Mercy Corps. get refugees going

Tony Hotland The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

While many survivors in the tsunami-battered province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam are either sleeping inside makeshift shelters or waiting for others' mercy for their daily needs, a handful of others are practicing the maxim "no pain no gain" by working with Mercy Corps.

U.S.-based Mercy Corps., an international relief and development organization, is paying these people Rp 35,000 (some US$3.90) a day to clear thick mud and debris from roads and schools through a cash-for-work program.

"We provide all of the tools and equipment to carry out the work. This way, we expect to get the economy going again after what happened and help restore the city as well. They can earn money to buy things since markets are already functioning," Mercy Corps.' director of Sumatra operations Diane Johnson said on Wednesday.

Currently operating in some 35 countries, Mercy Corps. deals mostly with efforts to assist people affected by poverty and conflict by helping them build secure, productive and just communities.

In Indonesia, it has been operating and carrying out humanitarian projects for more than six years before the Aceh tragedy.

Since arriving in the province on Dec. 28, the organization has recruited more than 1,000 refugees in the capital city of Banda Aceh and 200 more in Meulaboh, while the program itself is scheduled to last for three months.

"We've been taking in everybody who's interested to join. So far, we've been able to help get the major roads and seven schools cleaned. We hope we can clean the rest of the schools by Dec. 26 when they are scheduled to reopen," Johnson said.

Such a program, she said, was what Mercy Corps. had been proven to be the best at and had been conducted in previous relief and recovery efforts across the globe.

Johnson explained that they managed to get to the refugees through their food distribution program, which has reached more than 50,000 people.

"In Banda Aceh, we have distributed one month's supply of World Food Program rice, noodles and biscuits. We've also given out kits of clothing, soap, cooking utensils and shelter essentials to more than 10,000 families," she said.

She asserted that the organization sought to focus more on recovery efforts rather than relief by identifying business opportunities that could employ many people and preparing a scheme of soft loans as well as business-financing projects in the coming months.

"We've started by financing some people to launch a pallet- making business and restarting a brick-making factory here. These materials will be very essential once the reconstruction process kicks off," said Johnson.

As for the distribution of soft loans and micro-credit, Mercy would seek assistance and collaboration with local financial institutions rather than establishing a new one.

The organization, she added, had also paid boat crews to move and repair 79 fishing boats in Meulaboh. It also planned to provide fishermen with nets and other fishing gear in a bid to quickly rebuild the area's fishing business.

"And you know, the people there are surprisingly eager to get back to fishing again, even after the tragedy," she asserted.