Dienstag, September 27, 2005
Aliens vs Non-Aliens
Which one do you think is better?
Being an alien in an alien territory? Being an alien in a non-alien territory? or being a non-alien in an alien territory?
Last week I had a small chat with a friend from England who is also working here in Banda Aceh.
I told her that maybe I should hang out with expats more often to get a more updated information of modern places in Banda Aceh.
It's because she told me about some new places I haven't heard about.
And then she replied, "don't! we're weird. Stick with the non-aliens!"
That made me think, am I really a non-alien in a non alien territory?
Or am I still an alien even among what she called non-aliens?
I've been in this land for 5 months now and there are days when I wonder where I am and what I'm doing here.
I really wanna feel like I am home, but sometimes when I sit outside my house I still feel like I'm on holiday,
like I'm staying somewhere near a beach (like in Bali) with my friends and this all would soon be over.
Back in Bandung, we don't have many palm trees in town. Here ... palm trees everywhere you go.
Back in Bandung we have what would be called modernity, while here in Banda Aceh we are rehabilitating and reconstructing.
Back in Bandung we can find any foods from any country, while here steak is a very exclusive meal.
Back in Bandung we have traffic jam everyday including on weekends, while here we have coffee shops everywhere that are open even on weekend.
Back in Bandung people don't ask if I'm chinese or sundanese or anything, while here I get that question everytime I go the field.
Back in Bandung I can meet my family everyday, while here I'm living with 7 friends from all over Indonesia.
Those are only a few things, but now you see why sometimes I feel like I'm still on holiday?
Maybe I am he one to blame. Maybe it's just a feeling, a thought that I need to bury.
But I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I'm sure there are people out there who feel the same.
So back to the question. Which one's better?
I would personally prefer to be a non-alien in a non-alien territory and feel like a non-alien.
You?
hye
September 27, 2005
Being an alien in an alien territory? Being an alien in a non-alien territory? or being a non-alien in an alien territory?
Last week I had a small chat with a friend from England who is also working here in Banda Aceh.
I told her that maybe I should hang out with expats more often to get a more updated information of modern places in Banda Aceh.
It's because she told me about some new places I haven't heard about.
And then she replied, "don't! we're weird. Stick with the non-aliens!"
That made me think, am I really a non-alien in a non alien territory?
Or am I still an alien even among what she called non-aliens?
I've been in this land for 5 months now and there are days when I wonder where I am and what I'm doing here.
I really wanna feel like I am home, but sometimes when I sit outside my house I still feel like I'm on holiday,
like I'm staying somewhere near a beach (like in Bali) with my friends and this all would soon be over.
Back in Bandung, we don't have many palm trees in town. Here ... palm trees everywhere you go.
Back in Bandung we have what would be called modernity, while here in Banda Aceh we are rehabilitating and reconstructing.
Back in Bandung we can find any foods from any country, while here steak is a very exclusive meal.
Back in Bandung we have traffic jam everyday including on weekends, while here we have coffee shops everywhere that are open even on weekend.
Back in Bandung people don't ask if I'm chinese or sundanese or anything, while here I get that question everytime I go the field.
Back in Bandung I can meet my family everyday, while here I'm living with 7 friends from all over Indonesia.
Those are only a few things, but now you see why sometimes I feel like I'm still on holiday?
Maybe I am he one to blame. Maybe it's just a feeling, a thought that I need to bury.
But I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I'm sure there are people out there who feel the same.
So back to the question. Which one's better?
I would personally prefer to be a non-alien in a non-alien territory and feel like a non-alien.
You?
hye
September 27, 2005
Montag, September 26, 2005
Aceh Journal #6
Sept. 17-18 we had Lomba Vokalis Remaja 05, a kind of Aceh Idol thing for teenagers. It was quite amusing,
just like any idol show audition on TV.
We had boys and girls who voluntarily entertained us by singing out of tunes :p
And what's funny was that the winner of the competition was actually the one who was almost disqualified from it.
This guy, Ryan David, overslept and so he came late (very late) to the show. Luckily the committee decided not to disqualify him immediately.
He then sang and proceeded to the final. In the final night he sang beautifully, and won.
A friend and I also sang a song (each) that night, as a representative of Mercy Corps who funded the show.
A few days later we came to visit David's hamburger stall. He told us that he's been selling burgers even before the tsunami.
And so, I think he used the money he won from the competition to re-open his business.
He lost his mom and two of his brothers in the tsunami, and now he has to take care of his youngest brother (8-9 years old)
I lost a dearly loved relative 2 weeks ago. She was the girlfriend of my brother-in-law's brother.
They were going home from somewhere when they had to pass a big hole on the street
--> a proof of how ignorant our government is of the transportation!
I mean they don't have to wait until someone got hurt to repair it.
So then when they passed the hole, the girl was thrown away from the motorbike, hit a pole and the sidewalk and died instantly, with a broken skull.
Last week has not been a very good week for me. Had a few health problems, but in general life has been fine.
It turned out that the medication I was taking was the cause of it all. So I stopped taking it, and I got better.
I'm starting to understand how to do my job. One problem is that I am assigned to do mosque based activities in the villages.
So please pray so that I can do this well, not only so that I can save my job :p but also so that the villages can really get what they
are supposed to get.
Been thinking about the holiday I'm going to take in Dec/ Jan too.
'bout the money I will have to spend if I do go, and the right time to go.
--> man! It's pretty scary to think of how much I will have to spend! hahaha ... :p
but there's a price I have to pay for this, and maybe that's what I have to do to get all the fun.
Now as you all probably know, Indonesia is going to start having the fasting month before Ramadhan next week.
Acehnese have a very unique tradition called MEUGANG.
It is a tradition where all acehnese eat beef on that day. It is a must (not an optional) for them to have beef in the house
or maybe any other meat if you're too poor to buy beef.
On the other hand, if you're wealthy enough, you are allowed to hold a big party, and invite poor people to eat together.
