Rebecca Fanany

Religion and post-disaster development

This chapter discusses the role religion and religious organizations can play in development following a natural disaster. The development efforts in Aceh, Indonesia, following the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 provide examples of how the nature of Acehnese society, its views on religion, the role of religious organizations in the region, and the activities of aid agencies at the time all contributed the the post-disaster experience in this society.The chapter also considers what the role of faith in such situations might mean for future development efforts, especially in the context of natural disaster.

Capacity Building in Indonesia: Building What Capacity?

The idea of capacity building can be traced back to the years immediately following World War II, when it was associated with the need to build the administrative capacity of governments and the public sector in developing countries (Pearson, 1969; Morgan, 1994). By the 1980s the scope of capacity building was extended to cover issues of long-term sustainability and ways of ensuring responsiveness to change, which tended to mean that wider structural adjustments were required (Morgan, 1994; McGinty, 2003). At the same time the categories of subjects requiring ‘their capacity to be built’ expanded from government institutions to businesses and civil society institutions, such as non-government organisations (NGOs) (Morgan, 1994). While there are now many definitions of capacity building, in its most general sense the term refers to the process of developing skills, abilities, behaviours and resources within a group so that members can take control of their wellbeing and future directions (see for example Chaskin et al., 2001; Eade and Williams, 1995). Capacity building tends to be identified with the skilling and resourcing of organisations and institutions. For example it has been indicated as a means for ensuring the continued existence of organisations by building institutional strength and reducing reliance on key individuals (Straussman, 2007). Effective capacity building allows an organisation to continue its work despite staff turnover or changes in operating environment.

Indonesian maids in the Arab world: hopes, dreams, and disillusionment

For many years large numbers of Indonesian women have taken jobs as servants in the Middle East. The attraction of this work, as opposed to similar positions in Indonesia, is the potential to earn high wages, unavailable to those with little formal education in the home country. The challenges of this work are considerable and are widely publicized in Indonesia. Nonetheless, working overseas as a maid remains appealing for many women. This chapter describes the experiences of a number of women from Cianjur, West Java, in Saudi Arabia and discusses their use of this kind of work to enhance their own agency and address persistent economic problems they face in Indonesia, despite social pressure, entrenched unemployment, educational attainment, and cultural expectations.

The effects of local culture on hospital administration in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Purpose Problems in health-care leadership are serious in West Sumatra, Indonesia, especially in hospitals, which are controlled locally. The purpose of this paper is to present the experience of three hospitals in balancing the conflicting demands of the national health-care system and the traditional model of leadership in the local community. Design/methodology/approach Three case studies of the hospital leadership dynamic in West Sumatra were developed from in-depth interviews with directors, senior administrators and a representative selection of employees in various professional categories. Findings An analysis of findings shows that traditional views about leadership remain strong in the community and color the expectations of hospital staff. Hospital directors, however, are bound by the modern management practices of the national system. This conflict has intensified since regional autonomy which emphasizes the local culture much more than in the past. Research limitations/implications The research was carried out in one Indonesian province and was limited to three hospitals of different types. Practical implications The findings elucidate a potential underlying cause of problems in hospital management in Indonesia and may inform culturally appropriate ways of addressing them. Originality/value The social and cultural contexts of management have not been rigorously studied in Indonesia. The relationship between local and national culture reported here likely has a similar effect in other parts of the country.

Culture, Lifestyle and Diabetes in Indonesia

Diabetes is an increasing concern worldwide, including in developing countries such as Indonesia. It has often been suggested that the rise in this condition is associated with a “westernization” of behavior in developing societies as well as social change that is tending away from traditional lifestyles. In many cases, however, the nature and extent of such behavior change, as well as the segment of the population likely to be affected, is unclear. In Indonesia, for example, there is evidence that certain aspects of traditional behavior and food preferences are, in fact, likely to increase risk for diabetes, suggesting that factors such as increased life expectancy and increased standard of living are more significant in the rise in this illness than the adoption of an outside way of life. This paper will discuss the relationship of traditional behaviorand food preferences in the context of recent social and economic change to rising incidence of diabetes in Indonesia. Specifically, the situation in the province of West Sumatra will be considered as a case study of social change and cultural context in relation to diabetes.

Post-Disaster Coping in Aceh: Sociocultural Factors and Emotional Response

Abstract The research reported here is based on visits to Aceh made in 2006 and 2010 at which time in-depth interviews were conducted with members of the provincial government, nongovernment agencies involved in the reconstructions efforts, and members of the public who experienced the tsunami firsthand. The original aim of these interviews was to elicit information about effects of the disaster on various social institutions and the need for capacity building in relation to reconstruction. Through the interview process, however, a strong theme relating to coping, at both the individual and community level, began to emerge, and an expanded interview protocol based on the methodologies of resilience (see Hall and Zautra, 2010 ) was developed and used to build the conceptualization of disaster described here. Material from the interviews was supplemented by a systematic search of print and new media to form a picture of public discourse following the tsunami.The research reported here is based on visits to Aceh made in 2006 and 2010 at which time in-depth interviews were conducted with members of the provincial government, nongovernment agencies involved in the reconstructions efforts, and members of the public who experienced the tsunami firsthand. The original aim of these interviews was to elicit information about effects of the disaster on various social institutions and the need for capacity building in relation to reconstruction. Through the interview process, however, a strong theme relating to coping, at both the individual and community level, began to emerge, and an expanded interview protocol based on the methodologies of resilience (see Hall and Zautra, 2010) was developed and used to build the conceptualization of disaster described here. Material from the interviews was supplemented by a systematic search of print and new media to form a picture of public discourse following the tsunami.