Tsunami Survivors Rebuild Their Lives, One Purse at a Time

By Manda Gibson

You probably remember the news footage and photos: Giant waves of water devoured everything in their path. It was the day after Christmas—December 26, 2004—when a deadly tsunami hit parts of Asia. The tsunami virtually devastated Banda Aceh, Indonesia, where many lost their lives.

Even today, life is far from normal, but some survivors are getting back on their feet. One way they’re doing that is by making purses and selling them through Indonesia’s Department of National Handicrafts. WorldCrafts^SM has developed a relationship with the Department of National Handicrafts, making these Doors of Aceh purses available to purchase in the US.

How the Purses are Made

 
The purses take a long road before they arrive to American women. Most of the purses are made in village homes, in two phases. Phase one consists of embroidering a large piece of fabric with colored thread; women do the work of phase one. Phase two, the “finishing,” is done by men. The men take the embroidered fabric and sew onto it all the finishing details, like side panels, straps, an inner lining, padding, and zippers.

The women doing embroidery can complete between 5 and 10 pieces a day, while the men doing the finishing work can complete up to 20 in a day. However, many men who were skilled as finishers died in the tsunami, so it’s been more difficult since then to get enough purses completed.

About the Women

The women of Banda Aceh have many daily responsibilities, which they can’t neglect as they work on their embroidery. So each woman often embroiders alone whenever she finds time during her daily routine of going to the market, cooking, cleaning, and watching her children.

There are some exceptions, though. In one small village, for example, a single woman wants to make sure young girls have marketable skills. So she’s training high school girls to do the embroidery work. She has set up a workspace in her parents’ home. Some of the girls attend school in the morning and do the embroidery work in the afternoon, while other girls embroider in the morning and attend school in the afternoon.

Providing a Sufficient Income

Harto* is the Department of National Handicrafts marketing agent who’s been working with WorldCrafts. He comes from a family of craftspeople, so he has a real love for the people who make the purses; he genuinely wants to help them. He makes a point of knowing each person who works for him. He knows their struggles and understands how the tsunami affected their lives. Though he can’t heal the wounds still left on their hearts, he’s doing all he can to make sure they at least have a sufficient income.

*Name has been changed.

Manda Gibson writes from Richmond, Virginia, where she lives with her husband, Kevin, and their two cats. She likes to bake, read, share meals with family and friends, shop for antiques, and go on adventures with Kevin.