Sutrisno, 71, Indonesia

Peter Caton After the 2004 tsunami, many older people suffered badly from physical and mental trauma.

HelpAge helped set up Older People's Associations (OPAs) in affected areas in Indonesia.

One of the aims of the OPAs is to improve older people's dignity and quality of life by encouraging support among their peers, families and younger people.

Older people are also fully involved in all stages of livelihood programmes, which helps get their lives back to normal.

Having attended HelpAge's Older People's Association (OPA) training, Sutrisno, 71, is now a key member and is transfering knowledge to other older people in OPAs.

'It's good to link older people'

Watching the OPA members walk home after the meeting, Sutrisno recalled that before the tsunami, older people rarely gathered to chat or share their experiences. Things started to improve when the Older People's Association was introduced.

"Nowadays, older people have a chance to meet at least once a month, talking about their future OPA's activities and sharing information of daily lives. It's good to link older people," Sutrisno says.

Most people Sutrisno's age are retired, but he still enjoys contributing to OPA activities, especially when he heard about HelpAge's "Age Demands Action" (ADA) campaign.

Older people must speak with a single voice

HelpAge's ADA campaign gets older people across the world to join together and take action. They lobby government for better rights and access to benefits and services.

"We will only be heard when older people speak with a single voice. OPAs and the Age Demands Action campaign is sending a strong signal and message to our local government," he said.

Before setting off home, Sutrisno said: "This is a good start, but it needs follow-up action. I'm sure that our plans for ADA will be heard and I hope that at least 80% will be implemented by local government." 

See how HelpAge helped older people rebuild their lives after the tsunami