It has been just over one year since the devastating Asian Tsunami changed the region forever. Since then there have been so many other tragedies in the region and worldwide. IDEP extends its heartfelt sympathies to all those that have suffered so greatly. We also extend our best wishes to the thousands of people all over the world that like us continue to work tirelessly to try and bring some relief and education for sustainable development to the areas most effected by the events.
Here at IDEP we have been very busy with the ongoing implementation of our recovery programs in Aceh, in addition to focusing on revitalizing our programs here in Bali and nationwide in Indonesia. Our programs are progressing well thanks to supporters worldwide and our outstanding Indonesian and expatriate team members who have been supported by many local & international volunteers.
Initial meeting with Lamsujin community – Demonstration of organic compost – Seed saving activity
Newsletter contents:
- Sustainable Village Development Centre – GreenHand Field School, Aceh
- Recovery Program for Seven Villages in Samatiga, Aceh
- Community-Based Disaster Management Program
- IDEP responds to floods in Lombok & Sumbawa
- IDEP Community Programs in Bali
Dear Friends of IDEP,
It has been just over one year since the devastating Asian Tsunami changed the region forever. Since then there have been so many other tragedies in the region and worldwide. IDEP extends its heartfelt sympathies to all those that have suffered so greatly. We also extend our best wishes to the thousands of people all over the world that like us continue to work tirelessly to try and bring some relief and education for sustainable development to the areas most effected by the events.
Here at IDEP we have been very busy with the ongoing implementation of our recovery programs in Aceh, in addition to focusing on revitalizing our programs here in Bali and nationwide in Indonesia. Our programs are progressing well thanks to supporters worldwide and our outstanding Indonesian and expatriate team members who have been supported by many local & international volunteers. This year CUSO Canada supported three full time volunteers beginning in February. And AVI Australia has kindly sponsored two highly skilled volunteers who have just begun to work with us. A good sign of progress for us is that we were able to start closing the IDEP office on Sundays, then on Saturday afternoons. Life has hardly returned to normal, but at least days have a beginning and an end now.
IDEP’s community-based recovery and empowerment programs are progressing well. Following is a brief outline of where the programs are at:
Sustainable Village Development Centre – GreenHand Field School, Aceh
Initial meeting with Lamsujin community – Demonstration of organic compost – Seed saving activity
Tsunami survivors need the skills to quickly rehabilitate their land and create food security in their communities. IDEP has contracted 2 hectare of land in Lamsujin, Lhoong, Aceh Besar and established a training centre called the GreenHand Field School (GFS) based on the principles of permaculture. The infrastructure and running costs for the first year were generously supported by the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS).
At IDEP’s heart is the concept of permaculture, an effective design system using sustainable, environmentally sound principals. It works at grassroots levels to train people to become self reliant using local resources. Permaculture uses best practices of existing local farming and gardening techniques combined with high-yield strategies from other tropical countries. Trainees learn to move from mere survival to surplus food production. The system integrates sustainable organic food production, energy generation, water conservation and environmental management with house and village design and economic development. The design method works with natural systems, minimizing waste and pollution while maximizing yields for low energy input.
GFS offers two levels of training. The 12-day Village Development Course (VDC) teaches intensive food production techniques, agro-forestry, waste management and recycling, land management, environmental repair and restoration and community-based disaster response. Students learn through building food production systems hands-on. The second level is a 3-month course which trains trainers to conduct the VDC as well as advanced food production and land management strategies. These participants will also learn sustainable livelihoods such as bee-keeping, neem cultivation and by-product production, bamboo treatment and earth-quake proof construction and other skills which they will be able to pass on as trainers to Acehnese communities.
GFS Chief Trainer Steve Cran is working with our local partner organization Green Camp and a team of international volunteers to implement this wonderful program. Since the program started they have renovated an old house to serve as Base Camp and office, and started to develop an integrated demonstration site. Regular VDC training courses are now ongoing and the first GreenHand Training of Trainers course is now underway.
IDEP has also started working on a basic curriculum developed in conjunction with the GreenHand program which will help to share the lessons learned and practical techniques for sustainable development and recovery with other organizations and communities nationwide.
For more information about this program, please visit: www.idepfoundation.org/GFS.html
If you are interested in volunteering for this program please visit our website for more details : www.idepfoundation.org/idep_volunteer.html
Recovery Program for Seven Villages in Samatiga, Aceh
Bamboo treatment plant – Water donated by international agency – Party for local children at the Clinic
Starting in January a group of IDEP volunteers made their way to the Samatiga area, near Meulaboh on the west cost of Aceh Barat and near the epicenter of the earthquake/tsunami. They buried corpses, cleared wells and liaised with international agencies on behalf of survivors. IDEP’s grass roots community empowering approach in the emergency phase created a strong bond and the local communities of Samatiga requested that IDEP continue to assist them with the very challenging process of recovering their area. Since then IDEP has had a continuous presence in the seven surrounding villages, and we are now seeking support to develop a more permanent community field school to house the ongoing education and empowerment projects in the area.
