Founders Story
On Dec. 24, 2004, a massive earthquake shook the province of Aceh on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The earthquake caused a subsequent tsunami, which in turn devastated most of the coastal areas around the Indian Ocean. Over 230,000 people lost their lives in the waters of that tsunami which is recorded as being one of the greatest natural disasters in modern history.

In Aceh province, the extent of the devastation was overwhelming approximately 170,000 died or were listed as missing and in many places, along Aceh’s west coast entire towns had been swept away. Over 500,000 people were left displace and homeless. The tsunami destroyed some 130,000 homes as well as the majority of schools, medical facilities and public buildings. The tsunami also wiped out infrastructure including the electricity and water supplies. Over 3,000 km of roads and 131 bridges were either damaged or destroyed.
CFK evolved as a result of a group of volunteer’s initial response to the December 2004 earthquake u0026amp; tsunami.

During this emergency response phase, our major focus was on the logistics of getting short-term emergency relief workers into Aceh to tend to the needs of the survivors, as well as the provision and distribution of emergency life sustaining supplies and temporary shelter. By April 2005 the most urgent needs of basic food, clothing and tent shelters were, for the most part, being met.
A small team of the national and international volunteer workers felt a strong leading to continue to come alongside the people living in the villages in the sub-district of Krueng Sabee, near Calang, on Aceh’s west coast. There were still many unmet needs in this area due to the complete destruction of all infrastructure including roads, bridges, private and public buildings as well as all the port facilities.
By March of 2006 the volunteer team in partnership with Helping Hands Foundation and the local community, had begun to implement the Krueng Sabee Community Development (KSCD) Project.
The purpose and anticipated end-result of the KSCD Project was to come alongside and empower the people of Krueng Sabee in the rehabilitation of their communities, allowing previous industries to reemerge as well as to develop the skills and abilities of the people by providing seminars, workshops and practical training sessions.
The team desired to honor the local culture while building communities that are;
- Committed to the holistic transformation of their lives.
- Centered on the values of working together for the good of the whole community.
- Believe in the liberating planning process of Action-Reflection-Action.
- Respectful of the human dignity of each individual regardless of age, gender, abilities, education or social background.
- Geared towards empowering the people to become self-reliant and self-sustaining and self-multiplying (Mentoring Leaders ‘Training the Trainers’)