A tradition we can find nowhere else (not that I know of! :p)
Called my family last week. Talked with them for about an hour or so! :) It's good to know how they're doing and especially to know that
my niece still remember me. I would've felt so sad if she doesn't remember me anymore.
4 of my friends from the house went for holiday. So now there're only 4 of us in the house. It's very quiet now, considering that there were
so many people around the house last weekend.
The landlord held a wedding party for his son last Saturday. It was quite a big and merry party.
The reason why the landlord wanted to hold the party at our house was to show the in-laws the house they are going to stay in in the future.
loads of foods and cakes, lots of people, and lots of garbage afterwards! hehehe :p
There's a new coffee shop in town. An exclusive one with a very expensive products compared to local coffee shops. CASWELL, that's the name.
We also have another new resto, a steak house, in Peunayong. So in the future maybe it won't be as "primitive" as it is right now! hehehe ...
Keep praying for aceh and the building of it. Also for the katrina/ Rita victims in the USA. My friends in the USA (who came to Aceh)
told me that they saw a similar scene in the hurricane area as they saw in Aceh.
People suffered the same thing, except maybe they didn't suffer from the earthquake.
A friend of mine is in fact affected by the huricane and had to flee to another town.
peace out! God bless :)
hye
September 26, 2005
just like any idol show audition on TV.
We had boys and girls who voluntarily entertained us by singing out of tunes :p
And what's funny was that the winner of the competition was actually the one who was almost disqualified from it.
This guy, Ryan David, overslept and so he came late (very late) to the show. Luckily the committee decided not to disqualify him immediately.
He then sang and proceeded to the final. In the final night he sang beautifully, and won.
A friend and I also sang a song (each) that night, as a representative of Mercy Corps who funded the show.
A few days later we came to visit David's hamburger stall. He told us that he's been selling burgers even before the tsunami.
And so, I think he used the money he won from the competition to re-open his business.
He lost his mom and two of his brothers in the tsunami, and now he has to take care of his youngest brother (8-9 years old)
I lost a dearly loved relative 2 weeks ago. She was the girlfriend of my brother-in-law's brother.
They were going home from somewhere when they had to pass a big hole on the street
--> a proof of how ignorant our government is of the transportation!
I mean they don't have to wait until someone got hurt to repair it.
So then when they passed the hole, the girl was thrown away from the motorbike, hit a pole and the sidewalk and died instantly, with a broken skull.
Last week has not been a very good week for me. Had a few health problems, but in general life has been fine.
It turned out that the medication I was taking was the cause of it all. So I stopped taking it, and I got better.
I'm starting to understand how to do my job. One problem is that I am assigned to do mosque based activities in the villages.
So please pray so that I can do this well, not only so that I can save my job :p but also so that the villages can really get what they
are supposed to get.
Been thinking about the holiday I'm going to take in Dec/ Jan too.
'bout the money I will have to spend if I do go, and the right time to go.
--> man! It's pretty scary to think of how much I will have to spend! hahaha ... :p
but there's a price I have to pay for this, and maybe that's what I have to do to get all the fun.
Now as you all probably know, Indonesia is going to start having the fasting month before Ramadhan next week.
Acehnese have a very unique tradition called MEUGANG.
It is a tradition where all acehnese eat beef on that day. It is a must (not an optional) for them to have beef in the house
or maybe any other meat if you're too poor to buy beef.
On the other hand, if you're wealthy enough, you are allowed to hold a big party, and invite poor people to eat together.
A tradition we can find nowhere else (not that I know of! :p)
Called my family last week. Talked with them for about an hour or so! :) It's good to know how they're doing and especially to know that
my niece still remember me. I would've felt so sad if she doesn't remember me anymore.
4 of my friends from the house went for holiday. So now there're only 4 of us in the house. It's very quiet now, considering that there were
so many people around the house last weekend.
The landlord held a wedding party for his son last Saturday. It was quite a big and merry party.
The reason why the landlord wanted to hold the party at our house was to show the in-laws the house they are going to stay in in the future.
loads of foods and cakes, lots of people, and lots of garbage afterwards! hehehe :p
There's a new coffee shop in town. An exclusive one with a very expensive products compared to local coffee shops. CASWELL, that's the name.
We also have another new resto, a steak house, in Peunayong. So in the future maybe it won't be as "primitive" as it is right now! hehehe ...
Keep praying for aceh and the building of it. Also for the katrina/ Rita victims in the USA. My friends in the USA (who came to Aceh)
told me that they saw a similar scene in the hurricane area as they saw in Aceh.
People suffered the same thing, except maybe they didn't suffer from the earthquake.
A friend of mine is in fact affected by the huricane and had to flee to another town.
peace out! God bless :)
hye
September 26, 2005
Samstag, September 24, 2005
Acehnese wedding
Ini pelaminan yang ada di ruang depan rumah sewaan gue. Semua kawinan Aceh kaya gini, walo ga semua warnanya sama. Ini juga yang bikin orang serumah ngabur ke kantor (sekarang gue di kantor) akibat ga mau repot ma semua urusan di rumah. Kamar2 semua dikonciin, barang-barang semua diungsiin.
Freitag, September 23, 2005
Paintings of My Heart
My heart was like a blank canvas
but as time goes by
and many things happened in my life
Little by little the empty canvas are painted
with joy, with sadness
with good and bad memories
with people I meet, I know and be friends with
All life events -good and bad-
have the title of 'what', 'when' and 'where'
Each is painted with different and unique color
Each has equal opportunity to grow
and paint a bigger part of my heart
but some will unfortunately have to stay small
with "inactive" or "can't remember" stamp on it
None will be deleted though, 'cuz I use permanent paint
So friend,
if someday you find yourself stamped,
please don't be mad at me!
It doesn't mean that I've forgotten you
Just be patient with me and give me time
to reload my pallette with your color
Thanks for making my heart so colorful!
forever friends,
hye
June 01, 2005
but as time goes by
and many things happened in my life
Little by little the empty canvas are painted
with joy, with sadness
with good and bad memories
with people I meet, I know and be friends with
All life events -good and bad-
have the title of 'what', 'when' and 'where'
Each is painted with different and unique color
Each has equal opportunity to grow
and paint a bigger part of my heart
but some will unfortunately have to stay small
with "inactive" or "can't remember" stamp on it
None will be deleted though, 'cuz I use permanent paint
So friend,
if someday you find yourself stamped,
please don't be mad at me!
