A travelling road show featuring Aceh's
best known storyteller is scheduled to leave the provincial capital
Banda Aceh Saturday morning on a two-week long tour to spread
messages of peace to dozens of rural villages healing after years
of war.

Coordinated by IOM's Post-Conflict
Reintegration Programme (PCRP) with funding from the European
Commission (EC), storyteller Agus Nur Amal (aka Agus PMTOH) will
set up his television-themed stage and colourful array of props in
37 villages across the province in the coming weeks.

The separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and
the Republic of Indonesia last August signed a peace deal bringing
to an end three decades of war in the country's northernmost
province less than eight months after the devastating tsunami wiped
out dozens of coastal villages, killing an estimated 160,000
people.

A traditional Acehnese pastime, storytelling
and word games are an effective means for reinforcing the benefits
of the on-going peace process. In addition to their obvious
entertainment value, the storytellers reinforce aspects of Acehnese
culture and deliver news to remote parts of the province.

In keeping with tradition, the 12-member tour,
which includes three other performers, will travel in a company
bus, which well-known storytellers of the past have used.

"We will use the stories to encourage people
to see the benefits of peace and to support the efforts to unite
for a brighter future," said Pak. Agus. "I will integrate local
characters into each story to make the message relevant to the
villagers. At the same time, I hope it will encourage young people
to get involved with storytelling."

Accompanying them is award-winning Acehnese
filmmaker who has been commissioned to produce a 30-minute
documentary about the trip. His team is also recording the stories
which will be provided free of charge to local radio stations, and
distributed through the network of nine, IOM-supported Information,
Counselling and Referral Service (ICRS) offices run under the
auspices of the Provincial Social Affairs Department.

Funded by the EC and the Government of Japan,
the ICRS offices are the principal point of contact for a group of
2,000 former political prisoners seeking employment, education and
job-training support. A three-member advance team left Banda Aceh
May 16 on a week-long survey of the villages to ensure there is
adequate access to the target areas, and to liaise with local
community leaders and the ICRS field staff.

The target villages were selected from a list
of 230 receiving quick-impact support programmes through IOM's
Prosperity for Villages Due to Peace project, which is administered
locally by the ICRS offices.

The road show kicks off with six shows in the
GAM heartland in Pidie district including one performance in Tiro
sub district, the birthplace of exiled GAM leader Hasan di Tiro. It
will wrap up with a performance in Banda Aceh in the third week of
June.

For further information, please contact:

Paul Dillon

IOM Banda Aceh

Tel: +62 812 698 8035

E-mail: "mailto:pdillon@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">pdillon@iom.int