A Bit of Acehnese… with Pepen!

Lesson One

1 sa
2 dua
3 lhee
4 pheut
5 limong
6 nam
7 tujoh
8 lhapan
9 sikureung
10 siploh
100 (si)reutoh
1,000 (si)ribee

Lesson Two

How are you?
Peu haba?

I am well.
Ulon djroeuh manteng / haba get.

Okay!
Djroeh/get!

Thank you!
Teuriumeng geunaseh!

Lesson Three

Mother
Mak, Nyak

Father
Pak, Abu

Sister
Dek nong

Brother
Abang

Lesson Four

Friend
Rakan/ngoen

Anywhere
Phat mantong

Why?
Pakon?

When?
Pajan?

Lesson Five

I am sorry!
Ulon lakeu meu’ah!

What is your name?
Soe nan droeuneuh?

Where are you from?
Dari pat droeneh troeuh/teuka?

No problem
Hana masalah

Lesson Six

Nice to meet you!
Seunang that jeut merumpok ngon droeneh!

Don’t trouble me!
Beuk tapeukaru ulon!

Where are you going?
Hoe meu jak?

Have you already eaten?
Ka leuh bue?

Lesson Seven

Is your family well?
Peu keuluarga droeneh jroeuh/get?

Please, help me!
Toueloeng, neu bantu ulon!

Can you help me?
Peu jeut neu bantu ulon?

What is your job?
Bak pue neuh keureja?

Lesson Eight

Red
Mirah

Orange
Oranye

Yellow
Kuneng

Green
Ijo

Blue
Biru

Black
Itam

Brown
Coklat

White
Puteh

Cut Nyak Dhien Hospital: A Crossword Puzzle

Last Monday the “My Meulaboh” staff visited Cut Nyak Dhien Hospital to learn more about this important healthcare institution. Dr. Haris, head of the hospital and a pediatrician for 19 years, kindly met with us and shared some general information about the biggest and most well equipped hospital in all of Aceh Jaya, Aceh Barat, Nagan Raya and Aceh Barat Daya. Take the following crossword puzzle to test your knowledge about the hospital and healthcare in Meulaboh

QUESTIONS

Across
3. The hospital has five _______ ready to pick up patients.
5. There are 115 ______ at the Cut Nyak Dhien hospital.
7. On average, the hospital treats one _______ accident victim per day.
8. It costs Rp. ___,000 to stay overnight in a hospital room with six beds.

Down
1. Between 100 – 200 _______ visit Meulaboh’s hospital every day.
2. More patients come to Cut Nyak Dhien Hospital for ________ infections than any other illness.
4. The city where Cut Nyak Dhien hospital usually sends people with head injuries and heart failure.
5. The hospital lacks an ample supply of ________.
6. Doctors at Meulaboh’s hospital saw 188 victims of _______ in 2006.
7. Dr. Haris’ number one health recommendation is protect oneself from ______.

ANSWERS

Across
3. Ambulances: According to Dr. Haris there are five ambulances. To call an ambulance dial 0813-6012-5859 and ask for the ambulance dispatcher - T. Noza

5. Beds: There are 115 beds in Meulaboh’s
rumah sakit, but according to Dr. Harris, “There are not enough.” With an average of 10-20 new inpatients a day, the beds are always filled to capacity.

7. Motorcycle: The hospital sees more motorcycle accidents than any other type of serious accident. On average, the hospital cares for one victim per day. Dr. Haris said that approximately once a week someone dies from a motorcycle accident.

8. Fifteen: To stay one night in a hospital room with six beds costs Rp. 15,000/night, a room with two beds runs Rp. 35,000/night, and a room with one bed costs Rp. 80,000/night.

Down

1. Outpatients: The hospital is always busy with 100-200 outpatients every day.

2. Respiratory: The most common illness at Cut Nyak Dhien is respiratory infections. Dr. Haris attributes this to smoking, dust, and pollution.

4. Banda Aceh: For head and heart injuries, the hospital sends people to Banda Aceh. While the hospital in Medan is well equipped, it’s both faster and less expensive to transport people to Aceh’s capital city (approximately Rp. 1.2 million).

5. Blood: There is a blood bank at the hospital, but the stock is limited. Additionally, the hospital does not have negative blood as most Indonesians’ blood types are positive.

6. Dengue: In 2006, 188 people were treated for dengue.

7. Malaria: On average, the hospital sees 140 malaria cases per year. Last year five malaria patients died at the Cut Nyak Dhien Hospital. Dr. Haris suggests asking a doctor for a malaria prescription before visiting a remote village. In addition, it’s important to limit the number of mosquitoes in your home by emptying your bak mandi at least once a week.

