Turkey helps Acehnese in unique way<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Muhammad smiled brightly, showing off a plastic bag with 10 warm
\nflat breads in his hand as if they were precious stones.<\/p>\n
Every afternoon, the 45-year-old resident of Kuta Alam
\ndistrict has a new routine -- queuing up in front of a Turkish
\norganization's office in Lhueng Bata, Banda Aceh to get a share
\nof the warm bread.<\/p>\n
\"I love its taste, especially when eaten with hot coffee,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The queue at the office starts at 4 p.m. and lasts until 6
\np.m. every day. Everyone waiting in line, both grownups and
\nchildren, get the bread.<\/p>\n
The 15-cm flat bread is the Istanbul Metropolitan
\nMunicipality's unique way of assisting the Acehnese after the
\nquake-triggered tsunami rocked Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam on Dec.
\n26 last year.<\/p>\n
Every day, 10,000 flat breads are prepared and handed out to
\nthe tsunami refugees, orphans and residents.<\/p>\n
The bread-making activity started on Jan. 28 this year, with
\nthe machine brought directly from Turkey. At first, they were
\nusing ingredients brought in from Turkey, but then replaced them
\nwith local materials, like flour and sugar from Banda Aceh or
\nMedan.<\/p>\n
\"We usually make salty bread, but because the Acehnese like it
\nsweet, we add a little bit of sugar, said Syaref Aktaz, a member
\nof the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.<\/p>\n
He said the bread was prepared because in Turkey, the bread is
\na staple, just like rice is here, as well as to bring the Turkish
\nculture closer to the Acehnese.<\/p>\n
The bread-making, he said, is conducted in an eight-by-four
\nsquare-meter room and involves 12 workers and two chefs. The 12
\nworkers are local residents who were the tsunami victims, while
\nthe chefs are Turkish.<\/p>\n
\"The 12 workers work here part time,\" Syaref said.<\/p>\n
Apart from distributing warm bread every afternoon, the
\nIstanbul Metropolitan Municipality also distributes hundreds of
\nflat breads to several shelters for displaced persons in Aceh
\nBesar and Banda Aceh where the free bread is a hot item among the
\nrefugees.<\/p>\n
\"We can take as much as we like but only once a day,\" a
\nrefugee in Nusa village, Lhok Nga district in Aceh Besar regency
\ntold the Post.<\/p>\n
The Turkish organization also provided a street-sweeping
\nmachine as well as containers and a lawn mower.<\/p>\n
Besides the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, six other
\nTurkish organizations -- including Deniz Fenery Aid and
\nSolidarity Association, International Brotherhood and Solidarity
\nAssociation (IBS), and Turkish Red Crescent Association -- are
\nassisting Aceh after the tsunami.<\/p>\n
Deniz Fenery Aid and Solidarity and IBS have constructed 800
\nhouses in Lamno. The houses for the tsunami victims are scheduled
\nto be officiated this April.<\/p>\n
Syaref said that Turkey could understand the Acehnese people's
\nsuffering, since it was struck by a massive earthquake in 1999
\nwhich claimed at least 20,000 lives.<\/p>\n
\"We can empathize with how the Acehnese feel, that's why we
\ntry to help with all our hearts,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/turkey-helps-acehnese-in-unique-way-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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