor Gadong, Tapanuli Tengah. Thetotal population o the village is about 40households or 250 people. The village issituated right on the hillside o Bukit Barisanwhich is prone to landslides.

There is no health-care center in the villageand the long distance to the nearest villagehealth center has made it dicult or thevillagers o Baringin to access health services.People who are working together in theSel Help Groups (SHG) eventually saw aneed to create a home garden, to growmedicinal plants so that some health issuescould be treated locally.. The home gardenwas planted with traditional medicines likeginger, turmeric, rosella, kencur and various

other types o medicinal plants. Utilization o

medicinal plants is based on the experienceo village people and local knowledge as wellas an additional explanation rom parisheld acilitators and CKS acilitators aboutthe unction o each plant.

The home garden is expected to be analternative or community health services inBaringin Village. 5 SHG under coordinationo Community Organizations or DisasterRisk Reduction (CO-DRR) Saroha isexpected to be a driving orce in the villageto manage the home garden and maximizethe utilization o medicinal plants or publichealth care o Baringin villager. (Natalis)

Story 2

Home Garden or Community Health Services


26/3224

Story

Villagers in Sawo village decided in

their community action plan thatthey were going to raise catsh (lele,

in local language) by using sh ponds intheir own gardens. Raising catsh was seenas an opportunity to do income generationas a part o their vulnerability reduction inthe context o building resiliency towardsdisaster. There is a local governmentoce called Coremap working closelywith Sawo to promote shery including

catsh breeding. CKS acilitated themto have contact with the Coremap andrequested the oce to support the Sawocommunity organizers in catsh breeding.Unortunately the Coremap asked a largeamount o money to pay or the catsh seedthat and the community organizers couldnot aford this. CKS then helped the Sawocommunity organizers to nd another sheryorganization -- Balai Benih Ikan or BBI

(Fish Breeding Center o the government)

that could provide as many catsh seedsas the people needed with the good price.CKS also allocated some additional unds tosupport the Sawo community or this catshbreeding. The ponds and other equipmentwere provided by the Sawo people, so thatthey made a contribution as well as CKS.

20.000 catsh seeds were distributed to 40households. As well as providing lele seedsthe BBI also trained the Sawo villagers to

do lele breeding so that in the uture theywill be able to provide the lele sh seeds bythemselves. BBI also committed to monitorthe progress o the Sawo shery. The lele shonly need three months to harvest, and therst harvest will be made in August 200.(Alex/Fedi)

Catfsh Breeding at Sawo


27/3225

Story 4

When Orudua Zato lost its way and

members o the organizationwere experiencing stagnation,

the children showed great enthusiasm.Starting rom the idea o making a minilibrary, a study group o children in PasarBeringin, Gunung Sitoli, Nias, was ormed.This received support rom one o the taskorce o Orudua Zato, Ama Faris, who gave hishome as a place o learning or children.

Tonight - Tuesday, June st 200, is the

sixth day o learning. I the previous dayschildren learnt in large groups, then basedon the agreement at a meeting earlier thatevening, the children then learn in studygroups that have been divided. The concept isourth, th and sixth graders o elementaryschool teach their junior ellows (rangingrom preschoolers through third gradeelementary school). One person teaches oneto our juniors. They learn math, reading and

storytelling. One acilitator accompaniesthese children to each learning session.

The room where the children learn is verysmall and crowded. Despite sitting sotightly, the children remain enthusiastic andexcited. Kakak kelas (the senior ellow) wastrying hard to teach his younger brothersand sisters. Various acial expressions arereected on the aces o the children. Thereare some children who are serious, some

conused, some laughing and some wereeven playing. Many junior kids cannot read,write and count. The learning time is onlyone hour this evening, since many o the

junior kids are tired and sleepy.

Ater the group study, the elder ellowsgathered to discuss their impressions andimprove their teaching techniques. In otherwords, they were invited to reect on their

extraordinary experience by using guiding

questions. In general, the older group is veryproud o what they do because many o thechildren were serious, calm, and excited tolearn. But there were two people who do noteel proud o what they have done. They eeldissatised because there were some kidswho were not serious and just played. Thesetwo elder ellows try to reect why thishappened. Finally they nd that the contento the lessons taught to preschoolers was too

dicult. According to the elder ellow, thejunior kids are more excited to participate instory telling and counting.

Children Learning Centre at Beringin Market

Senior grade students are

teaching their junior gradestudents to read.


