Monthly Update

AMURT and AMURTEL continue their reconstruction efforts in Aceh with some good recent developments.

Our Music concert on the six month anniversary of the earthquake/tsunami on June 26 was a grand success. The concert attended by about 1000 people was covered by National TV and newspaper. It was sponsored by Save the Children. National performer Noogie incorporated the stories of the children who told their touching experiences of the tsunami tragedy.

Some brick owners in Neuheun have already begun production of their bricks, while other owners are reconstructing their destroyed factories. The project is due to complete by mid-September. The brick owners have formed a coop due to the constant meetings with AMURT. The head of the coop said that before AMURT came everybody worked on their own. Now they work together.

Also in Neuheun 12 houses designated for repair are almost completed. GTZ and AMURT held a meeting of the 35 villagers who will receive a new house. The house model of GTZ was shown and the first five beneficiaries were identified. Construction is due to begin within four weeks. Also GTZ our main donor informed us that they wish to construct 800 houses using their model, so it is likely that we will be able to complete the other two village housing projects that we had planned for since last March.

The AMURTEL kindergarten in Bada village is already 50% completed. The contractor is working hard to complete the project within one month as we await more funding from the donor in Medan. Didi Hema also installed playground and furniture for the renovated kindergarten in Raider barrack.

Meanwhile AMURTEL’s sewing project for 30 women continues to run smoothly as the women complete their 20 school uniform quota in time for the opening of the school year next week. The women are working in the renovated kindergarten of Raider and Didi is thinking to continue the project in the same barrack and form an Integrated Women’s Center. After the completion of the school uniforms the sewing machines become theirs.

Although our Primary School project with Jakarta International School (JIS) could not materialize, they have decided to fund our kindergarten construction in Ujong Batee at a cost of $25,000. The kindergarten will benefit 45 children. JIS is also sponsoring a music education program for 80 children in 4 barracks at a cost of $3,200. The beneficiaries will learn both traditional and contemporary musical instruments under the guidance of four trainers. The two month program has scope for continuing after the first phase.

Meanwhile the Head of the German NGO Kinder Not Hilfe visited the Special Needs School for Mentally Challenged Children and a kindergarten in Jantho, Aceh with a view to providing funding to AMURT for the construction of a hostel for the first school and a kindergarten for the second.

The German Army has approached AMURT with an offer to fund the construction of a home for orphan children as they have 57,000 Euro that they would like to spend for children tsunami victims and were impressed with AMURT’s work so far.
The German Red Cross also approached AMURT with funds to build community centres in any village that requires them. We are looking into these possibilities as well.

Dada Shiilabhadrananda, Banda Aceh