Storytellers help lift up spirits in Aceh

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.