The white flag has been raised in Aceh, signaling an economic crisis | Hopefully everything will be fine, because we still have dreams and aspirations.

Hello everyone.

Hi everyone, today I want to share an important story. All day today, I've been feeling very sad, along with my friends and the refugee group, because the food aid was delivered very late this Sunday. Usually, we receive aid twice a week, but we haven't received any for two weeks.

Today, we are very sad, not because of anything else, but because we are deeply moved. The refugee group in the highlands of Aceh Tamiang, Aceh, Indonesia, received very good news this morning from the refugee group leader. The leader said they have received news. "This afternoon, around 12:00 noon, aid will arrive by air, using a helicopter," said the leader at the refugee camp.

We were all deeply moved, having not received any aid for a long time. This week, we finally received food aid again from foreign donors and Indonesians. I was deeply moved that other Asians were still concerned about the devastating floods that had struck Indonesia.

Today, we, along with friends and children in the evacuation center, followed the cooks to witness the evacuation of aid by air. The assistance from these donations is invaluable to us here, who are experiencing an economic crisis.

We walked for kilometers to the food aid evacuation site. Because we live in a refugee camp far from the village, all of us, along with our friends here, children, and relatives, walked there. It really touched my heart to see the villages covered in mud and their houses completely collapsed. The road to the food aid evacuation site was also in poor condition, and it still hadn't been evacuated at all🥹.

We, the evacuees, were willing to travel far because the highland evacuation site was inaccessible by cars and other vehicles, let alone helicopters, because there was no large yard. Every time we received news of aid arriving, we always walked for kilometers to the aid evacuation site for the evacuees affected by the flood disaster in Aceh Tamiang.

Hopefully the food aid provided will last for the next two weeks or more, because in a situation like this it is very important to maintain good health so that the body remains strong in a situation like this, thank you to the good people and the Malaysian community and others who have cared about Aceh.

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Halfway to the evacuation center, we had to stop at a roadside hut to shelter ourselves from the rain. It had been raining every afternoon for several days, flooding the village and other areas. Therefore, evacuation access was hampered, as it was the rainy season in Indonesia.

We stopped for over an hour because the rain wouldn't let up. When it rains, we, along with all the people of Aceh and Indonesia, are deeply anxious and traumatized by the devastating flood disaster we experienced a few days ago. So, every time it rains, we are deeply traumatized.

Moreover, seeing that it was covered in mud again, after several days of rain, the village had become like a dead village again. In fact, many Acehnese residents had moved to safer places to avoid the (follow-up) flooding. There were also residents who remained in the village because they wanted to save their household items and other belongings. It was truly drying, wasn't it? Hopefully, Aceh will recover quickly.

As a sign of crisis, we and the people of Aceh raise the white flag throughout the Aceh region🙌.

Every street, every city, every village was filled with white flags. (The White Flag) was a sign that Aceh, Indonesia, was not doing well. Even the governor of Aceh cried, unable to face the area that had collapsed due to the devastating floods. Every road had completely collapsed, bridges had collapsed, and land access was paralyzed. We felt like we were locked in here, unable to go anywhere.

And the people of Aceh, Indonesia, were waving the white flag because it was a sign of economic crisis and other things. Prices of goods, such as vegetables, had risen fivefold compared to the previous day. For those who remained in the villages or cities, the situation was extremely miserable, as economic costs had risen fivefold. The price of LPG gas for cooking was even more expensive than before😭.

All regions, territories, and provinces in Aceh have stepped in to raise the white flag. We are deeply saddened here. Cell phone and electricity networks are still not working. We are still asking for help so we can stay in touch with family and other relatives.

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As evening approaches, there are no other activities. Every evening, we refugees have to rush to cook breakfast. Every night, there's no light here, only using flashlights from our cell phones if we have batteries. If we don't have batteries, the electricity won't come back on. We're forced to prepare food at the refugee camp before nightfall. That's our situation here. We keep trying to survive and give thanks to the Almighty.

Sometimes, before nightfall, we always prepare to wash ourselves in the river. If we don't wash ourselves in the river, the night will be very uncomfortable, because there are so many mosquitoes here. That's our daily story. All Acehnese feel the same way.

Author Misslaila🙏.