Dateline ACT

Indonesia 1505

Chili farmer keeps hope for a better future

By Lisa Bonds, ACT International

Lam Reh, Indonesia, November 9, 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 delegation by Lutheran World Relief (a member of the global alliance Action by Churches (ACT) International) 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 tsunami with salt and then covered it with mud that Mahmud had farmed before the waves struck. 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 will kill anything he planted.

A no-interest loan from YEU (Yakkum Emergency Unit), a local member of ACT International, 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!"

Lisa Bonds is vice president of external relations at Lutheran World Relief, a member of ACT International.