Thanks to Ahyoni for arranging and translating the interview with Dr. Haris!

Suak Ribee: A Potentially Perfect Beach

By Pepen, UNDP
Standing on Suak Ribee’s sandy beaches and watching the sun slowly set over the Indian Ocean is a near perfect image. The radiant colors in the sky, the waves crashing onto shore, the … empty Aqua bottles, cigarette butts and torn plastic bags? Suak Ribee should be a perfect image. Sadly, the scattered waste disrupts this postcard scene.

“We cannot really enjoy the beach because it’s too dirty,” complain some expatriates who regularly come to Suak Ribee and are disappointed by the increasing amount of rubbish. In response, Thomas (French Red Cross) and I determined something must be done. After much discussion we decided to initiate regular beach cleanups.

February 17th at Suak Ribee marked the first ever Meulaboh beach cleanup. Together, 35 volunteers –both locals and visitors—spent the late afternoon patiently picking up garbage and disposing of it in the rubbish bins donated by French Red Cross.

By coming together to clean the beach we hoped to let others know that we are concerned about the beach’s condition. We wanted to stress the importance of sanitation. This wasn’t just a message for the communities living along the beach, but for the regular visitors who are also adding to the increasing amount of rubbish at Suak Ribee.

Members of Caritas Switzerland and Spanish Red Cross were amongst those who gladly pitched in and filled their bags with non-organic waste. “This is a very good activity to show the people how to properly dispose of waste,” said Claudius (Caritas Switzerland).
An hour into the cleanup curious restaurant owners grabbed garbage bags and joined the volunteers in helping to clear the beach of waste. “We are very happy to see the beach is clean, and starting today we will begin putting non-organic waste into the rubbish bins,” said the owner of Café Sunset, whose coconut cafe previously did not have rubbish bins.

Satisfied with their hard work, the beach cleanup crew relaxed with a coconut, watched a beach volleyball game, and looked around the clean beach, proud of their afternoon’s efforts. And as the sun began to set, the cleanup crew joyfully witnessed two beach visitors walk to the rubbish bins to throw away their cigarette box. That’s exactly what the cleanup crew was hoping for – encouraging the community to care about their potentially perfect beach.

Please continue checking this blog for the next beach clean-up location to be announced.

Chicken Pot Pie

A Reviewed Recipe (Using All Meulaboh Ingredients)
Submitted by Bethany Free (FHI)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons of salt
½ a chicken
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups of chicken broth
1 ½ cups of green beans (about ¼ kilo)
1 ½ cups of carrots (2-3 large carrots)
1 ½ cups of potatoes (5-6 small potatoes)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

-Boil the chicken with the bay leaves and garlic cloves. Save the chicken broth. Remove the chicken from the broth and allow it to cool. Shred the chicken.
-Cut the carrots, potatoes, and green beans into little pieces. Then boil and drain the carrots.
-Repeat with each of the vegetable (the vegetables should be tender but not overcooked).
-In a large bowl combine the chicken, vegetables, and flour.
-Preheat oven to 425*F (220*C).
-Melt butter in large skillet oven medium-high heat.
-Turn off the heat and add the chicken & vegetable mixture to the skillet and stir until it is evenly mixed.
-Stir in broth and bring to boil.
-Reduce heat and let it simmer until the sauce thickens about 1-2 minutes.
-Make the pie pastry (see pastry recipe below).
-Transfer chicken mixture to the pastry lined deep dish 10-inch pie pan.
-Top with pie pastry crust; seal and crimp edge and make slits to vent.
-Bake in oven until crust is golden, about 30 minutes.

Basic Pie Pastry - Savory

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
15 tablespoons margarine
5 tablespoons ice water

Directions:

-In a bowl, combine the flour and salt.
-Using the tips of your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
-Stir in the ice water with a fork just until dough comes together nicely.
-Form pastry into a ball and chill for 1 hour.
-Roll pastry out on a lightly floured work surface into a circle slightly larger than the tart pan, place in pan and press onto bottom and edge of pan, then firmly roll the rolling pin across the top of the tart pan to trim away the excess pastry.

A Time Honored Tradition: The Acehnese Wedding

Saturday afternoon Arisman, 29, and Herlina, 26, sat atop their golden throne and smiled as hundreds of guests filed into the gold “wedding room” to get a glimpse of this bride and groom in their traditional attire. These newlyweds hosted a time-honored wedding celebration based upon an abundance of traditions unique to Aceh.

