Written By: Teuku Aulia Geumpana

Honolulu, HI, Oct 21 – 23, 2008

The International Conference and Cultural Event on Aceh that was held by Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa and International Acehnesse graduate students was finally resulted to the signing of agreement to collaborate in educational exchange between local universities in Aceh and University of Hawaii at Manoa. Prior to the signing of the MoU, intensive seminar and graduate student papers were presented for two consecutive days. The cultural performances from the Aceh local University of Ar-Raniry Islamic State Institute and Balinese dance from one of Indonesian student at UHM made the conference more entertaining.

Among the presenters at the conference, there were three Acehnesse Fulbright scholars who are still studying in the U.S. and two other Acehnesse Fulbright alumni that also attended the conference; Muhammad Irham (Fulbright scholar at Texas A&M University), Teuku Andika Rama Putra (Fulbright scholar at Colorado School of Mines) and myself as the representative from Arkansas (University of Arkansas at Little Rock). The other two Fulbright alumni were Saiful Mahdi (Fulbright alumni from University of Vermont) and Fajran Zein (Fulbright alumni from Indiana University). Below are brief note of activities during the conference.

 Assosiasi Fulbright Aceh

Gelombang tsunami yang dipicu oleh gempa bumi berskala 8.9 Richter, yang terjadi pada 26 Desember  2004, telah  menelan  ratusan ribu korban jiwa di wilayah Asia tenggara. Sebagian besar korban tersebut berada di propinsi Aceh, bagian barat Indonesia. Kerusakan yang terjadi di Aceh sangatlah parah. Seperempat dari empat juta jiwa penduduknya  menjadi korban langsung bencana alam tersebut. Lebih dari 170.000 korban tewas atau dinyatakan hilang, sementara 500.000 jiwa kehilangan tempat tinggal. Di ibukota propinsi saja ,Banda Aceh, dari 264.618 penduduk, 61.065 jiwa dinyatakan tewas.  Enam dari sembilan kecamatan di Banda Aceh rusak total atau rusak sebagian dan  41 dari 89 desanya tersapu habis oleh gelombang (Balai Kota Banda Aceh, 2007).