[Sdpg] (IDEP) Foundation was one of the first organizations to rapidly respond in the tsunami-affected region of Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

[Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

IDEP Helping Aceh Victims Rebuild their Lives
Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 11:38 am
Press Release: Indonesian Development of Education Permaculture         
IDEP Foundation – Helping Aceh Victims Rebuild their Lives

The Indonesian Development of Education and Permaculture (IDEP) Foundation was
one of the first organizations to rapidly respond in the tsunami-affected
region of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. 

Since the devastating December 26, 2004 earthquake, the organization has
distributed over US $500,000 in aid and sent 200 international volunteers and
staff to work on the ground in both the response and ongoing disaster recovery
phases. 

To help the displaced Aceh survivors rebuild their lives, IDEP -- an
Indonesian
non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) that began in 1998 at the
height
of Indonesia’s severe financial and social crisis – is working on the
long-term
recovery phase through programs targeting the critical needs. 

Below is a summary of programs IDEP has initiated over the past year as
part of
Banda Aceh’s ongoing tsunami recovery efforts.

Disaster Relief via the Endless Sun

In the first weeks following the disaster, IDEP partnered with other Asian
NGOs
to actively deliver relief supplies via the Endless Sun – a wooden, 40 meter,
700 ton custom-made shallow draft boat that brought aid to inaccessible, worst
hit areas in Aceh.

The series of 12-week voyages delivered building materials, self-sufficiency
items such as brick presses, mechanical, carpentry and fishing implements. The
Endless Sun had delivered 87 tons of rice donated by the World Food Program to
four isolated communities in Nias before it struck an uncharted coral reef and
sunk. 

Miraculously, all 20 of the crew and volunteers survived. Even more miraculous
is that about 80% of the onboard aid was salvaged. 

Community Based Recovery and Rehabilitation of Samatiga

IDEP is conducting workshops related to community-based enterprise and
development. IDEP trainers help community members acquire skills in simple
civil engineering, appropriate technology, bamboo treatment and construction,
permaculture and solar cooking. 
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In Samatiga, one of the hardest hit suburbs, IDEP has three inter-related
programs:

1. the provision of health services and health training;

2. sustainable livelihoods technology; and

3. community management disaster training.

IDEP built a modest bamboo clinic and counseling center where thousands of
patients have been treated and given primary medical care and informal stress
counseling. Serving some 1,500 patients a month, this clinic was built hastily
in February to meet the post-tsunami needs.


As soon as funding is available, IDEP will build a Community Centre with a
classroom, library, kitchen, staff quarters, toilets and a children's
playground. 

The Greenhand Field School Project

Another Aceh Recovery Program is the Greenhand Field School Project, a center
where people from tsunami-affected areas obtain practical training in a
live-in
model village. Located 50 kilometers outside Banda Aceh, the school will
provide instruction in food security systems.

The trainees, half of whom are women, will be taught such skills as
sustainable
village design principles, water and sanitation strategies, home garden food
production, animal husbandry, year-round food security, small enterprise
development, natural resource development, ecological repair and maintenance,
shelter design and construction with found materials.

Local Disaster Preparedness Training

A well managed and prepared community is a key factor in saving lives and
reducing suffering and loss of resources. To disseminate practical
information,
IDEP has developed a comprehensive, community-based disaster management (CBDM)
kit for use in villages throughout Indonesia.

The simple kit contains a practical planning and action manual with over 50
practical self-help forms, 2 colored posters, 8 disaster comics and a
community
awareness leaflet. Communities can get practical information for saving lives
and preserving infrastructure in the event of a natural or socially sparked
disaster.

Helping People Help Themselves

Largely credited with introducing and spreading permaculture – permanent
agriculture techniques that assist people to generate food security while
practicing sound environmental principals, IDEP directly empowers communities
by:

Introducing sustainable living solutions and innovative environmental
education
approaches

Pilot testing projects with local communities at the grass roots level 

Developing models for micro credit cooperative programs

Constructing working demonstrations of small-scale organic food production and
appropriate technology for waste management and wastewater treatment

Developing eco-literacy 

Sharing knowledge through local NGO networks

Conducting media training & supporting local NGOs

Although IDEP has achieved much international and local support, generous
donations from individuals, companies and foundations worldwide, it still
needs
more for the Aceh programs to run for 2 to 3 more years. 


Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
(805) 962-2571
sbpcnet at silcom.com
www.sbpermaculture.org

"We are like trees, we must create new leaves, in new directions, in order to
grow." - Anonymous

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