Project News

Following the 2nd ACE Festival in June, the 3rd ACE Festival was held on August 20-21 in Meulaboh, Kabupaten Aceh Barat which is located about 150Km to southwest (about 10-hour ride) of Banda Aceh City. 39 ACE group members joined the Festival. Some of them took more than 15 hours to get to Meulaboh. ACE members from Aceh Barat were especially enthusiastic as this is their turn to host the event. They volunteered to make opening speech and preparing lunch and dinner for ACE group members from other regions.

As this is the 3rd Festival, ACE members became more familiar each time, and communication among groups is getting smoother and smoother. This is something that can hold groups together and become a driving force to strengthen network among them. In this Festival, promoting products from ACE groups to the public of Meulaboh and selling more products were the main tasks. For that purpose, project staff made leaflets with pictures of ACE products, and distributed them to local markets, mosques, schools, kindergartens, and village offices to attract many people to the Festival. As a result, some ACE groups sold out their products in 2 days.

Currently under the Project, handover of ACE groups to local government is carried out, since the Project is getting closer to its end. Therefore, the JICA Expert Team has been trying to deepen the understanding of local government towards ACE activities such as involving local government of Kabupaten Aceh Barat in 3rd ACE Festival.

Photo left:Mamber of Cake group from Aceh Barat making opening speech
Photo right:Member of Embroidery group from Banda Aceh selling her products to customers

Photo left:Member of Chips-making group selling products to Bupati Aceh Barat
Photo right:Traditional Acehnese cake made by ACE group members

Photo left:Packaging of products getting better compared to 1st ACE Festival
Photo right:ACE member sharing her experience in Workshop

Photo left:Recording interactive dialogue at Festival by Radio Republic Indonesia
Photo right:Leaflet with pictures of ACE products distributed in Meulaboh