Dan in Aceh!

Hello everyone,

(Quick note: pics can be found at: daninaceh.blogspot.com)

This summer I have accepted a position in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. This town was first known as the gateway of Islam into Southeast Asia, hundreds of years later it was known as the main city in war-torn Aceh province, and now it is best known as "that place where the tsunami hit."

I am working with the United Nations (UNORC) which has been here in this capacity for nearly four years. It was established after OCHA (the UN humanitarian organization) started to pull out of the region, but before the area had actually recovered from the devastating tsunami. Roughly 170,000 people were killed in Banda Aceh, 500,000 were displaced, not to mention the tremendous damage to infrastructure like homes, buildings, and records. So, this branch of the UN was established, in cooperation with the BRR (national governmental organization) as a governmental assistance mechanism - the only organization of its kind in the world.

The work now is mostly trying to make the transition form a UNORC and BRR assisted provincial government to a government that can exist without any outside help. This is easier said than done when, for example, the Governor is an ex-combatant who was imprisoned before the tsunami hit. The gentleman is charismatic and wants to do right by his people, but his capacity is lacking. So, my work (at this moment) consists of wrting a document called the ARF (Aceh Recovery Framework) that the government can use as a launching point for more effective governance. The section I am working on consists of three parts: "Rule of Law, Democratic Decentralization, and Good Governance." I have 5 pages to clearly explain the blueprints the government should use for this ... wonderful.

Of course, the majority of my work is just reiterating what the government has said with some clarified mechanisms and priorities. It is difficult, though, to pick and choose the words and to find what is missing in all of this that should be mentioned.

Quick notes about my life here (which will be elaborated on in future posts): my housing situation is great, the weather is hot, it smells like a combination of burning trash and cloves, air conditioning is wonderful, the coffee here is amazing, the food is spicey but tastey and my roommates are very kind.

I am going to continue posting text to this blog, but I think I'll keep the pictures at the other one because posting pictures takes a while, but clicking to the other blog just takes a second.

Take care, my friends,
Dan