It doesn't mean that I've forgotten you
Just be patient with me and give me time
to reload my pallette with your color
Thanks for making my heart so colorful!
forever friends,
hye
June 01, 2005
Aceh Journal #5
hi guys!
got some good news this time.
Experts once said that the land that was affected by tsunami will not be able to produce anything in at least a year, but they were wrong.
We have got our first rice harvest after tsunami in Aceh, in Meulaboh, just after 8 months. Incredible, isn't it?
The local officials said that the crops this time is even better than before the tsunami.
People have managed to move the big coal ship in Lhok Nga closer to the sea.
They have started to clean the area and have used the main road again.
The 60th Indonesian independence day celebration was merry.
My friends and I went to the villages around Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar, and we saw that people managed to have some fun!
Joy and laughter all day long.
From Panjat Pinang (Pinang tree climbing - see www.flickr.com/photos/hye for picture of this) to Goni race.
And when they had fun ... we had fun too! :)
We managed to hold a mass circumcision event for students in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar where about 120 boys participated (not girls, certainly! :p)
Got a record of the process, but it's too large to be attached. Will try to attach it after it's edited.
contact me privately if you guys want to see the process.
More and more houses have been built. Some are semi permanent houses, while some other are permanent.
Schools and mosques have been rehabilitated or re-built too.
I got a new job as Social Revitalization Officer in Mercy Corps. Thanks for all those prayers, guys! :)
Almost a month without a job was certainly not a good thing, but now it's different.
So now I'm learning to adapt with my new environment and my new colleagues. My expat manager speaks indonesian very well,
so it's an advantages to us because then we can communicate better.
Has 4 very fun colleagues, 3 male and 1 female (the only female in the department)
Wish me luck and pray for me as I start my new job here.
Doing pretty well (I guess! :p) up to now, going to villages, learning some new things. I'm enjoying my work :)
Went to Sabang again last weekend, 15 of us. Good, but not good.
Good that we experienced new things along the trip.
Stayed in Iboih, about a mile away from Gapang beach.
Went snorkeling, had fish BBQ, played cards, etc.
Not good that we had to experience a race discrimination.
We were originally going to stay in Leguna Cottage (Gapang Beach), but they refused to let us in because there were 15 of us
in mix sex.
They said that they couldn't let us in because we're Indonesians, not caucasians.
Couldn't rent another room because the other rooms were already booked.
But hey, it was a good thing that we had to move to Iboih :) It was fun, and the foods were better.
Have some friends come over from Jakarta. We had fun together :)
I mean it's always nice to be able to see old friends, especially after my not being able to go home until Dec/ Jan.
next Monday we have to move house again. The contract of the current house is ending, and we couldn't afford to extend it.
So, we're going to rent what used to be the YBI house in Neusu. for me, it's back to the old house :)
So, enjoy your days, folks!
keep praying for Aceh
God bless us
hye
still miss my family :(
September 08, 2005
PS: for you guys that have been here, could you tell me how you see Aceh in the future? How Aceh will grow (or not),
and do you see that as a positive thing or not? Just send your opinion to my email. Thanks a lot! :)
PPS: see www.flickr.com/photos/hye for updated photos
got some good news this time.
Experts once said that the land that was affected by tsunami will not be able to produce anything in at least a year, but they were wrong.
We have got our first rice harvest after tsunami in Aceh, in Meulaboh, just after 8 months. Incredible, isn't it?
The local officials said that the crops this time is even better than before the tsunami.
People have managed to move the big coal ship in Lhok Nga closer to the sea.
They have started to clean the area and have used the main road again.
The 60th Indonesian independence day celebration was merry.
My friends and I went to the villages around Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar, and we saw that people managed to have some fun!
Joy and laughter all day long.
From Panjat Pinang (Pinang tree climbing - see www.flickr.com/photos/hye for picture of this) to Goni race.
And when they had fun ... we had fun too! :)
We managed to hold a mass circumcision event for students in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar where about 120 boys participated (not girls, certainly! :p)
Got a record of the process, but it's too large to be attached. Will try to attach it after it's edited.
contact me privately if you guys want to see the process.
More and more houses have been built. Some are semi permanent houses, while some other are permanent.
Schools and mosques have been rehabilitated or re-built too.
I got a new job as Social Revitalization Officer in Mercy Corps. Thanks for all those prayers, guys! :)
Almost a month without a job was certainly not a good thing, but now it's different.
So now I'm learning to adapt with my new environment and my new colleagues. My expat manager speaks indonesian very well,
so it's an advantages to us because then we can communicate better.
Has 4 very fun colleagues, 3 male and 1 female (the only female in the department)
Wish me luck and pray for me as I start my new job here.
Doing pretty well (I guess! :p) up to now, going to villages, learning some new things. I'm enjoying my work :)
Went to Sabang again last weekend, 15 of us. Good, but not good.
Good that we experienced new things along the trip.
Stayed in Iboih, about a mile away from Gapang beach.
Went snorkeling, had fish BBQ, played cards, etc.
Not good that we had to experience a race discrimination.
We were originally going to stay in Leguna Cottage (Gapang Beach), but they refused to let us in because there were 15 of us
in mix sex.
They said that they couldn't let us in because we're Indonesians, not caucasians.
Couldn't rent another room because the other rooms were already booked.
But hey, it was a good thing that we had to move to Iboih :) It was fun, and the foods were better.
Have some friends come over from Jakarta. We had fun together :)
I mean it's always nice to be able to see old friends, especially after my not being able to go home until Dec/ Jan.
next Monday we have to move house again. The contract of the current house is ending, and we couldn't afford to extend it.
