Woman Proves Small Can Be Better in Aceh - New York Times

Woman Proves Small Can Be Better in Aceh - New York Times: "Woman Proves Small Can Be Better in Aceh
E-Mail This
Printer-Friendly


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 17, 2005
Filed at 2:51 a.m. ET
LAMREH, Indonesia (AP) -- Standing on a hillside overlooking the bay, Lily Kasoem points to workers laying the foundation for a school in this village decimated by the tsunami. Nearby, a bulldozer has cleared pine forest for some of the 200 homes her organization is building.
''In Jakarta, you'd pay a million for this,'' said Kasoem, admiring the postcard views where her Soroptimists International of Jakarta is building the houses. ''These people will getting them for free.''
The task seems typical of thousands of projects that have popped up in the six months since the Asian tsunami smashed into the coast of Aceh province and international aid groups poured in. Except for one thing -- this 56-year-old optometrist planned it almost single-handedly."