Hearing that rice will be planted, we visited there again. Mr. Ismail was taking lead, although in recent years he had not been working in the fields because of illness. We really admire his enthusiasm.

Planting was postponed though it was planned 18 days after the seeds were sown. This is because the rice plants had begun to turn yellow. The water level was adjusted, and it was decided that they are ready for planting. From now on, we have to keep on close watch if EM should be used again.

We were encouraged to see people working happily.

There was some time left to revisit Muara Batu. About 40 minutes by car to the west of Lhoksmawe, where the damage was the most severe around this area. There were around 20 households still living in tents. For those people who have to fish, temporary housing is too far away from the sea. We have to say aiding is quite difficult. (05.6.22.)

On June 27th, there was a telephone call, reporting that the rice plants have turned red-brown, beginning to wither. Sad to say, soil conditioning was not complete. There could have been something wrong with the water management, or it could be caused by lack of organic matter.

In the field owned by the person who gave us advice, about 5 tons of organic matter were put every 1000 square meters. In the experiment field in Tanah Pasir, 2 tons of organic matter and 2 tons of "bokasi" were used for the field of 2000 square meters. Probably we should gather 20 tons of organic matter and try again. Here the dry season is near its end, rain beginning to come back once or twice a week. We will also look into the possibility to make use of that rainfall.

Please keep on praying for the people there.

(05.6.30.)