The Bumi Sehat Community Clinic
In February a modest bamboo clinic was built by IDEP and continuously staffed by international volunteers from Yayasan Bumi Sehat, a midwifery clinic in Bali. The temporary clinic began to fall apart in June. IDEP then purchased a plot of land and built a permanent wooden clinic nearby. Since the first clinic opened its bamboo door in February, over 12,000 patients have been treated. The local government now recognizes the clinic as an official part of its medical service system. Bumi Sehat took over the management of the clinic at the end of October.
Bamboo Treatment Plant
An estimated 500,000 displaced Acehnese are still living in crowded concrete barracks, tents now moldy from the rains or with friends and relatives. Housing is urgently needed for these survivors, but construction materials are a difficult issue. Timber was already a serious political and environmental issue in Sumatra before the tsunami, with much of the island having lost its original forest cover to illegal and destructive logging. Brick and concrete blocks are not earthquake resistant, and are the most dangerous materials to build with in an area of seismic instability. IDEP proposes to introduce the use of treated bamboo as a viable construction material for earthquake resistant, culturally appropriate housing and other structures. Working with the Environmental Bamboo Foundation, IDEP has built a bamboo treatment plant in Samatiga on land donated by the local community. Acehnese have already learned the treatment process and started a propagation nursery. A children’s library will be built over the coming months as a demonstration project for the community to show the latest design/techniques for bamboo construction. Workshops on construction, craft, and furniture making will follow.
Environmental Restoration & Community Empowerment
IDEP is working in partnership with other agencies to repair and protect the environment in Samatiga. IDEP now has deep roots in these villages as well as the trust of the communities, and other agencies value the consultation and collaboration with the IDEP team there. IDEP is working with international agencies to plant mangrove trees for coastal stability and vetiver grass along the sides of newly rebuilt roads to prevent erosion. The tsunami inundated many rice fields and now the salt water is trapped in small lakes, making the rice fields unusable. IDEP is working in partnership with Solidarit鳬 a French NGO, to drain the sea water from these seven villages. IDEP has also brought neem trees to Samatiga to propagate for the purpose of mosquito control. Neem provides an organic, non toxic alternative to chemicals for combating mosquitoes (and thus malaria and dengue fever) as there is a lot of standing water in the area.
For more information about this program, please visit: www.idepfoundation.org/acehsamatiga.html
If you are interested in volunteering for this program please visit our website for more details : www.idepfoundation.org/idep_volunteer.html
Community-Based Disaster Management Program
Studying training materials – Learning community mapping – First CBDM training in Samatiga
Indonesia is prone to disasters: earthquakes, floods, landslides, tidal waves, social conflict and volcanic eruptions. The tsunami of 2004 demonstrates the importance of civil society’s participation in the relief and recovery phases of disasters. IDEP began developing a Community-Based Disaster Management (CBDM) kit in 2002 with support from USAID. The kit was launched in October 2005 with support from UNESCO Jakarta.
The practical, self-help kit was developed over the past three years with support from USAID and private donors. The CBDM kit (in Indonesian) includes a detailed manual with 46 practical self-help forms that can be directly used by local communities to prepare for and reduce the impact of disaster, manage community action at the time when disasters occur, and work transparently and accountably within their community and/or with external supporters to recover from disasters. The kit also includes two large all-weather posters and a leaflet to increase community participation and awareness about the CBDM systems and eight comic books with stories about communities faced with different types of disasters, each of which includes an informative fact sheet about the specific type of disaster addressed in the comic book’s storyline. The CBDM kit is presented in simple language and contains many interesting illustrations appropriate for communities throughout Indonesia. The kit covers the following types of disasters: Flooding, Landslides, Volcano Eruptions, Coastal Storms, Earthquakes, Tsunami, Social Conflict) and Terrorism.
The CBDM kit has been pilot-tested at six rural and urban communities in Indonesia. It has been reviewed and approved by specialist advisors from the Indonesian government, UNESCO, sociologists and selected NGOs who are directly involved in community crisis management. The pilot villages and advisors have all enthusiastically endorsed this work and wish to see the finished product implemented in Indonesian communities as soon as possible.
