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Aceh Peace Project Prospers 
Alice Evans, December 2006

Pak Zul seemed to be unaware of the other 23 people in the room as he carefully drew symbolic images of his personal “history of conflict.”  He included pictures of living in the jungle with other resistance fighters and of caves where he had hidden in fear from the Indonesian military.  Later, a small group listened intently as he described the pictures, telling why he joined the Acehnese resistance movement as a student, his pain at the death of friends and family members caught up in the civil war, and the challenges he was now experiencing as he re-entered a very different world from the one he left twenty years before. He said that telling his story eased some of his pain.  Those who had quietly listened responded that the Zul’s sharing helped them better understand.

Five other groups of four participants each engaged in the same experience of symbolic drawing and story telling. This integral part of the third round of the human rights, democracy, conflict transformation and trauma healing training in Banda Aceh was intended to help participants better understand their own personal reactions to conflict as they prepared to guide others to deal more constructively with their differences. However, the drawing and telling offered much more than this.  As they shared life stories, participants were also helping one another heal the traumatic effects of war and the pain surrounding the devastating tsunami of December 2004 –critical steps toward shaping positive dreams for the future.  

The five-day course was led by Plowshares staff in partnership with staff from the Human Rights Directorate in Jakarta and the Indonesian Center for Empowering Reconciliation and Peace. The enthusiastic response to the course from civil servants, former soldiers in the resistance movement, university faculty, local religious leaders and representatives of human rights organizations confirmed the relevance of a course focused on building skills to help develop a sustainable democratic society after 30 years of civil war and a tragic catastrophe.

December 2006 marks the second anniversary of the most devastating natural disaster in modern times.  The earthquake and tsunami centered just off the coast of Aceh left 170,000 dead or missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.  Bob Evans and I visited Aceh soon after the tsunami and saw first hand the massive damage to lives and property. By our visit in November 2006, roads and power have been restored in most areas, fishing boats rebuilt, many new offices and schools erected, and almost all of the homeless have been housed in some form. Forty percent of those whose homes were destroyed are now living in new houses while some 60 percent are living with relatives, friends or in temporary barracks.

Two of the greatest challenges now facing development agencies are employment and home construction, with a priority of moving families from crowded, unsanitary and often insecure barracks.  Although many are understandably frustrated with the slow of recovery, there is still faith that the government and donor agencies will fulfill their promises. The spirit of cooperation and support by established institutions is heartening. More than one university campus, including the Islamic University and Plowshares host, has opened its grounds to temporary housing for homeless families, bearing with good humor (and new fences) the displaced persons accompanying cattle and goats which survived the tsunami.

The successful provincial elections held on December 13, 2006 are another powerful symbol of recovery and rehabilitation. The first genuinely democratic elections ever held in Aceh for provincial officials were internationally confirmed as peaceful and fair by both Asian and European monitors, marking a new promising future for Aceh.  Eight teams competed for the role of state governor and vice-governor. A month before the elections all of the candidates publicly agreed to accept the winning team without challenge and not lie about one another in their campaigning.  (This is a remarkable approach that Plowshares staff suggests would be welcome in many other parts of the world, including the US.) Although the official notification of results is not due until January, it appears that the new governor is most likely to be Irwandi Yusuf, a member of the resistance forces who was part of the successful negotiations with Indonesia for the August 2005 peace accord.    

Another sign of hope and progress has been the realization of actions plans developed in Plowshares’ joint human rights/conflict transformation/trauma healing workshops. Past participants are now teaching peace courses in elementary schools, and concrete plans are underway to work more closely with rural village leaders and development agencies. An outgrowth of the March ‘06 workshop is a new call-in radio program where listeners can call in questions to academics and human rights activists regarding human rights promotion and violations.  Staff members of this joint program believe that the workshop participants’ abilities, spirit, energy and dreams for the future are central ingredients of the exciting progress being made in Aceh. 

Plowshares staff deeply appreciates the committed supporters who make it possible for us to be engaged in this exciting and promising program. Additional contributions will be applied toward the challenge grant offered by Kate and Hugh McLean through 2007.  Please contact Plowshares to learn more about our work in Aceh and to help Plowshares sustain the momentum of this important peace and human development program.