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| Blindness hasn't stopped 28-year-old Amri from rebuilding his house on the coast of Sumatra after it was destroyed by last December's tsunami. |
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"It feels good to help build the house," says Amri, a strong young man of 28, who is blind. On a Sunday afternoon when the skilled laborers have the day off, he is digging in his family's front yard. After Amri fills a wheelbarrow, his brother pushes it through the front door and dumps the dirt so their father can spread it on the floor of their new house.
All the houses in the village of Suwak Timah, in the Samatiga area on the southwest coast of Sumatra, were destroyed by the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami. Now Habitat is supplying materials, labor and expertise to rebuild the village. Tsunami survivors, whether fishermen or rice farmers, are picking up shovels and trowels to rebuild their houses.
Yahya, Amri's neighbor, shovels dirt where his living room will be. "The skilled laborers tell me what they need," he says: "'Put the steel there, remove the bags of cement from the truck, shovel fill-dirt on the floor, keep the site clean.' I'm glad to do it." Yahya lost his livelihood of tapping rubber because salt water intrusion stressed the trees and they are not producing.
In the traditional Habitat program, "sweat equity" is a requirement for homeowners. While that's not the case because of time constraints in the tsunami recovery project, families often find it satisfying to join the work. Habitat staffers say that for many, the work seems to help them begin their lives again and to have confidence in the house where they will live. Another unexpected bonus: Skilled laborers work harder and faster when the homeowners are involved.
Syahril, in Meulaboh, hopes to go back to selling fish, but for now he will mix cement, sift sand, cut wood and help out any way he can until his house is finished. Since the tsunami, he has lived in a tent with his wife and two daughters. Two nights ago heavy rains turned the tent floor into a raging river and pounded the canvas roof until he thought it would collapse. When the lightning flashed, he could see the house where they'll soon sleep safe and dry.
--Kathryn Reid, Habitat writer based in Bangkok, Thailand
