August 18th - Fishing for success stories

This week, I carried on gathering data to sketch a profile of the CDR projects and the members of the Community Development Boards (CDBs). I was working on this in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh last week and have now done the same in Teunom and Calang. Slowly but surely, I am receiving all the information we need. At this point, I have all the data from one of the field offices and most of it from another two offices, with only bits and pieces missing. The remaining office, however, still has quite some work to do! That this sometimes takes a while has a lot to do with the fact that many teams have not collected the requested information in the past and therefore have to get it from the field. In some cases they have the information already but it is incomplete or has been filed in such a way that it is easier just collecting it all again. What is more, when I receive the information there are always some parts missing or something is not clear: then the forms are sent back, they have to go back in the field, etcetera, etcetera. Furthermore, a number of teams are still working hard on finalising CDB community proposals. Needless to say, this takes precedence. All things considered, I think we came quite a long way in two weeks time. I hope to finish this next week and have a database full of interesting information to analyse. And then we will start the whole process once more to obtain a second set of data!

In addition, I went looking again for potential success stories to write about for newsletters and/or donor reports. We felt it would be nice to write something about women in the CDB. Last week, among others, I spoke with a female CDB coordinator in Damai, in the sub-district of Kuala Pesisir (Meulaboh field office). So far she is the only female CDB coordinator I have encountered and the chances of finding a second one are slim. This week I went to Kareung Mutiara, in the sub-district Panga (Teunom field office), where I spoke with the CDB treasurer, a function that is traditionally entrusted to women. I wanted to speak with her in particular because she is incredibly active in the community and is de facto the CDB coordinator. Both women have fascinating stories. I intend to speak to more women – and men. More specifically, I want to talk to a couple of CDBs comprised of a majority of women as well as a number of CDBs in which women are less well represented. Then, I hope to brew this all into a captivating account in the form of a case study.

I stumbled upon another success story in Ie Itam, a small community right next to Kareung Mutiara. During the Community Participatory Assessment Workshop (CPAW), they identified a total of nine community problems, eight of which are being addressed in their project proposal. One of the main reasons they are able to carry out so many projects is because of their own contribution, which is substantial. They are considerably ahead of other target communities and have already made significant progress in terms of implementing the projects. They are visibly determined and everyone plays his/her part. It is really heart-warming and inspiring to see a whole community come together this way to carry out projects that will benefit them all. The members of the CDB showed me their progress with obvious pride. This will definitely be followed-up on!

Wednesday evening, in Calang, we were invited by the fish trader’s association for, what else, a fish barbecue! The association is the latest addition to the CDR programme. Thursday was Indonesia’s Independence Day. Beside a number of speeches, a small parade on the green, the hoisting of the flag and a few games, there were few festivities in Calang. From a distance, we watched groups of five men climbing on top of each other trying to reach for goodies at the end of a long greasy pole. We were busy with something altogether different: fishing! And finally, on Friday, I drove back to Banda Aceh. On the way, we were stuck for about an hour and a half in a bit of a traffic jam before a poorly maintained bridge; courtesy of the rain!

That was it for this week! I hope to see you soon. Take care.