So, we're going to rent what used to be the YBI house in Neusu. for me, it's back to the old house :)
So, enjoy your days, folks!
keep praying for Aceh
God bless us
hye
still miss my family :(
September 08, 2005
PS: for you guys that have been here, could you tell me how you see Aceh in the future? How Aceh will grow (or not),
and do you see that as a positive thing or not? Just send your opinion to my email. Thanks a lot! :)
PPS: see www.flickr.com/photos/hye for updated photos
Aceh Journal #4
have you ever felt that you've done your best, but it doesn't seem good enough?
how you feel that you've built something good but in the end you're not so sure about it?
how it all mixed up with no clear explanation and confuses you along with other things you have to think about ...
*sigh*
nobody said that living in a disastrous area, working with relief organization will be easy.
everyone said that living far away from your beloved ones will be hard.
so why did I come here? Is it time for me to start regretting my decision to come up here, leaving all the luxurious life I had earlier?
*sigh*
having nothing to do, sitting around thinking about the past, the present and the future can be really stressful sometimes ...
having to decide what I wanna do in the near future ...
what I wanna do with my life, what God want me to do with my life ...
that can be really really stressful ...
*sigh*
this time I come with good and bad news.
The good news is that NGOs have started to actually build houses. Some are permanent, the others are semi permanent.
I put the stress on the word actually
This means that more people will come home to their community once the TLCs or the houses are finished.
This means that people don't have to live in tents anymore.
This means that reconstruction is going pretty well.
Bad news is that some NGOs are starting to run out of funding or got too busy dealing with the system and administrative thing.
People need real action. It's been 7 months, and the progress are moving in a rather slow motion.
Hope the result of this is that they give the best for the people, and not only propaganda and promises.
YBI has finished building its first house on the 27th July. A small and cute house, painted red and cream.
Went to Sabang last weekend. The 2nd time in 2 consecutive weeks. Only this time we spent a night there.
Planned well, promoted well and ended well.
Had so much fun (plus sore feet! hehehe ... :p).
Had dinner at the port (after 1,5 hours of waiting), spent the next morning walking at the beach.
Fun!!!
Should do that again sometimes later!
More that 2 days would be better I guess.
wanna see the pictures?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hye
hope you like them :)
Pray for Aceh and the people who work here.
Read in the newspaper that some people in a village were panicked when they heard that there will be another tsunami in aceh.
We have had several storm and earthquakes this last couple of weeks.
This proved that people are still traumatized by water and quakes.
Last saturday we had quite a big one, 5.9 Richter scale earthquake (luckily I was still in Sabang, so We didn't feel it that much)
may the good Lord bless and keep you guys all,
hye
02.Aug.2005
how you feel that you've built something good but in the end you're not so sure about it?
how it all mixed up with no clear explanation and confuses you along with other things you have to think about ...
*sigh*
nobody said that living in a disastrous area, working with relief organization will be easy.
everyone said that living far away from your beloved ones will be hard.
so why did I come here? Is it time for me to start regretting my decision to come up here, leaving all the luxurious life I had earlier?
*sigh*
having nothing to do, sitting around thinking about the past, the present and the future can be really stressful sometimes ...
having to decide what I wanna do in the near future ...
what I wanna do with my life, what God want me to do with my life ...
that can be really really stressful ...
*sigh*
this time I come with good and bad news.
The good news is that NGOs have started to actually build houses. Some are permanent, the others are semi permanent.
I put the stress on the word actually
This means that more people will come home to their community once the TLCs or the houses are finished.
This means that people don't have to live in tents anymore.
This means that reconstruction is going pretty well.
Bad news is that some NGOs are starting to run out of funding or got too busy dealing with the system and administrative thing.
People need real action. It's been 7 months, and the progress are moving in a rather slow motion.
Hope the result of this is that they give the best for the people, and not only propaganda and promises.
YBI has finished building its first house on the 27th July. A small and cute house, painted red and cream.
Went to Sabang last weekend. The 2nd time in 2 consecutive weeks. Only this time we spent a night there.
Planned well, promoted well and ended well.
Had so much fun (plus sore feet! hehehe ... :p).
Had dinner at the port (after 1,5 hours of waiting), spent the next morning walking at the beach.
Fun!!!
Should do that again sometimes later!
More that 2 days would be better I guess.
wanna see the pictures?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hye
hope you like them :)
Pray for Aceh and the people who work here.
Read in the newspaper that some people in a village were panicked when they heard that there will be another tsunami in aceh.
We have had several storm and earthquakes this last couple of weeks.
This proved that people are still traumatized by water and quakes.
Last saturday we had quite a big one, 5.9 Richter scale earthquake (luckily I was still in Sabang, so We didn't feel it that much)
may the good Lord bless and keep you guys all,
hye
02.Aug.2005
Aceh Journal #3
Happy 2 months to me! :) (09 July 2005)
Sorry it took so long to write another journal.
The thing is that I've been living my life a month without any real access to computer.
I mean like working in front of a computer, and it's kinda frustrating me.
I got access to internet, but never got any real chance to stay still and write down my journal.
and now ... sitting in front of a computer, don't know what to write since I have to many things to tell.
this past month was great!
met some new wonderful people, learnt a lot from these people.
Learnt about trauma counselling in June, experiencing public speaking translation, and now I'm learning about water and sanitation.
Busy doing well surveys, been in a PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) training,
learning how to clean and disinfecting well, etc.
One good thing is that now we are beginning to have lots of BBQ parties.
NGOs have BBQ parties every week. Unfortunately we don't have the parties every night. Otherwise it would have been great, party every night!
Hey!!! I could be a party boy here! hehe ... :p
I think the reason is that we will be pretty bored if we don't have any parties. Maybe ...
I mean we don't have any entertainment here (not a decent one, at least!), and banda aceh is like a dead city after 10 p.m.
dvd??? hmm ... not much of a help (since I don't have any computer/ laptop! hehe ... :p)
books? hmm ... I'm not much of a reader, so I have to get myself used to reading
found a pork center though! hehehe ... So I finally ate pork here in Banda Aceh, and it wasn't brought from anywhere outside Banda Aceh!!!
so there's actually pork in aceh! hahaha ... :p
found Country Steak House too! :) A nice small place
So here's a brief of what happened the past month ...
for 3 weeks in June my days was filled with translating for a trauma counselor.
