Storytellers help lift up spirits in Aceh

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Junior high school student Mohammad Ichsan was literally quaking with laughter as he watched a skit being performed by a group of Aceh storytellers. The combination of drama and storytelling has made a positive impression on the young tsunami survivor, who lost his mother and his brother when disaster struck exactly one year ago in his village in Krueng Cut subdistrict.

The play was not as spectacular as, say the two recent Hollywood blockbusters Chronicles of Narnia and Kingkong, "but, I like this performance. I have seen it twice. It is so funny," said the dark-skinned boy with worn out clothes and a general look of being a bit unkempt.

For Ichsan, the son of a truck driver, the stories have provided him with a refreshing outlet after a tumultuous year that changed his life forever. Ichsan is now living with his father and four brothers and sisters in a temporary shelter set up on the compound of the Jami Mosque in the Darussalam subdistrict of Banda Aceh.

The grieving family has been at the shelter for a year now, as they await the completion of a house promised to them by the government. The new house will be built on the site of their former house, which was completely demolished and washed away.

Ichsan, (13), who still dreams of one day becoming a soldier with the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob), was one among dozens of children and adults enjoying the performances on Friday by storytellers, who call themselves the PMTOH Storytellers. The performance was the last part of a series of performances held since Dec. 16 in 20 hamlets, temporary barracks and tent camps around Banda Aceh.

Consisting of seven storytellers, the group shares various kinds of stories based on traditional Acehnese epics or tales, which are sometimes blended with stories from other nations. The shows that Ichsan saw were held on flimsy stage erected in a field. The group attracts the crowd by announcing over a sound system that the show will begin.

The stories shared were varied, but each was full of moral lessons. Through the stories, the group endeavors to raise awareness among the audience that the people of Aceh need to move on and get through the grief after so many lives were shattered by the tsunami. They also managed, in the course of the stories, to criticize the established status quo, as well as to demonstrate the importance of honesty and integrity. They unreservedly condemned corruption and lashed out at communities that had remained overly dependent on the aid donations that were pouring in from around the world. In short, they were attempting to encourage communities to get back on their feet again by moving forward with their lives, rather than dwelling on the devastation wreaked by the tsunami.

As in their last performance held at Tugu Darussalam field on Friday here, a storyteller recalled how two birds, netted by a bird hunter, sought ways to escape. The two birds, however, each tried independently, and unsuccessfully, to free themselves.

Eventually, they learned that unless they cooperated, they would never be free again. So they joined forces and flew with all their might from end of the net to the other and in so doing managed to wrest the net away from the hunters grip and ultimately get away.

"Children, what is the moral of the story? Yes, that's right, we must unite to succeed, then we can make a difference," the storyteller explained.

A representative of the non-governmental organization CARE, explained that such stories were meant to lift the spirits and motivate tsunami survivors.

"The program is aimed at awakening the spirit of the Acehnese, thereby motivating them to look to a better future," said Liny Edyawati, psychosocial manager of CARE, the international NGO that funds the PMTOH performance. CARE is a non-profit organization working to help alleviate poverty in developing and poor countries.

The program is important given the huge number of people, particularly children, that were traumatized by the tsunami and its aftermath.

"I still really miss my mother, I loved her very much. Sometimes I feel lonely when I think about her. But this program helps me," said Ichsan.