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Home > WCO Programs > Special Programs >Indonesia Report |
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Rebuilding CULTURE in Banda Aceh, Indonesia |
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3. Peace Agreement |
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 We arrived in Jakarta the very week that two major events blessed Indonesia: 1) the signing of the peace agreement between the GAM (Free Aceh Movement) and the Indonesian Republic on August 15, and 2) the 60th anniversary of liberation from Dutch colonial rule on August 17. Little did we know that when we'd land in Aceh two days later, we'd be whisked off to the largest Mosque in central Aceh to witness (as thousands of Acehnese also did) the signing of the Helsinki peace agreement between the warring GAM and Indonesia government. It was a momentous occasion; the entire town had converged on the Mosque grounds to celebrate the peace deal between the GAM and the government.
 Throughout the day, Hasballah Saad, ACI's founder and former government Minister of Human Rights, was touchingly seated among the people, interviewing with national and international media about the viability and sustainability of the GAM-Government peace agreement. It was clear that Hasballah maintained the trust of the community and his allegiance to community service was profoundly evident.
Hasballah was not without a meaningful understanding of the cultural and social effects from the tsunami. He lost 30 family members, having found only 8 of the bodies. His experience, no matter how shocking and appalling it may sound, was not unusual. Since Aceh lost 1/5 of the total population, everyone was affected in some way. As I walked in and around the Mosque, I was introduced to numerous young children whose parents were swept away by the tsunami. The loss was enormously palpable, on their faces, in the air, on the streets¡Šas was their enduring resilience amidst the loss.
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