July 14th - Teunom & Meulaboh

I have spent this week visiting the two last field offices; Teunom and Meulaboh (see the map in my log dated June 23^rd).

On Monday morning I travelled from Calang to Teunom, a little over an hour’s drive. Teunom is a small cosy town about five kilometres off the coast. The area is strikingly green (picture) and strewn with coconut trees. A colleague had strongly recommended I go to a special café by a river and have a coconut drink. I did and it was lovely. You get this cut-open green coconut with a bit of lime juice and sugar in it. It was really good. By the way, they sell the most delicious juices just about everywhere in Aceh. My favourites right now are sweet cucumber juice, which is really refreshing and avocado juice mixed with condensed chocolate milk, which is a meal in itself! But that is a different story. In Teunom, I once again joined the CDR teams. Here, as is the case in Meulaboh, there are three CDR teams made up of three people each – a team leader and two facilitators. Every team is responsible for implementing the CDR programme in three communities. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to accompany one of the CDR teams that had a meeting with a Community Development Board (CDB). This was because the meeting was to be held in a mosque. In most instances this would not be a problem but sometimes they would rather not have non-Muslims attend. Of course such decisions are respected. So instead, I went to visit a number of Quick Impact Programmes (QIPs).

To refresh your memory or, for the first time readers, QIPs are programmes designed to assist households, groups, or an entire community to recover livelihoods and re-establish local economies. The beneficiaries receive cash grants to implement various projects. The IRC implemented these QIP with the financial support of Stichting Vluchteling (the Netherlands Refugee Foundation).

To begin with, we went to see a farmer’s group. The farmers received a grant to buy seed, tools, herbicide and fertiliser. In Simpang Ulim the group has managed to save enough money to open a small shop which provides various farming equipment that they are able to purchase at wholesale prices (picture). All the farmers benefit from the shop. We then went to have a look at a few businesses in the centre of Keunde Teunom: a couple of retail trade shops, a barber and a coffee shop. All were part of group of traders that has received a grant to restart their businesses. As far as I could see, they were all doing very well. In Padang Kleng we spoke with a tailor who has built up such a reputation that people come all the way from Calang to place orders with him. After this, we went to Alve Ambang, right beside Keunde Teunom, were a group of fishermen received a total of 40 boats with onboard engines. Another 40 engines were made are available to them; they are receiving one for every new boat that they build themselves. We visited the workshop but unfortunately, no one was there (picture). Finally, we drove to Sarah Raya where the IRC, with the support of SV and together with ADRA, an Australian non-governmental organisation, provided two small ferryboats so that people could easily cross a relatively large river at two different points. This considerably improves access to local markets for the villages that are not on the side of Teunom. The ferry has enough capacity to transport a couple of motorcycles and should even be able to transport a car (although, personally, I would not risk it)!

Tuesday afternoon I drove on to Meulaboh, where I still am now. Meulaboh is the second largest city along the coast, after Banda Aceh. It is a very pleasant city; just like Banda Aceh, only smaller. An additional perk is that the beach is only a short walk from the guesthouse. It is ideal for long walks; there are many kilometres of uninterrupted beach (fourth picture below). The surrounding areas are also very scenic. At the office I was, yet again, received very warmly. As usual, Wednesday through Friday I joined the various CDR teams going into the field. First, I visited another QIP in the centre of town; a group of 11 tailors. They have received a grant to purchase sewing machines, cloth and other sewing materials. We spoke with three tailors, including the head of the association, and they were all very satisfied with their businesses (pictures). We then went to Kuta Teunogh and Sereumpoh in the sub-district of Arongan Lambalek in order to obtain a detailed overview, in writing, of the community’s own contribution to the CDR programme. Next, I discussed two draft community project proposals with one of the CDR teams. And finally, I went to Suak Seumaseh in the sub-district of Samatiga, where I was to hold a focus group discussion with the CDB concerning the CDR programme. This was aimed to find out what do they think of the process, what is going well, what is not going so well, and so on. In short: how can we help each other to improve the programme? But the CDB had different plans; the village had made it to the semi-finals in a local volleyball tournament and they were about to play. So we re-scheduled for Monday morning!

That is it for this week’s log! Greetings to everyone and, I hope, until next week. I have included a few more pictures below.