Contributor: Nur Afni and Ardian Alhadath

“I will do anything to increase my family’s income as long as it’s legal,” said Annisah, a 30-year-old woman who is part of Mercy Corps' Aceh Recovery Program. But her words sound more like purpose than desperation. Since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, she's known plenty of the latter.

Annisah and her family have been living in a temporary displaced persons camp in Seubun Ayon village since the disaster devastated Indonesia's Aceh province three years ago. The disaster destroyed her family’s house with all their belongings, along with her husband’s betak — a motorcycle drawn taxi cab — their main source of income.

Mercy Corps was one of the first international relief and development organizations to arrive in remote areas of Aceh, which at the time was nearly closed off from the world because of violent rebellion. The organization partnered with local organizations and communities, and began to work in Seubon Ayon village immediately after the tsunami.

Through Mercy Corps' cash-for-work program, villagers received daily income in the first days after the disaster for clearing debris-strewn roads and cleaning up schools so they could re-open. This program put money in survivors' pockets and infused cash into decimated local economies. Annisah was one of the returnees that approached Mercy Corps for assistance.

After the cash-for-work program, people were offered grants to helped business start-ups. In total, Mercy Corps has assisted more than 1,500 people through cash grants, restoring shuttered businesses and creating new jobs.

Mercy Corps determined the most pressing needs in dozens of villages through regularly-held community meetings, discussing the situation with a wide variety of business groups, from chicken breeders to cake makers. Annisah belonged to a group of cake makers who were able to benefit from a cash grant and technical assistance. Today, with ten co-workers, she has a fruitful business with new equipment, cake ingredients and packaging.

“At first we knew nothing about accounting; we didn’t know how to track our expenses or our profits," Annisah explained. "Now that we have the money and have learned a few new skills from Mercy Corps’ staff, we know how much money we must earn to support our family,”

Annisah was able to even employ some of her neighbours. With three additional persons to help her during the busy periods, she now sells cakes to her neighbours and in stores outside her village.

In addition to her cake-baking endeavour, Annisah finds time to farm her small patch of ground in the camp. With the free seeds and fertilizers given to her family by Mercy Corps, she grows corn, green peas, chilli peppers and tomatoes, which feeds her family and provides additional income in her household. She also has become a very active member in her community, where she plays a leadership role in two women’s organizations.

For now, Annisah still finds herself living in a temporary camp with other tsunami survivors. But it's clear from talking to her that, one day soon, she will find her family a more permanent home. Her spirit will move them.

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