“To wipe all tears from off all faces is a task too hard for mortals; but to alleviate misfortunes is often within the most limited power.”                                                                                                         –Samuel Johnson 

Being the nearest to the epicenter of the great Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of December 2004, the devastation in Aceh was massive: hundreds of thousands lost their lives, and many more lost their homes.

Today, Aceh is recovering from the devastation due to reconstruction efforts by the Indonesian government, fellow Indonesians and the international community, but the provision of sustainable aid programs and development has been uneven and sporadic.

As part of our small contribution towards sustainable development in Aceh, the Nusantara Development Initiative (NDI), through its Project Sanitation Campaign and Social Research (SaCH), made a field trip to Meulaboh in late July 2009. The aims were to raise awareness of the importance of basic sanitation among the Acehnese and to conduct social research about their hygiene practices.

We have put up a photo essay as a window to Aceh, five years after the disaster. This exhibition at ArtsBuzz will run from 23 September to 9 October.

Fairoz Ahmad
Fachria Adi Nugraha
Jasmine Yow
Project SaCH Nusantara Development Initiatives