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First Person
Cash-for-work program
creates jobs and helps
rebuild communities
Clean-up Efforts Create Jobs and Hope
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Photo: Debbie Tomasowa, Mercy Corps
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After losing her home, two
older sisters, a nephew and a
niece to the tsunami, Ainul
Mardiah joined a USAID cashfor-
work crew. “I really enjoy
working here because I'm
here with friends… instead of
just thinking about the water
on that day,” she said.
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Her colorful, loosely fitting clothes do not seem to restrict Ainul
Mardiah from moving around, scooping dirt and other trash off
the ground. A 50 year-old single woman from Miruk Lamreudeup
in Indonesia’s Aceh Besar area, Ainul joined 200 men and
women in one of USAID’s cash-for-work programs to clean up
the village, which was devastated by the December 2004
earthquake and tsunami.
“I lost my two elder sisters, one nephew and one niece,” she
said. “I lost everything in the earthquake as well, including my
house in this area.” Then she suddenly smiled and bashfully
pointed to her bright colored shirt, saying that the clothes she
wears are not even hers.
“You see this?” She pulled part of her skirt up enthusiastically to
reveal a long dry scar on her leg. Ainul explained that she tried
to escape the water by catching a ride on a passing truck already
filled with people. “This is because I fell when I lost grip
when we were running with many people to catch the truck,”
she said. “People were running all over the place… in many
different directions! It was so confusing.”
It was Ainul’s third day cleaning what used to be part of Miruk
Lamreudeup. Chatter and laughter are commonly heard at the
site these days. “I really enjoy working here because I’m here
with friends,” Ainul said. “It’s refreshing! Instead of just thinking
about the water on that day.”
She admitted that she is tired, but she is happy to be able to
work again. “What I earn here is not too much, but it’s good
enough for now,” Ainul explained.
USAID employs 15,000 people in Aceh province in cash-forwork
programs that will benefit 75,000 people.
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