It’s Friday afternoon in Banda Aceh and it’s drizzling. The muezzins' call to prayer sounds, merging with the noise of the traffic.

Normality seems to have returned to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, the Indonesian province that was worst affected when the tsunami hit.

Today, there are almost no signs of the devastation. The white walls of the main mosque in the heart of the city have been beautifully restored. The shops and coffee houses have reopened and most of the inhabitants are back home in newly-built or renovated houses.

Some people still living in temporary shelters

However, not everybody can enjoy the luxury of a new home. Near the harbour, there are several wooden shacks. Hendra Setiwan lives in these structures that were supposed to be temporary shelters with his family and 15 others.

"My wife is Acehnese,” he explains. “She lost her parents in the tsunami. We are still waiting for the house the government promised us but we haven't heard back from them."

After the tsunami, the Indonesian government set up a special agency for reconstruction in Aceh called the BRR. Over the course of five years, the agency has built more than 140,000 houses.

All in all, the BRR has done a good job, says Klaus Peters, who is based in Aceh and works for the NGO German Agro Action, also known as Welthungerhilfe.

"It is easy to criticise the agency but it's very difficult to do the work better than they have done under the circumstances. We must not forget that there was no big corruption scandal and considering the huge amounts of money involved, this is a big accomplishment in Indonesia."

Aid organisations brought world

German Agro Action is only one of scores of foreign aid organisations that came to Aceh after the tsunami. They did not just build houses and roads but also brought work to Aceh. They hired local carpenters and builders, translators, and drivers. For a while, work was abundant.

But this has changed over the past year. One by one, the foreign organisations have pulled out of Aceh, taking the job opportunities with them.

Nonetheless, a few organisations anticipated the need to ensure the livelihood of the tsunami victims. German Agro Action for example initiated some projects in Sigli, a small town that is a two-hour drive from Banda Aceh.

Sewing to boost family income

One of the most successful projects is the home sewing group that is made up of five women.

Rosidah, the group leader, has been sewing for 15 years. “After the tsunami,” she explains, “we gathered those who already had some basic skills and trained them. It's not always easy because most of us have young children. We always come together if there is a big order, otherwise we work from home."

Rosidah is happy that her sewing can help boost the family income. Asked about the tsunami, she just shrugs. “Why look back?”, she says. Rosidah would rather look into the future, hoping for a better life for her family of five.

Author: Ziphora Robina
Editor: Anne Thomas