Australia helps Acehnese school<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Seven months after the tsunami, spirits at a medical polytechnic
\ncampus have picked up despite the destruction wrought by the
\ndisaster still evident. There is no signpost bearing the campus
\nname nor fence surrounding the school.<\/p>\n
All activity on the campus, located next to Zainoel Abidin
\nGeneral Hospital, ceased for three months after the tsunami.<\/p>\n
\"Back then, the campus was covered in deep mud. Fortunately,
\nthe Australians helped, cleaning up the building and assisting in
\nreplacing damaged facilities,\" said Beti, a second-year nursing
\nstudent.<\/p>\n
Australians have earned a special place in the students'
\nhearts. Besides helping to cleanup the campus, several Australian
\nsoldiers taught the nursing school students for around a month
\ndue to a lack of teachers.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, with bright faces, the students greeted the
\narrival of Australian Ambassador David Ritchie (photo above) to
\ntheir campus. He did not arrive empty-handed but came armed with
\n1,450 scholarships for nursing school students and other Acehnese
\nstudents, including 600 scholarships to further their studies in
\nAustralia.<\/p>\n
\"Our assistance to young nurses will help them continue and
\nfinish their education because many of them lost everything (in
\nthe disaster),\" Ritchie announced in Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
He said the assistance would cover the educational needs of
\nAcehnese children, and that A$1 billion (Rp 76 trillion) had been
\nset aside to assist education and health care in the province.<\/p>\n
The assistance was happily welcomed by Beti and other
\nstudents, who said they had been unable to pay their education
\nexpenses following the tsunami.<\/p>\n
\"I'm lucky because I and my parents survived the tsunami. But
\nmany of my friends were orphaned and the scholarships will help
\nthem,\" the 19-year-old Beti said.<\/p>\n
Apart from providing scholarships, the Australian government
\nwill also build 66 subdistrict offices in Aceh Besar regency and
\nUlee Lheue Port in Banda Aceh.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-helps-acehnese-school-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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