The most difficult adjustment in living in Banda Aceh, will also be the cause of
the most sadness when we have to leave.

At home we take care of all our household chores and driving. We rely on the police for our security. That is not the way things are done here. Unless you are very poor, people expect that you will provide jobs by hiring household help, like guards, drivers, housekeepers and nannys.

It has taken awhile for us to get used to having people in our home who are not part of our family, but now it seems a little like they are. They have made our time here much easier. They have been the ones who helped us understand most what it means to be Acehnese, and to have survived the tsunami.

They have watched us too. We hope what they saw made them feel just as positive about what it means to be an American family, trying to assist in the recovery.

Agum and Adi were our first guards. Agam
would come into the house during an
earthquake to get us out. We get out
ourselves now!

He does not work for us anymore. We are
just friends. Sometimes he visits with his
family.

Adi still works for us and is the most fun.
He helps us catch frogs. He caught a musang
on our roof too.

The guards do not only guard the house.
Sometimes they cut the trees and vines.
They fix things that break, even toys!

Aswin is Agams younger brother. Before
the tsunami he drove a labi-labi and saved
a lot of people as the waves came. They
jumped on and in the van. The labi-labi
was destroyed.

After Christmas we had a party for everyone
who works for us. It was a lot of fun, especially
when Adi, Rajab, Suriadi and Win played music.

Anum and Tina helped us with housework
when we first came. They spent a lot of
time talking with our nana while we were
doing school work and sometimes they would
go shopping together.

When Tina's children had a school holiday
she would bring them to our house to play.

Ita came to work for us after Anum and
Tina had to leave. She was pregnant when
she first started. Before the tsunami she
had a small hairdressers shop and her
husband, Win, made wells. They rented a
house that the tsunami destroyed too.

After the tsunmai, they used debris
to build a temporary house on a piece of
land they could rent. Win got a job as a
driver for an NGO.

Now they have moved into their own house.
An NGO helped them build it after Ita
and Win bought some land.

Ita brings Ramat to work every day.
He is a happy, cute baby. When he is
not sleeping Ita carries him in a cloth sling.
We carry him too, now that he is older.

After Ramat was born we hired Lena
to help Ita. They do all the laundry, clean
the house, ...

and sometimes go food shopping for us.

Lena has a 4 year old daughter, Pinta,
who came over for a little while sometimes.
She enjoyed painting her nails with henna.

Did you know you can do a lot of food
preparation on the floor? We have
a lot of fun together.

Agus is 19 years old. When Lena decided
to stop working Agus came to help.
She likes learning new recipes.

It will be hard to say good bye to
all the people who have helped us.