Contact: Nadia McGill Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), 301-680-5145, Media.Inquiries@adra.org

JAKARTA, Feb. 9 /Standard Newswire/ -- ADRA is continuing its assistance to Indonesia, one of the countries most severely affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. ADRA is currently working to rehabilitate and reconstruct schools in the sub-districts of Aceh Barat and Aceh Jaya in West Aceh, which is located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.

ADRA is also providing professional development and enhancement training courses to rebuild the teaching skills of teachers in the targeted region.

"One of the most affected sectors of this emergency was that of education," said Wendy Brightman, director for the ADRA Tsunami Response Operation based in Medan, Indonesia. "In Aceh Barat, 36,000 students in 198 schools were affected. The Department of Education reports that 70 percent of schools' infrastructure was damaged. This resulted in a disruption of the normal education program and services. The impact of the disaster ... extends to reduced teaching staff capacity. Therefore it is important that ADRA revitalizes not only the physical infrastructure, but invests in the professional development of the educators in the region as well."

In order to achieve its goal of restoring efficient education services in the West Aceh region, ADRA is rehabilitating and reconstructing four elementary schools. Each school will receive furniture, educational materials and supplies, and professional development and enhancement training courses for teachers and administrators. Nearly 1,300 students, teachers, and administrators are expected to benefit from the project.

The one-year school rehabilitation project, valued at an estimated $745,000, is scheduled to be completed in late 2007.

The Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by the Indian Ocean earthquake on December 26, 2004, devastated the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands throughout Asia. In Indonesia, it killed more than 106,000 people, displaced nearly 700,000 people, and left hundreds of thousands of survivors living in makeshift tents, schools, hospitals, and other public facilities. The western coastal region of Aceh was one of the areas hardest-hit by the disaster.

ADRA's tsunami rehabilitation efforts are expected to last until 2010 with more than $35 million committed for the affected region, including projects in India, Myanmar, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. ADRA has programmed nearly $10 million of that for Indonesia alone.

Donations to ADRA's long-term tsunami development projects can be made online, or by phone on 1.800.424.ADRA (2372).

ADRA has been a registered non-governmental organization (NGO) in Indonesia for more than twenty years, working primarily in the areas of basic health care, income generation, emergency response, and education.