A new thing for me since I was so used to working outdoor.
Lots of interesting things happened.
Public speaking translation, heard some interesting stories, went to some interesting places.
So my days in JUne were filled with sitting in clinics, listening to people's stories, etc.
Kinda shocked at the first time, when a man told me a long story and then I had to translate it.
I had some difficulties at first, but began to cope with it later in the second week.
Kinda nice actually, being able to help other people in a different way.
Mentally, not physically.
In the last session of counselling, when the trauma counselor was going to go home,
people cried and they were so grateful that we were there to help them.
That was something new.
Sometimes people come to the counseling session without knowing that it was actually a counseling session.
Funny, because they were expecting to get a physical treatment, not a mental treatment.
But I think people still need this kind of counseling, at least until the end of this year.
Cristiano Ronaldo came to town, but failed to actually entertain people.
He didn't get out of the bus due to the lack of security.
At the last week of June, I was transferred to water and sanitation team. I'm still learning, since I'm not a wat-san expert.
In the UNICEF wat-san coordination meeting I first came to, I understood that I don't understand enough about wat-san
to be able to continue the work next August.
I'm talking about things like well cleaning, disinfecting wells, drilling a borehole, PHAST, etc.
Those are the things I know but I don't know. Meaning that I know only the basic part of them, and that's not enough.
I'm learning ... taking all the trainings that are needed to understand more about wat-san,
been in meetings that are sometimes completely useless.
Did some surveys, assessments, etc.
Sometimes this can be very frustrating, considering that I know nothing about wat-san engineering.
well, the reconstruction and rehabilitation of aceh is going on, now that the emergency phase is over.
things have got better and better. We did have the lack of BBM (fuel) for a few days
people had to stay in queue to get fuel, but that was last week.
Schools have begun again, and they have rehabilitated the building.
Methodist school even give free education.
Now I've been in meetings, lots of meetings!
What I see from the meetings and all the things that are happening in Aceh is that NGOs need more coordination to be able
to rehabilitate and reconstruct Aceh better. So far I see that NGOs to put forward their egos, their personal interests, funds, etc. into Aceh,
and not think about how to reconstruct and rehabilitate Aceh together.
I mean I know that every NGO has their own mission and vision, but don't you think that it would be best if we all sit together
to talk about our problems, the difficulties that occured in the field and try to solve them together?
We do have some NGO meetings, but in reality I know that there are NGOs that don't want to cooperate with other NGOS, even if
they are doing the same thing in the same village.
Or the lack of coordination in the NGO, lack of communication, etc.
Sometimes even in big NGOs they don't communicate well.
how good is that? or bad ...
Anyway, need some days off
been here for almost 3 months now
dunno when I can get some days off
pray for aceh ...
hye
20 July 2005
PS: if you guys have any request of what kind of news you wud like to hear from aceh, just let me know. K?
Sorry it took so long to write another journal.
The thing is that I've been living my life a month without any real access to computer.
I mean like working in front of a computer, and it's kinda frustrating me.
I got access to internet, but never got any real chance to stay still and write down my journal.
and now ... sitting in front of a computer, don't know what to write since I have to many things to tell.
this past month was great!
met some new wonderful people, learnt a lot from these people.
Learnt about trauma counselling in June, experiencing public speaking translation, and now I'm learning about water and sanitation.
Busy doing well surveys, been in a PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) training,
learning how to clean and disinfecting well, etc.
One good thing is that now we are beginning to have lots of BBQ parties.
NGOs have BBQ parties every week. Unfortunately we don't have the parties every night. Otherwise it would have been great, party every night!
Hey!!! I could be a party boy here! hehe ... :p
I think the reason is that we will be pretty bored if we don't have any parties. Maybe ...
I mean we don't have any entertainment here (not a decent one, at least!), and banda aceh is like a dead city after 10 p.m.
dvd??? hmm ... not much of a help (since I don't have any computer/ laptop! hehe ... :p)
books? hmm ... I'm not much of a reader, so I have to get myself used to reading
found a pork center though! hehehe ... So I finally ate pork here in Banda Aceh, and it wasn't brought from anywhere outside Banda Aceh!!!
so there's actually pork in aceh! hahaha ... :p
found Country Steak House too! :) A nice small place
So here's a brief of what happened the past month ...
for 3 weeks in June my days was filled with translating for a trauma counselor.
A new thing for me since I was so used to working outdoor.
Lots of interesting things happened.
Public speaking translation, heard some interesting stories, went to some interesting places.
So my days in JUne were filled with sitting in clinics, listening to people's stories, etc.
Kinda shocked at the first time, when a man told me a long story and then I had to translate it.
I had some difficulties at first, but began to cope with it later in the second week.
Kinda nice actually, being able to help other people in a different way.
Mentally, not physically.
In the last session of counselling, when the trauma counselor was going to go home,
people cried and they were so grateful that we were there to help them.
That was something new.
Sometimes people come to the counseling session without knowing that it was actually a counseling session.
Funny, because they were expecting to get a physical treatment, not a mental treatment.
But I think people still need this kind of counseling, at least until the end of this year.
Cristiano Ronaldo came to town, but failed to actually entertain people.
He didn't get out of the bus due to the lack of security.
At the last week of June, I was transferred to water and sanitation team. I'm still learning, since I'm not a wat-san expert.
In the UNICEF wat-san coordination meeting I first came to, I understood that I don't understand enough about wat-san
to be able to continue the work next August.
I'm talking about things like well cleaning, disinfecting wells, drilling a borehole, PHAST, etc.
Those are the things I know but I don't know. Meaning that I know only the basic part of them, and that's not enough.
I'm learning ... taking all the trainings that are needed to understand more about wat-san,
been in meetings that are sometimes completely useless.
Did some surveys, assessments, etc.
