Alf V Adeler is conferred The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for his humanitarian work. Photo © Basil Rolandsen (bouvetmedia.com).

This is an honour well deserved, and we are among his many friends and admirers who sends heartfelt congratulations to “Sir Alf”!

We had a great co-operation with Sir Alf as Senior Adviser to the East Timor hydroelectric power project “HydroTimor”. He is now back in Norway, but still attached to the project.

Javanese traditional music performed by the palace gamelan music ensamble directed by (pengeprak) Mateus Anwar Widodo, in the Srimanganti Pendopo (performance pavilion) of the Yogyakarta Kraton (Sultan’s Palace).

The melodious gamelan music is being played by the Niyagas (gamelan players) dressed in traditional Javanese costume. The Pesinden (female and male) are singing with distinct, beautiful voices. The Pengeprak, the man who beats a wooden slit drum called the Keprak, directs the performance, and usually also is the dance master. With the sound of keprak, he gives order to the gamelan players, to the singers and to the dancers.



We have a new section up at our Bouvet Foundation media project sister web site, 'the bas/bou files': 
Classical Javanese court dance from Yogyakarta. 
You will find both a narrative, a web photo gallery and a downloadable pdf ebook there. Enjoy, and please share this info with others...

Javanese palace dance (tari kraton) performed by Maria Vincentia Ika Mulatsih SS, accompanied by the palace gamelan music ensamble, in the Srimanganti Pendopo (performance pavilion) of the Yogyakarta Kraton (Sultan’s Palace).

Kraton dance performances are accompanied by traditional ‘gamelan’ music, and follows strict rules as to dance movements, body and hand gestures that requires discipline to learn. The serene elegance, slow pace and constrains of its movements give Javanese court dance a meditative quality. These dances are heavily influenced by Javanese Hindu-Buddhist legacy, which is often reflected in the costumes, jewelry and story.

Senior member Ibu Jami (right) with Ibu Suryawati from Aspekasi.
Photo © Basil Rolandsen (http://bouvetmedia.com)

Mat weaving is an old tradition in Sigulai, as well as in other places in Simeulue. The mats have many applications, from covering floors, to materials for containers for rice and other things. They are also used as gifts during wedding ceremony, and young girls start weaving their mats from an early age in preparation for this.

Meeting with the victims of the 2004 Boxing-day tsunami, the Norwegian Red Cross was urged to help them start livelihood activities. They decided to organise women in groups and train them, so that they might generate income to help their families. Mat weaving turned out to be a popular activity as basis for such groups, including with the Melekhewa (“diligent”) group in the Sigulai village, counting 49 members.

Jami is the senior member of the Melekhewa group. She is a widow with seven children, and works hard to help them through university – five have already finished, and the last two are now studying! She describes the benefits of joining the group, underlining the cooperation between the women, developing new products like bags, tissue boxes and more. The training on how to run a small business has been very important, as has the group marketing and sales efforts been. For those investing their revenue in opening a small business, the access to saving and borrowing money through a microfinance scheme has also been a fantastic support.

For Jami, the income from weaving mats has been a means to educating her children. Others have started small businesses; small shops or cafes, trading cloth or other products, breeding chicken or fish, and more.

Suryawati works for Aspekasi, the umbrella organisation set up to help the women groups develop further, assisting with marketing and sales, and coordinating microfinance activities. She tells us that the 11 groups differ in size and focus. The smallest group has 25 members, while the largest has 70. The total number of members is about 450, much larger than the original target of 240 – and most are growing. Some groups are more focused on mat weaving, others on micro finance and savings, and some are more active than other.

Suryawati is optimistic about the future, and thinks the groups as well as Aspekasi are maturing and can manage after the project ends later this year. Even if some members are worried about losing the regular follow-up, most realise that the training they have gone through and the time spent together have strengthened them so that they now can function independently. Judging from the Melekhewa women, she just may be right!

Text and photos: Basil Rolandsen (http://bouvetmedia.com)

The Melekhewa (“diligent”) mat-weaving group was founded after the 2004 tsunami, and has 49 active members. They weave traditional mats and other related articles, and sell them with support from the umbrella organisation “Aspekasi”. In addition to the members, we see Livelihood Programme Officer Abdul Rozak Tanjung (right) and Red Cross Delegate Erna Skau (behind Rozak).
Photo © Basil Rolandsen (http://bouvetmedia.com)

NorCross Mat-weaving Livelihood Project

• Responding to the emergency after the 2004 Boxing-day Tsunami, the Norwegian Red Cross (NorCross) initiated several projects in the Indonesian province Aceh, North Sumatra, in close co-operation with the Indonesian Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (PMI).
• Activities on the island of Simeulue, situated in the western part of Aceh, included both infrastructure development and capacity building, the livelihood projects being a part of the latter.
• A total of 450 women have joined of one of 11 village-based groups established as a part of the project, each with from 25 to 70 members.
• The women have received training, included in small business management and micro finance.
• The groups are based on weaving traditional mats, and help with diversifying products, as well as organising sales. They also operate micro-finance saving and borrowing for their members, enabling them to start small-scale businesses.
• The project also established the umbrella organisation Aspekasi, which assists the groups with marketing and sales, as well as with coordinating microfinance activities.