28/3226


29/3227

Story 5

Beore having a community DRRorganization the village o Lolomboli,was a simple village in Nias just like

any other. The people were poor, there waslimited solidarity and people would rarelycome together to work communally. But aterthe DRR community Soroi Badodo (coming

rom the inner heart) was developed thevalues o sel help and community organizingwere promoted through a communitymanaged disaster risk reduction process, thepeople began to solve their basic problem.They decided to build a build a simple bridgemade rom coconut trunk.

People o Lolomboli live close to the riverSinuwu and their area is prone to oods. Theonly access to their village is by crossing the

river but since there is no bridge they haveto cross the river by oot. In April 200 thecommunity organizers (COs) mobilized andorganized the people o Lolomboli to solvethis problem which was identied in theircommunity action plan. The communityorganized gotong royong (communal work)and calculated the materials they neededto build the bridge. They also calculated thecost and how much they could contribute

through their own resources. They identiedthat they could provide labour, coconuttrunks and tools. Then the project wasstarted. They succeeded to develop thebridge but then they ound that they need apulley to lit the heavy coconut trunks. CKSsupported them to nd this equipment andprovided some unds or this.

The bridge was almost nished. Butunortunately in the middle o May 200

there was a ood that destroyed theircoconut trunk bridge. The people oLolomboli elt so sad because the ood hadswept away their hard work. The acilitatorsalso elt very badly. Karina KWI (nationalCaritas) supported Caritas Sibolga in anemergency response to the oods. The

people o Lolomboli didnt ask or emergencyood but they asked or some unds tosupport their bridge building. They decidedtheir bridge needed a concrete holder so thatit would be stronger to ace the orce o theood.

With the new unding, the people oLolomboli started their bridge buildingproject again. They collected the coconuttrunks that were swept away by the ood

and tried to use them again. Now theLolomboli community organizers and thecommunity members are still in the processo building their bridge, and now it isstronger than beore. Hopeully their spiritand solidarity among them will also continueto grow. (Aperius/Elvina)

Community Bridge Building in Lolomboli,Nias


30/322


31/32

Trocaire has been staed by an energetic team o both Indonesians and expatriate sta. We have

usually had a team o 4-6 people working in-country at any one time. We would like to recognize theinvolvement o the ollowing people over the years:

Managers: Kathryn Robertson, Noel Molony, Suzanne Keatinge (Ireland), Mary Healy (Ireland)

Programme Ocers: Terry Russell, Widya Setiabudi, Naomi Baird, Nur Vivinia

Programme Assistant: Mia Mochtar

Regional Humanitarian Ocer: Georgina Jordan

Finance and Administration: Eva Sitorus, Benny Asmara

Communications:Orla Fagan, Bengawanty TambunanInterns: Kim Wallis, Conor OLoughlin

Humanitarian Sta in Ireland: Vicky Tindal, Sarah McCann

The Tsunami response is the most signifcant that Trocaire has ever undertaken. When the

Tsunami struck in 2004, Trocaire had no oce and no sta in-country and only a ew smalladvocacy partnerships. Over the past 5 years we have built a amily o 40 partners spanning

rom Aceh to Bali. There have been thousands o people in Aceh who have had their livelihoods andhomes restored and have had assistance to overcome the emotional pain that the Tsunami created.Communities in Aceh and in other parts o Indonesia are now more aware o their risks to uturedisasters and know what they need to do to prepare themselves. People in Ireland have been movedand inspired by the strength o people in Indonesia who have been able to rebuild their lives atersuch a shocking disaster. Trocaire is grateul or the commitment, energy, and individuals to bothprepare and respond to disasters.

Trocaire as an organization has learned a great deal rom our work in Indonesia. We would like

to thank the Government o Indonesia, the Catholic Church in Indonesia, our partners and mostimportantly local communities or their willingness to allow Trocaire to be involved in the importantprocesses o healing, rebuilding, and strengthening which have taken place since the Tsunami.

Our Gratitude

Our Sta


32/32

HQ and Regional Ofces Contact

Head Ofce

Maynooth, Co. Kildare

Dublin Ofce12 Cathedral Street, Dublin ITel: +353 1 8743875

Cork Ofce9 Cook Street, CorkTel: +353 21 4275622

Northern Ireland Ofce50 King Street, Belast, BTI 6ADTel: +44 28 90808030

Trocaire Asia Regional Ofce3rd Floor Building BIPhnom Penh CentreSothearos BlvdCambodiaTel: +855 23 213 020Fax: +855 23 213 421

Documents

Buku Trocaire Changing Lives - Stories From Indonesia