Sometimes this can be very frustrating, considering that I know nothing about wat-san engineering.
well, the reconstruction and rehabilitation of aceh is going on, now that the emergency phase is over.
things have got better and better. We did have the lack of BBM (fuel) for a few days
people had to stay in queue to get fuel, but that was last week.
Schools have begun again, and they have rehabilitated the building.
Methodist school even give free education.
Now I've been in meetings, lots of meetings!
What I see from the meetings and all the things that are happening in Aceh is that NGOs need more coordination to be able
to rehabilitate and reconstruct Aceh better. So far I see that NGOs to put forward their egos, their personal interests, funds, etc. into Aceh,
and not think about how to reconstruct and rehabilitate Aceh together.
I mean I know that every NGO has their own mission and vision, but don't you think that it would be best if we all sit together
to talk about our problems, the difficulties that occured in the field and try to solve them together?
We do have some NGO meetings, but in reality I know that there are NGOs that don't want to cooperate with other NGOS, even if
they are doing the same thing in the same village.
Or the lack of coordination in the NGO, lack of communication, etc.
Sometimes even in big NGOs they don't communicate well.
how good is that? or bad ...
Anyway, need some days off
been here for almost 3 months now
dunno when I can get some days off
pray for aceh ...
hye
20 July 2005
PS: if you guys have any request of what kind of news you wud like to hear from aceh, just let me know. K?
Aceh Journal #2
and the story continues ...
it's been almost 2 weeks since I wrote the first journal
many things have happened, both ups and downs.
I didn't do much work these 2 weeks. The only work I did I considered not t be a work because I had so much fun with it.
let's talk about the ups first!
- 26 may 2005
I'm now officially an uncle of 2 nieces. My sister delivered her 2nd daughter at around 10pm. She's 3.1kg and 49cm long
- I met South Africaners at Samaritan's Purse's bbq party. They're young missionaries. Nice to be able to meet people from different nations. Yesterday we had another bbq, and there were people from 10 different nations sitting and eating together, talking and sharing. How awesome is that?
- Jannike (one of the south africaners) taught me how to see the southern cross. yippie! Now I know 1 constellation. I mean to me all stars looked teh same :p)
- I've had 2 bbq parties, 1 hamburger party n 1 south african breakfast in the past 2 weeks
- I had the first cold water mandi in aceh. Today (june 03) my friends and I went to a waterfall up in the mountain. It was actually a recreation park that was closed about 5 yrs ago due to the arm conflicts that often occurs in that area. It was great!
- I found a new weekend activity: fishing at the harbor. 've done that once, and it was pretty fun! But now I have dark skin (man! I gotta avoid being outside a lot, otherwise I'll get darker and darker! :p)
- I watched 2 live soccer matches. They were competing in the 2005 Mayor's Cup. Tried to get the shirt of a player --> didn't succeed! Tried to get the banner --> in progress
- I spent one afternoon at the beach with friends, and it was one of the best afternoon.
- my US mom's back from Bosnia n she's alright.
now the downs. Hmm ... I don't really wanna talk about them, but there's one thing I've been struggling the most.
There were times when I had nothing to do but to stay at home and do basically ... nothing! And that was boring! But that's OK because sometimes I needed to take some rest.
There were also things that tempted me to go back home, but I have committted myself to stay here longer. I have no idea how long I'm gonna stay here. I still need to consult that with Him.
One night we had a devotion about personal struggles. Got me thinking about mine.
I asked myself what has been the hardest thing for me eversince I'm in aceh.
That night I didn't really know for sure, but I found out what it is the following night.
May 31st was the end of my original contract with the organization I'm currently with.
Then the questions I've been trying to avoid came.
It was something more or less like this: do I really wanna pursue my dream? Is that really what He wanted me to do here?
I was confused. This is the one question I've never been able to answer clearly.
Talking to my mom didn't help much, except for proving that I miss my family a lot!
I got the answer after talking to several friends.
A counselor at my church in Bandung once said that maybe I should give the "remote control" to Him instead of keeping it to myself.
That was before I left for Aceh.
well, maybe it's true.
I can't say that it's true or wrong because I'm still trying to find it out.
I have been praying that He will take control of me, but I don't know for sure if I have done that completely.
Maybe I haven't ...
pray for me, pray for aceh ...
hye
4 Juni 2005
it's been almost 2 weeks since I wrote the first journal
many things have happened, both ups and downs.
I didn't do much work these 2 weeks. The only work I did I considered not t be a work because I had so much fun with it.
let's talk about the ups first!
- 26 may 2005
I'm now officially an uncle of 2 nieces. My sister delivered her 2nd daughter at around 10pm. She's 3.1kg and 49cm long
- I met South Africaners at Samaritan's Purse's bbq party. They're young missionaries. Nice to be able to meet people from different nations. Yesterday we had another bbq, and there were people from 10 different nations sitting and eating together, talking and sharing. How awesome is that?
- Jannike (one of the south africaners) taught me how to see the southern cross. yippie! Now I know 1 constellation. I mean to me all stars looked teh same :p)
- I've had 2 bbq parties, 1 hamburger party n 1 south african breakfast in the past 2 weeks
- I had the first cold water mandi in aceh. Today (june 03) my friends and I went to a waterfall up in the mountain. It was actually a recreation park that was closed about 5 yrs ago due to the arm conflicts that often occurs in that area. It was great!
- I found a new weekend activity: fishing at the harbor. 've done that once, and it was pretty fun! But now I have dark skin (man! I gotta avoid being outside a lot, otherwise I'll get darker and darker! :p)
- I watched 2 live soccer matches. They were competing in the 2005 Mayor's Cup. Tried to get the shirt of a player --> didn't succeed! Tried to get the banner --> in progress
- I spent one afternoon at the beach with friends, and it was one of the best afternoon.
- my US mom's back from Bosnia n she's alright.
now the downs. Hmm ... I don't really wanna talk about them, but there's one thing I've been struggling the most.
There were times when I had nothing to do but to stay at home and do basically ... nothing! And that was boring! But that's OK because sometimes I needed to take some rest.
