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	1. Peace process up close 2. People and places in Aceh 3. The reality of 1 year after the South Asian tsunami

Top row from left, Nancy Vogt, Judy Dushku, Pak Salami (driver), Michael Renner, Rihan (ACSTF.org), Didi (ACSTF.org), bottom row, Qumrunnessa Nazly, Beth Drexler, Jessica Rucell; (behind) Bambang (driver); Elizabeth Wong, Chalida Tajaroensuk

Aceh, Indonesia little known to the world before the December 26, 2004 South Asian earthquake and tsunami has been pried open by the humanitarian disaster allowing thousands of internationals to flood the province after suffering isolation during a thirty year armed conflict. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed over 150,000 people in Aceh alone, the hardest hit area. The tsunami killed people in seven Asian countries, and dozens more felt effects of the tsunami. This tragedy generated the most generous aid operation in history, encompassing relief programs on continents throughout Asia. To date there are over five hundred aid organizations on the ground in Aceh with some having as many as six hundred staff.

On August 16th, 2005 Indonesia and Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, The Free Aceh Movement or GAM signed a peace agreement, known as Memorandum of Understanding or MOU ending the conflict, at least for now. Many say the peace agreement was reached between the warring parties as a result of pressure from donor countries that have promised lucrative donations to the Indonesian government for reconstruction.

GAM announced its armed struggle for independence from Indonesia in 1976. Using the legal grounds for their claim, that Aceh should not have been given to Indonesia after its independence from the Dutch, as Aceh was never fully colonized. Historians agree to Acehnese claims that the Dutch never fully colonized them, the Acehnese are famous for fighting the longest war in colonial history, lasting over 100 years. The long conflict claimed an estimated 15,000 lives and displaced over 10,000 people. The Indonesian military, known as Tentara Nasional Indonesia or TNI has committed human rights abuses throughout the Aceh province. In 1998 after Soeharto's fall from power mass graves were found in Aceh with bodies numbering as many as two-hundred. GAM is also known to have committed human rights abuses, but not on the same scale and consistency as the TNI. In recent years it became commonplace for atrocities to be reported and have each party blame the other.