According to Arisman, such traditions aren’t only found in the wedding, but they begin with the engagement. In Aceh, an engagement involves more than the simple question, “Will you marry me?” Instead, it is a process that involves both families and much discussion. When a man is ready to propose to a woman, he usually chooses a seulangke (representative) to speak with his prospective bride’s family and ask, on his behalf, if he would make an acceptable husband. If the woman’s family says “yes” then both families gather at the woman’s house to discuss two important gifts: the mahar (present that will be given to the bride at the wedding) and the uang hangus (amount of money the groom will pay to enter into the woman’s family).

Once the mahar and the uang hangus have been agreed upon, the families can begin to plan the engagement ceremony. At this ceremony the man gives a gift of gold (along with its receipts) to his future bride, symbolizing that she is now spoken for. Once the female accepts the gold, it is understood that if she breaks the engagement she will owe the man double the amount of mahar, uang hangus, and gold. If the man breaks the engagement, the woman’s family will keep the gold given at the engagement ceremony.

On the day of the actual wedding, the couple will marry at the mosque, office of religious affairs (Kantor Urusan Agama) or, if the couple prefers, the ceremony may take place at the bride or groom’s home. Usually the wedding ceremony is quite intimate and about 20 people attend, including witnesses from the bride and groom’s sides, family members, and key people from the village. During this ceremony the groom presents his bride with the mahar and the Quran.

Planning the wedding reception takes great amounts of work and Arisman noted that both families usually share the responsibility. This is especially important considering the often lengthy guest list. If the family is considered prominent, it is not unusual for an entire village to be invited to the wedding reception –such parties can reach into the thousands. Not surprisingly, preparing food for all these guests is an enormous task. Although caterers can be hired, most families work together to prepare the wedding luncheon.

Newlyweds Wiwit and Agus (married December 28), declared that they had a rather small wedding and Agus’ relatives prepared all the food (Wiwit’s family was unable to attend as her family lives in Java). For this couple a “small” celebration meant having six or seven hundred guests. They explained that because Agus’ family recently hosted a wedding celebration for his sister, the family’s budget required that they host a “simple” reception. “We would have liked to have invited 3,000,” said Agus.

The guests attending the wedding luncheon traditionally feast on goat, buffalo and pliku (aged coconut with vegetables), while the bride and the groom sit atop eat in their decorated wedding room. Over the course of the afternoon the guests file into this room draped in gold to offer congratulations and admire their ornate wedding apparel. Arisman and Herlina said they wore four different wedding outfits, typical of the wedding attire in Aceh, Padang, Kalimantan and Sunda. Wiwit and Agus had two wedding wardrobes – one from Aceh and one from Padang. “Wearing these beautiful clothes made me so happy!” said Wiwit. In addition to their intricate wedding clothes, both brides, Herlina and Wiwit, had their hands and feet painted with inai (henna). It is customary for the inai to be applied during the three days and nights leading up to the ceremony.

Considering the multiple wedding costumes that must be rented, the extraordinary number of guests that are invited, and the gifts of gold and money that must be given, Acehnese weddings can be quite expensive. Arisman estimates that a typical wedding in Meulaboh costs about Rp. 15,000,000.

But for the couples that I spoke with, despite how elaborate or special their wedding celebrations were, the day does not compare to their new joy as husband and wife. “Now in my heart there is peace,” said Wiwit, “My husband is a gift for me.”

For many visitors to Aceh attending a wedding celebration can also be a gift, especially as you learn about the time honored traditions behind the wedding day.

Much of the information and research about Acehnese weddings was contributed by Centre Mulia Hati and translated by Nia Limanto. Thanks to Riza (CRS) for translating the interview with Arisman.

Voice Your Choice: Mandiri

So you think you know Meulaboh pretty well, huh? Tag along with Sofia (age 2) and you’ll see a whole new Meulaboh through her curious eyes.

Sofia’s favorite place to go in town is Mandiri. When I asked her why she loves Meulaboh’s biggest supermarket so much she showed me a mark on her knee and said, “I have an owie.” I followed this tiny Meulabohite into Mandiri and watched her as she headed straight toward the juice. “I have juice,” Sofia thoughtfully commented as she reached for the apple and dropped two small boxes in a basket nearly half her size. As she waddled through the store Sofia didn’t just ignore the items she didn’t need, but she stopped and appreciated the fine packaging. “They’re flying,” Sofia said pointing to a picture of two boys on the powdered milk box. In fact, she admired several goods on the lower shelves that most adults just take for granted, like ketchup bottles, floor cleaner and baby powder, and especially the packaged kerupuk (chips). At last, with a full basket she had to drag down the aisle, Sofia’s supermarket adventure came to an end. “Did you have fun at Mandiri?” I asked her. “Yeah,” she said.