 | TPA of Barubung Building |
Barubung Villa, Aceh, December 14, 2006 - The sun is setting at the Taman Pendidikan Al-Qur’an (TPA, School for Koran Studies) in Barubang village in Aceh, but it has a different meaning from sunsets past. Earlier, a setting sun was like a call to arms in this notorious conflict zone when darkness brought a cloak of violence that kept residents fearfully indoors. Now, the sunset brings villagers together at prayer and families that once eyed each other with suspicion are learning to rebuild their social networks through communal activities. At the TPA school, the ending of the Koran classes has brought the laughter of children out into the street as they play along the way back home. The building - which serves as a crèche for toddlers in the morning - is a symbol of the communities determination to work together to improve their living conditions after years of violence destroyed much of their buildings. The TPA is the proud creation of the villagers who built it in the hope of providing a better learning environment for their children.  | Ade plays with her friends in TPA
playing ground on one sunny
late afternoon |
One of the villagers is Afrizal who works as a driver at the World Bank office in Aceh. “I hope, the children will grow up smart and help develop a brighter Aceh in the future,” he says. The children are already talking about the impact of the new facility on their lives. Ade, 9, says, “I’m very happy to attend Koran classes here because I can concentrate better, earlier we used to try and find a spot in the meunasah,” (village community building). His younger brother Iqbal, 6, comes to the kindergarten here in the morning. “I like to draw, sing and play together with my friends in the playground,” he grins. Like the bridge that now crosses the village, the TPA school was built with support from the Kecamatan Development Program (KDP), a national community driven development program operating in over 40,000 villages in Indonesia. The KDP, supported by the World Bank, has proved that community-led reconstruction projects are more transparent, cost effective and have greater ownership because they are chosen, built and maintained by the communities themselves. This approach is now being used by the Government to rebuild some 300,000 houses destroyed or damaged by the May 2006 Yogyakarta and Central Java quake.  | Eva is responsible for
the TPA and the
teacher for the TPA |
The TPA building occupies a 14 square meters area and has two large classrooms, a teachers room and a washroom. “We chose an education centre for students, so they could have a proper place to play and to study Koran,” says M. Daud Kasim, Head of Barubung Village. In the morning, about 45 kids play in the kindergarten, while in the afternoon, 55 kids study the Koran, some come from nearby villages. “We plan to complete our school with new furniture,” says Eva, a teacher at the TPA. The village received a grant of Rp196 million from the KDP project. The KDP Program in Aceh began in 1998 at a time when few international organizations were working here due to the conflict. KDP facilitators were on the ground when the tsunami struck and were able to mobilize communities in the reconstruction effort once the relief operations were over. In the KDP model, communities prioritize their own village infrastructure needs, then receive a block grant to construct basic village infrastructure. Says Heinz Unger, a World Bank Consultant: “The construction of the building is sound and the people have a sense of ownership, so they will maintain this building. I have checked, all the construction processes are based on the plan.” Unger, a German civil engineer uses his spare time to do quality control checks on KDP projects. Together with another consultant, Ekart Hartmann, he has produced a book called “Picture Book of Good and Bad Infrastructure” that has been given to all KDP facilitators, “So they can help the community build strong and long-lasting infrastructure.”  | Ade and Iqbal among their TPA friends |
The KDP Program in Aceh was initially funded by the World Bank. Following the devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004, the US$655 million Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias pooled grants from 15 donors including the World Bank, and expanded the KDP program to cover all affected villages. To date the KDP (has built 1,900 km of village roads, 710 bridges, 1,140 irrigation and drainage units, 118 water storage reservoirs, 499 sanitation facilities, 8 market, 30 health posts, 30 community centers. Some 212 school buildings have also been built. Over 3,500 people have received micro credits and over 6000 children received scholarships. By executing the village infrastructure, KDP generated over 3 million workdays. KDP is also working with the local goverment, other donors and NGOs through its network of 11,000 volunteer facilitators in delivering reconstruction aid to vicims. In other programs, such as SPADA , it is planning to help develop conflict affected areas and is also being used by the Aceh Peace Reintegration Agency (Badan Reintegrasi Aceh – BRA) to distribute assistance to ex GAM combatants and conflict victims.
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