Ibu Ani lives 500 metres from the water post, and like many people in the area she has to fetch water three times a day, in addition to washing clothes there, carrying the wet clothes home again. Installation of a tap supplying drinking water to her house, as well as to more than 500 other households, is an anticipated improvement.
Photo © Basil Rolandsen (http://bouvetmedia.com)

Ani lives about 500 metres from the village water source, situated a bit into the woods. She and many of her neighbours in the Babul Makmur village have to carry heavy water containers back home three times every day, in addition to the heavy wet laundry for a household of five. Her neighbour Afrila’s burden is worse, her family counting seven. Chairuddin, an old age pensioner, is glad they are only three, as he lives 1.5 kilometres away, and feels the strain on his aging body. No surprise then, that they are all looking forward to the day the new water supply system will deliver clean drinking water right to a tap at home – and in time for the wet season, saving them the extra burden of dragging the water containers along muddy roads…

The new water supply system is constructed by the Norwegian Red Cross (NorCross), as a part of their post-tsunami programme in Aceh. NorCross has partnered with the district drinking water supply authority, PDAM, and are expanding the pre-tsunami water supply from 42 households to up to 800 households, or 4,000 persons. The water will start flowing by November 2009, and initially cover 507 households and 18 public tapping stations.

Red Cross Delegate Shir Shah Ayobi is in charge of the constructions, supported by Consultant Supervisor Eddy Gultom and PDAM technician Mudarsono. Shir Shah complements the contractor, Sukamto of the Nusantara Water Centre, for quality work, which is essential when dealing with pressurised water constructions.

The water is collected from two springs, led into a pumping station and from there up to a reservoir on a nearby hill, where up to 450,000 litres are collected in two tanks. A pipeline distributes the water to the five villages through a 20 kilometres long penstock, and the capacity is high enough to supply up to 4,000 persons with 75 litres of clean water per day – a huge improvement for the population around the sub-district centre Sibigo.

Water is important for our daily lives, wherever we live. Some of us can just turn a tap and get fresh, potable water; others have to put in more effort. Chairuddin, Ani and many other people in Western Simeulue will now be able to do other things than carrying water for hours every day, like working in the field or taking care of their family. Since the tap water already is clean and can be consumed directly, they can also save the cost of energy for boiling the water, and even more time, without fearing for their health. Clean water is a precious gift, out of which life grows.

Text and photos: Basil Rolandsen (http://bouvetmedia.com)

Installation of water pumps in the Sibigo water station. Work inspected by (from left) Consultant Supervisor Eddy Gultom, PDAM Sibigo technician Mudarsono, NRC WatSan Delegate Shir Shah Ayobi and Contractor Sukamto. Water collected from two springs will supply tap-based drinking water to more than 500 households in five villages within 20 km of the centre.
Photo © Basil Rolandsen (http://bouvetmedia.com)

NorCross Drinking Water Supply Project

• Responding to the emergency after the 2004 Boxing-day Tsunami, the Norwegian Red Cross (NorCross) initiated several projects in the Indonesian province Aceh, North Sumatra, in close co-operation with the Indonesian Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (PMI).
• Activities on the island of Simeulue, situated in the western part of Aceh, included both infrastructure development and capacity building, the drinking water supply project being a part of the former.
• Villages covered include Sigulai, Lama Mek, Baturagi, Mal Asin and Babul Makmur, all situated in Western Simeulue sub-district.
• A total capacity of 800 households (or 4,000 individuals) in 5 villages may be supplied with 75 litres of drinking quality water per day.
• Initially, 507 households (about 2,500 persons) will receive water to their homes from November 2009.
• Water is collected in two springs and pumped to a reservoir with a capacity of 2 times 225 square metres (or 450,000 litres). A 20 kilometres long pipe transports the water to the villages, where it is distributed to individual households as well as to public taps.
• Upon completion, the project will be handed over to the local drinking water supply authority, PDAM (Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum).