The village of Ujung Sudhen was completely destroyed in the tsunami. You can see the land where it once stood from the shore near where the people have resettled. It is now an island, inaccessible except by boat. Many villagers perished. Those who survived are slowly piecing their lives back together.
Eighty percent of the population earned their living by fishing before the tsunami, but their boats were obliterated. They were left grieving for lost family and friends and no way to care for those who remained. While much has been rebuilt, more than two years later many are still struggling to regain their former way of life.
International Medical Corps, with funding from the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department (ECHO), is implementing a three-month project to build and equip fishing boats. The results offer hope to tsunami victims and the humanitarian community, which has invested heavily in recovery efforts.
Huzaimah, the village secretary and leader of the fishermen received an International Medical Corps boat. His wife and two children were killed during the tsunami, but he is grateful that he is now able to provide for his new wife. He was instrumental in determining the participants and in making sure the program met the village’s specific needs.
“Thank you to International Medical Corps and to the donors for supporting us,” says Huzaimah.
Support is the key. International Medical Corps’ approach is to create a sense of local ownership, which in turn makes for sustainable results. “It’s their project, not our project,” says Yudi Andika, International Medical Corps’ project officer for the Lamno sub district, where the village of almost 200 people is located. “It’s them and us working together.”
The fishermen hired a local expert to help them build the boats to their specifications. Materials, including the wood and tools used to construct them were paid for by ECHO, as well as the boat engines, lobster nets and fishing reels, totaling $26,000.
Yurwida lost all but three people in his family. Now thanks to money brought in from lobster he catches he is able to cover living expenses for his new wife, mother and sister as well as save for the future.
Much of the success of this program lies in the fact that International Medical Corps is giving the fishermen the means to go back to their former way of life, using a resource that is accessible to all. “The sea is free, everybody can go to the sea,” says Andika. “It is a very good way to generate income.”
This project will build a total of five boats and one canoe. Each boat will be used by two to three fishermen and the canoe by one. Since the tsunami International Medical Corps has helped build more than 100 boats throughout Aceh Jaya district, where in some places more than 80 percent of the population was killed.
Musa, another participant in the program, was lucky that his family escaped to the hills, surviving the giant wave. While he didn’t loose his family, he was left with no means to support them. Now they work together. Musa’s sister and father prepare the fish that he catches for market.
“I am very happy because I can do what I did before the tsunami,” says Musa. “The project is enough to provide for the whole family.”