There were also things that tempted me to go back home, but I have committted myself to stay here longer. I have no idea how long I'm gonna stay here. I still need to consult that with Him.
One night we had a devotion about personal struggles. Got me thinking about mine.
I asked myself what has been the hardest thing for me eversince I'm in aceh.
That night I didn't really know for sure, but I found out what it is the following night.
May 31st was the end of my original contract with the organization I'm currently with.
Then the questions I've been trying to avoid came.
It was something more or less like this: do I really wanna pursue my dream? Is that really what He wanted me to do here?
I was confused. This is the one question I've never been able to answer clearly.
Talking to my mom didn't help much, except for proving that I miss my family a lot!
I got the answer after talking to several friends.
A counselor at my church in Bandung once said that maybe I should give the "remote control" to Him instead of keeping it to myself.
That was before I left for Aceh.
well, maybe it's true.
I can't say that it's true or wrong because I'm still trying to find it out.
I have been praying that He will take control of me, but I don't know for sure if I have done that completely.
Maybe I haven't ...
pray for me, pray for aceh ...
hye
4 Juni 2005
Aceh Journal #1
maapkan daku yang baru update blog ini, rada males juga seh punya 2 blog.
Klu mau yang selalu di-update, liat aja blog gue di friendster. K?
dear prens,
as you all know, I am now an acehnese :)
I promised you guys Loyalers a story (remember?), so whether you like it or not, whether you'll read this or not, I'm gonna give you one.
it's been 2 weeks since I become an acehnese :)
kondisi di aceh dah jauh lebih baik dari waktu terakhir gua dateng kesini
usaha dah mulai pada buka, n NGO-NGO yang ada disini dah mulai bebenah supaya lebih settle
dah banyak kejadian yang gua alamin, good and bad ones.
mulai dari sendal reebok biru gua yang ilang di hari kedua (yang btw udah gua temuin sapa pencurinya, tapi belon tau gimana cara ngambilnya lagi)
minggu pertama gua jadi translator buat tim medis dari California (actually, there were 8 of us yang jadi translator)
it was fun! Got some new friends and tempat buat nginep klu gua ke CA! hehe ...
Sempet ngerasain berlayar ke pante utara aceh (gua pernah naek fishing boat ke samudera hindia loh!!! hehe)
dari 9 hari nemenin mereka, 7 hari-nya diabisin di kota kecil di utara NAD yang namanya Sigli.
Panas bgt soalnya deket pante, tapi kotanya nyaman buat ditinggalin. Udaranya bersih soalnya kendaraan ga padet n ga banyak debu kaya di banda aceh.
Mestinya bisa perpanjang seminggu lagi sampe hari kemis ini, tapi gua tolak kerna di rumah yang gua inepin di sigli ga ada tv, sedangkan you all know bahwa kemis subuh ini ada final liga champions :p
pulang k banda aceh ada sisi baik n buruknya
sisi baiknya gua dapet temen2 baru anak2 mahasiswa dari virginia (yang gua translate-in), tapi masalah mulai bermunculan.
sisi baiknya lagi, untuk kali pertama gua ngalamin dateng ke pesta pernikahan tradisional ala aceh. upacaranya di mesjid raya baitturahman pula (meski ga bole masuk kerna bukan muslim)
sisi buruknya, di rumah yang sekarang gua tinggalin mulai bermunculan masalah
ada satu malay gendeng yang ceritanya jadi office mgr tapi bukannya bikin rumah jadi aman tenteram damai sejahtera, malah bikin seisi rumah plus suasananya acak-acakan n ga comfortable buat ditinggalin.
tadinya seh gua netral ma dia, soalnya dia ga cari gara2 ma gua, tapi as from minggu, gua dah mulai dalam status awas/ waspada (kaya Tangkuban Perahu aja! :p)
dia emang trouble maker abis, disini ga ada yang suka dia
selama 2 malem berturut2 gua dikonci d luar rumah gara2 katanya gua pulang kemaleman (pdhl ga pernah ada jam malem)
malem pertama (saptu malem) gua akhirnya tidur di rumah yang satu lagi, tapi malem kedua gua telp temen minta dibukain pintu.
btw, minggu pagi disini ada gempa gede (ter- yang pernah gua alamin di aceh)
masalah laennya, soal kontrak n salary yang belon diomongin tapi tiba2 ada kesepakatan sepihak
so, mungkin bulan depan gua bakal pindah ke NGO laen yang bisa menenteramkan kondisi fisik, mental emosional n kantong gua! hehe ...
belon pasti seh, masi mesti diomongin dulu
hari minggu kemaren ga sempet travel ke satu desa sktr 40 menit dari banda aceh
u noe wat? Gua ma satu tmen dijamu ma satu keluarga GAM!!! can u actually believe it?
Gua juga sekarang bertambah item thanks to desa Pulot n LamNga. Di 2 desa itu gua bantu bersihin parit, bangun tembok rumah Pa Keucik (kpl desa) n gali septic tank
alhasil gua ngitemin (moga2 dalam bbrp bulan kedepan ga ada lagi tugas kaya gini! hehe ...)
niwei,
mungkin akan ada beberapa dari kalian yang bener2 baca imel ini dan mulai mempertanyakan apa motivasi gua ke aceh
so, just a brief review of it
I have always felt that Babeh nyang di atas sana pengen gua ke aceh sini sebagai bagian dari pelayanan dan pursue of my future (jangan tanya darimana gua dapet feeling ini)
so I went, tapi gua masih belon ngerti napa gua mesti ada di aceh.
Mungkin ada sumting yang Babeh pengen robah dari gua, mungkin mungkin dan masi banyak mungkin mungkin yang laen.
yang pasti untuk saat ini gua pengen dapet kerjaan yang bisa membuat gua damai, dalam arti bahwa gua bisa melayani disitu, kerjaannya n lingkungan kerjanya asik n gaji juga ga kecil (seberapa gede itu relatif buat gua)
jadi translator menyenangkan, soalnya gua bisa belajar banyak hal baru dan itu menyenangkan bgt buat gua.
jadi sumting else juga buat gua suatu hal yang baru dan bisa sangat menantang kerna itu artinya gua harus banyak belajar
sampe sekarang gua masih belon tau apa yang Babeh mau gua lakuin di aceh, masi blur gitu deh
so, please pray for me supaya gua betah di aceh dimanapun Babeh tempatin gua
please pray supaya gua bisa jadi berkat disini
please pray buat rencana Babeh for me
and please pray supaya ada lebih banyak lagi makanan modern masuk ke aceh! hehehe ...
