The Smell of Success

Photo: David Snyder for Mercy Corps

Here in the small village of Nusa, hard hit by the tsunami that devastated Indonesia's Aceh province in late 2004, there is a new smell wafting over the modest wood houses along village's dirt streets: it is the smell of fresh baked bread. But for the employees of the Nusa Indah Bakery, and for many of the residents here, it is the smell of a community reborn.

The man behind that spirit is Muchlis Ismail. With a quick smile and a soft-spoken manner, Ismail might seem an unlikely catalyst for change. But as the owner of the Nusa Indah Bakery, and a resident of Nusa, Ismail not only survived the tsunami that devastated this tiny village, but quickly set about to rebuild the small business that the sea had torn from him.

"I was thinking to rebuild," Ismail said of the long months when he, like all of the village's residents, was displaced by the tsunami. "I had the dream, but I didn't know how I would get the money."

The source, it seemed, was closer than he imagined. Working on a variety of Mercy Corps cash-for-work projects after the tsunami, clearing streets and buildings of debris, Ismail met staff members looking to provide assistance to small business owners. The agency's staff told him about a small village bank supported by Mercy Corps with funds and training.

Ismail secured a loan for 24 million Indonesian rupiyah — about US $2,500. With his loan guaranteed by Mercy Corps, it was enough to get him going again.

"I bought a big oven, and pans to bake in," Ismail said. "I thought that kind of oven was exactly what I needed. That's why I spent most of the money on that."

Supported by Mercy Corps staff who helped train him in accounting and marketing, Ismail's investment quickly paid off. With his new oven, he was able to vastly increase his production and set about hiring local workers, disbursing much-needed cash into the local economy. His bakery's staff consisted of only himself, his wife and his father-in-law before the tsunami — today he has 24 workers, and has increased his production from 200 rolls a day before the tsunami to more than 11,000 today.

After paying off the loan in just seven months, Ismail is looking now to expand his business. "Now I distribute to other districts, which increases the market," Ismail said. "I just bought 400 square meters of land to build a factory. I hope to have that built in two years."

Ismail's success has not gone unnoticed. In December 2007 — three years nearly to the day since he lost nearly everything he owned to the tsunami — Ismail beat out more than 5,600 nominees to receive a national award as the best micro-business in Indonesia, offered each year by a major Indonesian corporation.

True to form, Ismail plans to use the cash award — 45 million Indonesian rupiyah, or about $4,800 — to invest in his growing business. And while the financial success of his efforts is part of his motivation, Ismail says, there is much more to the motivation behind his work.

"It's a kind of personal satisfaction that I feel when I can help other people by providing a livelihood," Ismail said.