Bush survival develops a whole new meaning in post-conflict Aceh

Bush survival skills learned by Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas as they fought the Indonesian army offer hope as Aceh struggles to rebuild after conflict and natural disaster. Dutchman Mendel Pols, who moved to Aceh a month before the Asian tsunami hit in December 2004, has recruited 23 of the former fighters to guide adventure tourists who sign up for his Aceh Explorers tours.

Such sustainable tourism is one hope for rebuilding a region crippled by the 29-year conflict, during which as many as 15,000 people were killed, and then by the 2004 tsunami, in which 170,000 died. The conflict ended in 2005 after the tsunami’s devastation led to peace talks and agreement on special autonomy for the region, withdrawal of Indonesian troops, and disarmament by GAM.

"I want to make the Acehnese aware of the potential for community-based tourism, and put Aceh on the map as a friendly tourism destination," says Pols, who is married to an Acehnese and lives in Banda Aceh. He thought the former fighters would be the perfect jungle trek tour guides, as they had been living in the jungle for years under often extreme conditions. “They practically know every trail there is in the area where they were active as combatants.”

But it took time to convince the former guerrillas that his idea was workable. "When I told GAM my idea they looked at me like I was from Mars." Pols spent seven months promoting the project to GAM’s commanders, locating trails and guides, and organizing survey tours with NGO workers to see if the trails would satisfy western tourists. He reinvested profits into buying hiking boots, backpacks, bushknives, first aid kits, and special clothing for the guides, who had little money of their own.

Marjuni Ibrahim, 28, joined GAM when he was 20. While his group of about 20 GAM fighters lived in the jungle for days at a time, they had to leave the jungle periodically to pick up provisions at an agreed location. "I was most scared coming down from the jungle in case the TNI was there," he said. They drank water from waterfalls, and if they missed their food drop, had to live off whatever they could find to eat in the jungle.

His unit was high on the hill when the tsunami hit Aceh on December 26, 2004, with a noise so loud they thought it was an aerial bombing. “We saw it come in and we were very scared," said Marjuni, whose sister and parents died. Marjuni was rebuilding homes for a couple of dollars a day when he was approached by Pols with the proposal that he become a guide with Aceh Explorers.

Some of the hikes cover terrain where fighting took place and visitors can see reminders of the conflict such as leftover army foodpacks and army graffiti. The former guerrillas often teach participants their own survival skills, like finding drinking water from a cut tree branch.

Pols says most trekkers so far are aid workers who have come to the region for tsunami relief efforts. "The area is very beautiful. I like trekking and I was interested to see what life was like during the conflict," said Hugo Lamers, a Dutch aid worker who went on a tour last year. "It's difficult to imagine but three or more years ago they were running around here with guns and fighting the TNI. When I went, they took us to a place where they had lost some of their friends."

Pols hopes tourism can achieve a number of goals in addition to offering work to the former combatants. He hopes it will promote health and fitness amongst visitors and residents of Aceh; provide employment in rural communities where there are few other jobs available; and encourage conservation of the natural environment, once villagers realise how much money can be made from eco-tourism.

This story was compiled from a number of sources, including the website of Aceh Explorer; Tour Guide – Guerillas in the Midst, March 26, 2008, on Intelligent Travel, the blog of National Geographic Traveler; a Reuters story entitled Aceh’s former fighters guide “guerrilla tourists”, 18 Feb. 2008, by Sara Webb in Lhoong, Indonesia; a story entitled From Warriors to Tour Guides in the March 2008 enewsletter Development Challenges, South-South Solutions; and Take a guerilla tour, Feb. 26, 2008.

 

 

 


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