Lindawati lost almost everything when the devastating tsunami slammed into Banda Aceh on Boxing Day 2004.
Thanks to the British Red Cross cash grant programme, she and other vulnerable people are rebuilding their lives.Wiping away tears, Lindawati (36) recalls a day that still haunts her. "When
the tsunami hit, I was at the market in Banda Aceh buying groceries. My husband was at home with the children, my daughter and my 15-month-old son."My daughter managed to run from the waves up
into the mountains but my husband was taken along with my son. Their bodies were never found but they still appear in my dreams at night. The tsunami also took my mother, three siblings and my
brother-in-law."Without the grant from the British Red Cross I would not have been able to develop my business and make plans for the futureLindawati, tailor who received a livelihoods
cash grantLindawati now lives in Mon Ikeun village in Lhoknga District of Banda Aceh with her sixty-year-old father Hanafiah and daughter Sukma Armuna (9). She started a
tailoring business before the tsunami hit and, thanks to a cash grant from the British Red Cross, she has been able to rebuild her business sewing dresses for women in her village as well as curtains
and pillowcases.The grant has meant she is able to buy much-needed fabrics and threads as well as a wardrobe to keep and display the dresses in. She explained: "The money I make from one dress
will support my family for two days and buy the material for my next order. It is a good income when I have regular orders but if not I struggle."Bright future in IndonesiaThe
grant has also given her the freedom to dream of a better future. She said: "I would like to open a shop next to my house and make costumes for the children in the village to rent during celebrations
and parties. This would make more income."Without the grant from the British Red Cross I would not have been able to develop my business and make plans for the future." Hanafiah, Lindawati's
elderly father, also received a cash grant from the British Red Cross. He has started a business growing and selling rambutan, a popular fruit in Indonesia. Lindawati said: "Although my father is
elderly he is still very fit and manages to go into the hills every day to farm the rambutan."The British Red Cross is in the second phase of giving cash grants in Indonesia. The first phase
saw 6,900 people who had been affected by the tsunami receive $1,000 each. Lindawati and Hanafiah are among nearly 3,000 people who have received livelihoods cash grants in this second phase,
which is supporting particularly vulnerable people such as women, single heads of households, the elderly and the disabled.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
