Miswar was 19 when the tsunami hit the Indonesian city of Aceh where he lived with his parents and two brothers. The waves swept over the family home, demolishing it and killing his father.
Without a breadwinner, the responsibility of providing for the family fell on Miswar.
Down and out in Aceh
In desperate need of shelter, Miswar's family first stayed in a tent at a camp that sprang up after the disaster. Later, they moved into a room in temporary barracks.
The family was eligible to receive money from a fund that the government set up to help needy families, but payments were meagre and would come irregularly.
Miswar was determined to find a job, but in the aftermath of the tsunami work was hard to come by. Local businesses had been destroyed, and many thousands of fishermen and farmers had their livelihoods ruined. Around six hundred thousand people in Aceh lost their sources of income after the tsunami.
Miswar found a few odd jobs that would bring in a little money now and again, but it was not enough to support the family.
Unable to find stable employment, Miswar turned to IR for help. IR staff enrolled him onto a carpentry training course and he began to learn new and valuable skills.
A brighter future
Miswar finished the course and received a set of carpentry tools as a gift from IR. IR staff set up a bank account for him and deposited money in it to help him start up a carpentry business. They also gave him his first job. He was hired, along with a few other graduates of the training programme, to prepare furniture for distribution to schools in Banda Aceh.
As a trained carpenter, Miswar is now in a better position to find permanent, stable work.
Carpentry Course
Since the course began, 42 people have been trained and provided with the funds and equipment to start their own businesses. All the students are Aceh's barrack-dwellers who lost their homes in the tsunami.