(sekarang cuman ada KFC, parah abis!)
peace out,
hye
23 Mei 2005
Klu mau yang selalu di-update, liat aja blog gue di friendster. K?
dear prens,
as you all know, I am now an acehnese :)
I promised you guys Loyalers a story (remember?), so whether you like it or not, whether you'll read this or not, I'm gonna give you one.
it's been 2 weeks since I become an acehnese :)
kondisi di aceh dah jauh lebih baik dari waktu terakhir gua dateng kesini
usaha dah mulai pada buka, n NGO-NGO yang ada disini dah mulai bebenah supaya lebih settle
dah banyak kejadian yang gua alamin, good and bad ones.
mulai dari sendal reebok biru gua yang ilang di hari kedua (yang btw udah gua temuin sapa pencurinya, tapi belon tau gimana cara ngambilnya lagi)
minggu pertama gua jadi translator buat tim medis dari California (actually, there were 8 of us yang jadi translator)
it was fun! Got some new friends and tempat buat nginep klu gua ke CA! hehe ...
Sempet ngerasain berlayar ke pante utara aceh (gua pernah naek fishing boat ke samudera hindia loh!!! hehe)
dari 9 hari nemenin mereka, 7 hari-nya diabisin di kota kecil di utara NAD yang namanya Sigli.
Panas bgt soalnya deket pante, tapi kotanya nyaman buat ditinggalin. Udaranya bersih soalnya kendaraan ga padet n ga banyak debu kaya di banda aceh.
Mestinya bisa perpanjang seminggu lagi sampe hari kemis ini, tapi gua tolak kerna di rumah yang gua inepin di sigli ga ada tv, sedangkan you all know bahwa kemis subuh ini ada final liga champions :p
pulang k banda aceh ada sisi baik n buruknya
sisi baiknya gua dapet temen2 baru anak2 mahasiswa dari virginia (yang gua translate-in), tapi masalah mulai bermunculan.
sisi baiknya lagi, untuk kali pertama gua ngalamin dateng ke pesta pernikahan tradisional ala aceh. upacaranya di mesjid raya baitturahman pula (meski ga bole masuk kerna bukan muslim)
sisi buruknya, di rumah yang sekarang gua tinggalin mulai bermunculan masalah
ada satu malay gendeng yang ceritanya jadi office mgr tapi bukannya bikin rumah jadi aman tenteram damai sejahtera, malah bikin seisi rumah plus suasananya acak-acakan n ga comfortable buat ditinggalin.
tadinya seh gua netral ma dia, soalnya dia ga cari gara2 ma gua, tapi as from minggu, gua dah mulai dalam status awas/ waspada (kaya Tangkuban Perahu aja! :p)
dia emang trouble maker abis, disini ga ada yang suka dia
selama 2 malem berturut2 gua dikonci d luar rumah gara2 katanya gua pulang kemaleman (pdhl ga pernah ada jam malem)
malem pertama (saptu malem) gua akhirnya tidur di rumah yang satu lagi, tapi malem kedua gua telp temen minta dibukain pintu.
btw, minggu pagi disini ada gempa gede (ter- yang pernah gua alamin di aceh)
masalah laennya, soal kontrak n salary yang belon diomongin tapi tiba2 ada kesepakatan sepihak
so, mungkin bulan depan gua bakal pindah ke NGO laen yang bisa menenteramkan kondisi fisik, mental emosional n kantong gua! hehe ...
belon pasti seh, masi mesti diomongin dulu
hari minggu kemaren ga sempet travel ke satu desa sktr 40 menit dari banda aceh
u noe wat? Gua ma satu tmen dijamu ma satu keluarga GAM!!! can u actually believe it?
Gua juga sekarang bertambah item thanks to desa Pulot n LamNga. Di 2 desa itu gua bantu bersihin parit, bangun tembok rumah Pa Keucik (kpl desa) n gali septic tank
alhasil gua ngitemin (moga2 dalam bbrp bulan kedepan ga ada lagi tugas kaya gini! hehe ...)
niwei,
mungkin akan ada beberapa dari kalian yang bener2 baca imel ini dan mulai mempertanyakan apa motivasi gua ke aceh
so, just a brief review of it
I have always felt that Babeh nyang di atas sana pengen gua ke aceh sini sebagai bagian dari pelayanan dan pursue of my future (jangan tanya darimana gua dapet feeling ini)
so I went, tapi gua masih belon ngerti napa gua mesti ada di aceh.
Mungkin ada sumting yang Babeh pengen robah dari gua, mungkin mungkin dan masi banyak mungkin mungkin yang laen.
yang pasti untuk saat ini gua pengen dapet kerjaan yang bisa membuat gua damai, dalam arti bahwa gua bisa melayani disitu, kerjaannya n lingkungan kerjanya asik n gaji juga ga kecil (seberapa gede itu relatif buat gua)
jadi translator menyenangkan, soalnya gua bisa belajar banyak hal baru dan itu menyenangkan bgt buat gua.
jadi sumting else juga buat gua suatu hal yang baru dan bisa sangat menantang kerna itu artinya gua harus banyak belajar
sampe sekarang gua masih belon tau apa yang Babeh mau gua lakuin di aceh, masi blur gitu deh
so, please pray for me supaya gua betah di aceh dimanapun Babeh tempatin gua
please pray supaya gua bisa jadi berkat disini
please pray buat rencana Babeh for me
and please pray supaya ada lebih banyak lagi makanan modern masuk ke aceh! hehehe ...
(sekarang cuman ada KFC, parah abis!)
peace out,
hye
23 Mei 2005
