15 Years of Rebuilding Hope

Fifteen years ago, a massive earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, generating the devastating Indian Ocean or Boxing Day tsunami that killed more than 170,000 people in Indonesia, and almost 230,000 total. The Banda Aceh shoreline was the first to be struck by the enormous waves, killing over 100,000 people and leaving thousands of children orphaned.

In the aftermath of the disaster, SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia provided emergency help to some 4,000 children. Eventually three SOS Children’s Villages were built to care for about 450 children who were left without parental care.

Mistahul, a young woman who lost her mother in the tsunami, has lived in the SOS Children’s Village in the city of Banda Aceh since 2015. Mistahul has grown close to her SOS mother, Safrina, and has bounced back from the trauma of losing her family in a natural disaster.

“At SOS Children’s Villages, my mother and all the siblings gave me so much love, care and motivation to dream new dreams and one day achieve them,” says Mistahul.

She now dreams of one day giving back to the community.

“I want to be a teacher, so I can teach children who live in isolated areas,” says Mistahul. “I want to teach them so that they have more knowledge of the world.”

To restore normalcy to the lives of children and other members of the community, SOS Children’s Villages helped rebuild multipurpose community centres, hundreds of houses, a health clinic and a mosque. In addition to providing access to proper healthcare, parental care, and love from a family, SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia works to ensure that every child has access to education, and built three schools and kindergartens across the country.

These reconstruction efforts are part of a greater attempt to rebuild entire communities, as mirrored in the words of Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani: “When we rebuild a house, we are rebuilding a home. When we recover from disaster, we are rebuilding lives and livelihoods.”

Many of the children who lost their parents 15 years ago have since grown into adults, leading fulfilling lives with a promising future. Today, about 250 children are growing up in the Children’s Villages in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. They are no longer just tsunami survivors but rather, Aceh’s promising future generation.

Mistahul is one such survivor. She started learning Taekwondo, and has already won several medals. She is learning dance at the Institute of Indonesian Arts and Culture, and hopes to one day teach the art of dancing to others.

For these children to reach their potential despite the trauma is a dream shared by Ms. Jannah, a mother from the SOS Children’s Village Meulaboh.

“The only hope that I have is that children I’ve cared for can achieve their dreams, have an independent and successful life, and have good morals,” says Ms. Jannah.

SOS Children's Villages Response

• SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia began to work in Banda Aceh in 2005
• Right after the tsunami, SOS Children’s Villages established three Villages to care for 450 Children without parental care.
• Built three schools for 1,000 students
• Urgent help for about 4,000 people in the community after the disaster 
• SOS Children’s Villages built 525 houses for 525 families in the surrounding community
• Currently 250 children are in living in the SOS Children’s Villages Banda Aceh and Meulaboh
• Today, the alternative care programmes and the support for vulnerable families are still active.

Canadians wishing to help vulnerable children are encouraged to sponsor a child, sponsor a Village or make a one-time donation. Your support will change the lives of orphaned, abandoned and other vulnerable children. Please help today.