For more information, and to view downloadable versions of the kit go to: www.idepfoundation.org/cbdm.html
If you are interested in sponsoring the distribution of CBDM kits to local communities in need please contact : [email protected]
IDEP responds to floods in Lombok & Sumbawa
Flood damaged area, Lombok – Aid buckets – Communities at risk of flooding, Sumbawa
In January 2006, heavy rainstorms in Lombok have resulted in flash floods and landslides. Dozens of villages were affected with hundreds of dwellings swept away. Over 2,300 people, most of which are marginalized poor who were relocated to unsafe areas along river beds are now homeless. IDEP sent three people trained in Community-Based Disaster Management to assess the situation and offer support by liaising between communities and relief agencies. What they found was that thanks to MPBI initiated emergency response training programs the local government was relatively successful in relocating the survivors to refugee areas. Emergency aid however is in short supply and IDEP is currently accepting donations to re-initiate the successful Aid Bucket program used in Aceh last year.
Assistance needed to deliver Aid Buckets to people in need in the area is as follows:
1,300 household buckets @ US$25 = US$ 32,500
400 construction buckets @ US$40 = US$ 16,000
(includes contents & shipping / distribution costs)
We will be posting a page on our website shortly with more details about the situation on the ground : www.idepfoundation.org/ntb_flood.html
If you are interested in sponsoring the distribution of aid buckets to people in need please contact : [email protected]
IDEP Community Programs in Bali
School plant nursery – Clean up of school area – Making recycled paper
IDEP’s community based environmental education & sustainable development programs on Bali met serious challenges during 2005 as so much of IDEP’s resources were re-allocated to meeting the emergency needs in Aceh. Slowly but surely during 2005 the Bali Team worked on re-vitalizing the programs, on a shoe string, with whatever local resources they could find. Special kudos to this wonderful dedicated group of local eco-warriors for their wonderful results, hopefully we will be able to generate some real interest and support for these excellent programs in the coming year. Local programs that have been successfully implemented by the Bali Permaculture team this year include:
The establishment of a demonstration seed saving garden & self-propagating seeds nursery
The gardens are supplying high quality organic seeds which are now available for sale in support of the program @ between Rp10,000 & Rp20,000 per packet. Contact the number below for more information about current availability. People based on Bali who are interested in learning techniques for organic gardening, seed saving and waste management can also join us every Friday at the demo gardens or contact Eco Trainers to have trainers sent to your home, school or business. To find out more about these programs please contact : Lisa Ismiandewi, mobile : 081 820 0941 or : [email protected]
Downloadable information about seed saving and organic gardening are also available on our website : www.idepfoundation.org/idep_downloads.html
Community waste management education programs in local schools
In 2005, IDEP’s Community waste management education team have successfully developed and implemented practical training programs in local communities and schools on Bali. One example of this program is an integrated program at the local primary school SDN4 Ubud. Thanks to support from a Tides Foundation Grant and local community donors IDEP was able to work with 162 students and their teachers learnt to re-value and be stewards of their environment through training and education programs provided by the IDEP waste management team. The students did a community area clean up, and established waste separation, organic composting and recycled paper making facilities at their school. The school was also provided with 10 waste bins and a large compost unit.
If you are interested in sponsoring a waste management education program in a local school please contact : [email protected]
Wastewater Gardens sewage treatment systems
In 2000 IDEP established a working agreement with the developers of the famous Biosphere 2 project in Arizona to implement their highly effective and ecologically sound sewage treatment systems called Wastewater Gardens (WWG) in Indonesia. Since that time several systems have been successfully designed and installed in Bali and other areas of Indonesia. These include a beautiful system that was requisitioned by the local government in 2005 for Bali’s famous Besakih temple. Eight new systems, including an integrated demonstration site for community sewage treatment in Aceh are currently in the planning stages.
For more information about Wastewater Gardens please visit : www.idepfoundation.org/wwg or contact : [email protected]
How you can help
IDEP’s role and responsibilities have expanded enormously in the past year. Funds are still urgently needed to support out work in Aceh and also for our community programs in Bali. To make a donation or for more information, please contact David Mendoza at: [email protected]
To donate funds from outside Indonesia a wire transfer is the only option available at this time. IDEP is working to find sponsors in the US, Canada, and Australia who will accept tax-deductible contributions. Please check with your tax agency regarding the tax-deductibility of your donation. IDEP is a registered “yayasan” (foundation) in Indonesia.
To wire transfer funds:
Bank Name: BNI
Account Name: Yayasan IDEP
Branch: Ubud
Address: Jl Raya Ubud,Bali 80571
Swift Code: BNINIDJADPS
Account No: 0049400231
If you are wire transferring funds please notify IDEP by sending an email to [email protected] indicating the amount, the originating currency (i.e. US dollars, UK pounds, etc), bank name and city from which the transfer was made, your name (as you would like to be listed on the donor list), and the date of the transfer. A receipt will be sent once the funds have arrived. Also, if you wish to earmark the funds for a particular project please indicate that.
Alternatively you can register your donation directly on our website using the on-line donation form on : www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php
Thank You so much to everyone that made this year of incredible programs possible, and for any support you are able to provide so that we can keep these important programs alive on the ground.
