Aceh-Part 2

Our time in Aceh was full, which is why I decided to spare you from reading it all in one post. As we approached the building that houses several Wellspring projects, I was excited at the prospect of all I'd find. We first walked into our computer lab. We currently have 150 students enrolled in our computer course, each working on a computer purchased by Wellspring. With a curriculum from a Jakarta based university, each student is part of a three month course under the direction of a certified trainer. Their final exam is sent to Jakarta for grading, and the certificate of completion is stamped with the university seal. Most of the students are female, and this course will greatly assist them in obtaining suitable jobs.

We next walked into our beauty training salon, the first of its kind in Aceh. Fifteen girls very attentively applied makeup to their models as part of their three hour day. In three months, they will have completed hair and beauty training, be employed in the salon for an internship, and then be qualified for an outside position.

We then walked upstairs to the counseling center, where four counselors we have hired and trained are currently seeing 60 regular clients. Talking over orange juice and wonderful Acehnese fried peanuts, we spent some time talking with these therapists and learning of their experiences and challenges. What we heard is particularly interesting. In America, one can openly comment about visiting a therapist, and in fact, if you don't have one, you're in the minority. But in Acehnese culture, therapy and counseling, discussing fears and talking about grief, are entirely new ideas. And so initially, the people were skeptical. They were not sure they wanted to open up, or even how to do so. Today however, the counselors say the people can't wait to come again and have grown so appreciative of what they can share in confidence. The counselors' greatest problem now is turning down numerous marriage proposals from people just so thrilled to find someone who will listen to them!

After eating lunch at the two-week old Pizza Hut, we continued onto our final project, which is underway in two locations. We visited both villages and our tailoring projects at each site, where a total of 45 women are learning to make clothing. This group is still early in their learning, and they proudly showed us clothes they had made for themselves as part of their training. Some even modeled them for us, and laughed wholeheartedly when they tried them on. They were a very lively group of women of all ages. Currently, there is one salesman for both locations, who zips around on his motorbike with bundles of colorful clothes to sell.

It is with both a little sadness and much satisfaction that we anticipate turning all of our Acehnese projects over to local leadership in September. The first time I came to Aceh, we spent quite a bit of time at a refugee camp near the water. Once a village of 1500, only 300 people remained. Just hours before we had arrived, insurgents had attacked the camp and stolen medicines and clothing. A large mosque was an identifying landmark; one whole side of it had been destroyed by the water, and it was somehow barely supported by broken pillars. I asked to visit this same location, as its memory has stayed so vividly in my mind.

The mosque is now fully repaired, and only the bent star on the very top of the dome reminds you of the powerful wave that once swept over it. There is no longer a refugee camp, and brilliant green vegetation is all around. But what surprised me most was the color of the water. Before, it had been almost black in color. And now, I suppose as sediment has settled, it has returned to what was its natural color—a gorgeous shade of electric green. With the pure white sand as a contrast, it is a picture so striking, you don't even want to blink. As I stood in the middle of the street in front of the mosque, two boys flew toward me on their bicycles. They were racing, and just laughing and riding with abandon with their hair blowing in the wind. And I thought it was a really beautiful picture. Sometimes when you are immersed in something, you fail to see the sign of healing and growth, as they tend to come in baby steps easily missed. But as an outsider with a periodic view, it was incredible to see the signs of restoration. We can never replace what was lost, and the lives will never be forgotten, but you see one foot moving forward and new life on the horizon.