NEWS FROM
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
November 2, 2005
For more information contact Emily Sollie at esollie@lwr.org or 410-230-2802.
In this news release:
- Chili Farmer Keeps Hope for a Better Future
- A Village in Full Bloom
CHILI FARMER KEEPS HOPE FOR A BETTER FUTURE
Lam Reh, Indonesia, October 2005 — An hour’s drive from Banda Aceh, Indonesia on twisting, turning and hilly roads sits Mahmud Djalel’s chili farm. Mahmud’s sun-wrinkled skin, gray hair and, likely, the losses he suffered due to the tsunami make him look much older than his 50 years.
In a quiet voice, Mahmud told a Lutheran World Relief delegation visiting his newly rented farming plot that the tsunami had taken everything that mattered to him—his wife, his children, his home and the ability to farm the land he had worked so hard to own.
The tsunami saturated the land that Mahmud farmed before the tsunami with salt and then covered it with mud. Mahmud still owns that land but won’t be able to farm it until he can remove the mud and fertilize the land to counteract the salt that would kill anything he planted.
A no-interest loan from LWR partner YEU (Yakkum Emergency Unit) has made it possible for Mahmud and several other farmers to make a living from rented farm land. A small loan, about $300 US to each farmer, has allowed Mahmud and other farmers to rent land, buy seeds and simple tools, and hire people to help them raise and harvest chilis and cucumbers to sell in the local village markets. The loan program helps empower people rather than making them dependent on aid. With the profits from his chili and cucumber crops, Mahmud is able to make the small payments on his loan, buy food and medicine, and set aside money in his savings that he will use to reclaim and re-fertilize his own land.
Mahmud and other farmers meet monthly with YEU staff to discuss their needs, to share growing and marketing methods for their crops, and to learn more about how to build and grow their savings. Mahmud says that he has learned a great deal about finance and about how to pool his resources with other farmers in order to rent and farm more land together, and, ultimately, to make money to pay off their loans more quickly.
Mahmud grew chilis before the tsunami but said that he added cucumbers to his plot after learning about them from YEU staff and other farmers in his group, “The cucumbers mature in just 25 days,” he explained. “So, the investment we make in seeds and growing cucumbers pays off quickly. This is one of the new things I’ve learned from working with YEU and other farmers, something I wouldn’t have done before the tsunami.”
Mahmud said that he is considering continuing to rent and farm the extra land even after he is able to go back to working the land he owns. He said, “If I can hire enough people to help me farm both plots of land, I will be able to pay off my loan a couple years early. Once the loan is paid off, I will be able to rebuild my house and, hopefully, rebuild my life.” He continued, “I am glad to have the temporary house I am living in but it is not my home. I can’t wait until I can rebuild and have a house of my own again. I am thankful that YEU is working with me and other farmers to make us stronger and to help us make our lives even better than they were before the tsunami.”
In the face of losses that most of us can only imagine, Mahmud has been able to keep his sense of humor and hope for the future. “I have grieved the loss of my wife, and will never totally get over losing her,” he said. But he went on, with a sparkle in his eye, “I have to admit that lately I’ve been thinking it might be good to visit one of the groups of widows that YEU runs!”
A VILLAGE IN FULL BLOOM
Pushpavanam, India, October 2005 — Long-time Lutheran World Relief partner CASA (Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action) has worked alongside the people in the rural village of Pushpavanam to rebuild the village even better than it was before the tsunami. Within days after the tsunami, CASA began helping provide food and shelter to those affected in Pushpavanam. Now, nine months later, the depth and breadth of CASA’s response to the tsunami in this village and many others is clear.
LWR’s decades-long partnership with CASA has helped strengthen it into a responsive, people-centered organization that shares LWR’s values and vision for empowered communities. The story of how CASA has worked in Pushpavanam since the tsunami illustrates the strength of that partnership, and the value that local partners with a deep knowledge of local cultures and customs bring to LWR’s work.
Fourteen villagers from Pushpavanam died, but almost everyone was affected as most houses were washed away, more than 120 fishing boats were lost, many cows and goats were swept away, and everyone’s lives were changed forever.
CASA entered Pushpavanam in early January and provided 2500 relief kits to families there. In the same village, CASA provided materials for temporary shelter, installed a children’s play park, constructed temporary shelters, and provided fish vending materials to those who had lost their livelihoods.
But CASA also went beyond providing immediate relief, and worked with the village to rebuild. Working with the villagers in Pushpavanam, CASA helped construct 233 permanent houses, provided cash- and food-for-work programs, created an information service center, helped plant trees, strengthened existing community groups, and developed many psychosocial interventions including counseling, sports and cultural programs, and self-help groups for women, youth and men.
The villagers who gathered to speak with an LWR delegation that visited recently spoke proudly of their partnership with CASA. One villager stated, “CASA was different than many other groups who wanted to build houses from their own plans very quickly and then leave our village behind. CASA staff members spent a great deal of time with us discussing what sort of houses we would like to build, where we like to build them, and where they could be built safely. They didn’t ignore us and our suggestions, but were glad to hear and incorporate what we had to say about how we wanted the houses built and why we wanted to make sure the houses were well ventilated and carefully planned for cooking and family life.”
CASA worked closely with village leaders and the local government to ensure that the permanent houses would meet government regulations and that they would be built to be earthquake and cyclone resistant. The leaders of the village men’s and women’s groups proudly described the plans for their houses and talked about how quickly and well the construction process was going.
Rebuilding housing provided a unique and unprecedented opportunity for the women of the village. The women of the village will be listed, for the first time, along with their husbands as owners on the titles for their new homes.
Construction on the houses was almost complete when LWR visited the village. The combination of brick, cement and metal rods (rebar) clearly made the houses solid and substantial. The houses were built with flat roofs that can be used to dry fish or as a cooler place to sleep at night – one of the suggestions that the villagers made during planning sessions.
As LWR visitors toured the houses, members of the village invited them to plant a coconut tree near the entrance to each home. As they planted the trees, the villagers said they would be proud to watch the trees grow along with their community and their strength, together.
“Due to the work we’ve done with CASA, we have a long vision and a clear plan for the future,” one villager said. “We learned from CASA the importance of planning far ahead. Three to five years from now if you come back to visit us, we will still be here, and we will be living in a village that has finally come into full bloom.”
WHO IS LWR? Lutheran World Relief, an international nonprofit organization, works to end poverty and injustice by empowering some of the world's most impoverished communities to help themselves. With partners in 35 countries, LWR seeks to promote sustainable development with justice and dignity by helping communities bring about change for healthy, safe and secure lives; engage in Fair Trade; promote peace and reconciliation; and respond to emergencies. LWR is headquartered in Baltimore, Md. and has worked in international development and relief since 1945.
Lutheran World Relief is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility.
