Aceh Fulbright Association

On December 26, 2004 a tsunami triggered by an earthquake at 8.9 on Richter scale claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in South-East Asia, many of those in Aceh province, Indonesia. The damage in Aceh was particularly devastating where nearly a quarter of its four million people was affected. More than 170,000 were dead or missing while 500,000 were displaced. In Banda Aceh, the capital of the province alone, from 264,618 of its population, some 61,065 vanished in the tsunami. Six of nine sub-districts in Banda Aceh are totally or partially damaged. Some 41 out of 89 its villages are totally wiped out by the wave (Banda Aceh Municipal Office, 2007).

The tsunami destroyed many educational resources. According to the Ministry of National Education (April 2005), more than 2,000 schools were destroyed or severely damaged by the tsunami, including approximately 1,500 primary schools.

The catastrophe, however unfortunate to people in Aceh and other regions, has opened many opportunities for the Acehnese. Rehabilitation and reconstructions have brought new infrastructures, better services, and opportunities. Hundreds of scholarships to study abroad, for example, have been made available by various countries, including those of Fulbright Scholarship. Sponsored by Clinton and Bush Foundation, "Fulbright Tsunami Relief Initiative Scholarship Program" was introduced in 2006.

There are 75 students from Aceh who have studied or been studying at various universities in the United States since this scholarship was launched. The Fulbright students in "Fulbright Tsunami Relief Initiative Scholarship Program" also have opportunities to attend special programs, leadership and management trainings, held twice a year with the full support from two host universities, The University of Arkansas and The Texas A & M University.

There have also been Fulbright scholars from Aceh before and after the special tsunami initiative. Nine of the Fulbright grantees have already finished their study with regular Fulbright Scholarship and had since returned to Aceh. They are now working at various strategic positions as professors, educators, professionals, and civil society activists. In addition, there have been several grantees of Fulbright Presidential Doctoral Scholarship. Four of them are now studying at prestigious universities in the US.

Becoming Fulbright scholars has inspired Aceh Fulbright students and alumni to do something to pay back their society, especially in rebuilding and enhancing human capital development in post-tsunami Aceh. During the third retreat, a special program on leadership and management trainings in May 2008, the Aceh Fulbright Association (AFA) was founded by Fulbright students from Aceh in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Its mission is to be the center of excellence for the development of internationally recognized Acehnese human resources, by doing researches and developing educational materials for educational and training purposes in Aceh. The program will be based on local values but with universal outlook and state of the art facilitates. Acehnese Fulbright-ers are expected to become excellence facilitators and trainers in various human capital advancement efforts in Aceh. The center is also providing data and information for educational and job-seeking purposes.