TSUNAMI IMPACT: Indonesian Kids Put Tragedy Behind Them

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Richel Dursin

BANDA ACEH, North Sumatra, Jul 3 2006 (IPS) - ”Acehnese children have come alive. They are like horses galloping, full of enthusiasm and conviction,” wrote ten-year-old Titan Putra Arian, a grade four student at an elementary school here.

”We are no longer suffering from trauma and we want to rebuild Aceh,” wrote Titan’s classmate, Andika Putera, reflecting the enormous resilience displayed by children in coming out of the death and destruction sown in Northern Sumatra by the Dec. 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

In all, over 220,000 people died in 12 countries, but Aceh province suffered the most with over 150,000 deaths. In Sri Lanka, some 35,000 people died, followed by southern India, where the death toll stands at close to 18,000 and in the Maldives there were 108 deaths.

Other affected countries were Malaysia, Burma and the East African nations of Kenya, Madagascar, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania.

“We are all doing fine and feeling happy now. We are back studying and we want to move on with our lives,” scribbled Agung Ma’ruf, head of grade four students at the SD-29 school in Banda Aceh.

“We don’t want to give up. We want to move forward,” Rizasyah said.

Late May, elementary students of SD-29 were asked to create a journal, titled “Aceh after Tsunami” and almost all of them penned that their lives are back to normal. Titan, Andika, Agung and Rizasyah were among hundreds of students who wrote that they have put the tsunami behind them.

Below their writings, the students drew pleasant and colourful scenes. One student, Rizky Ayunda Putri, drew a sun shining brightly and flowers blooming. Another student, Adamfiqh Rifandy, made a sketch of birds flying in the sky.

Some of the students also illustrated their ambitions. One student, Riska Novia, who wants to become a policewoman when she grows up, drew a police officer in action. Ten-year-old Riska’s parents were swept away by the waves and she is currently staying with her relatives. “My parents are gone. I’m just happy that I can study again,” wrote Riska, whose hobby is drawing.

Over 420 schools in Aceh were wiped out by the tsunami disaster. According to the ministry of national education, over 1,200 teachers in the predominantly Muslim province perished. The state-owned SD-29 school lost 30 of its 430 students and three of its 18 teachers.

When the earthquake-triggered tidal wave struck, nine-year-old Cut Tarif was watching TV. ‘’My house moved and somebody screamed that the waters were rising. So, we all climbed up on the roof of our house,” recounted Cut.

Like Cut, grade three student Karisma was fortunate. All her family members, survived because they fled their home and sought refuge in the Baiturrahman mosque, the biggest in Aceh.

“On our way to the mosque, we saw a lot of bodies floating about and the water was like asphalt,” recalled nine-year-old Karisma.

Deni Hayati, principal of SD-29, pointed out that various games such as soccer and badminton were introduced as a form of trauma therapy for her students, the majority of whom want to become either doctors or teachers.

“Every morning, we perform callisthenics to make us happy and healthy,” said Rayyan Juniswar, aged ten.

Apart from games, Acehnese students are encouraged to take up dancing or playing musical instruments to confront the shock and grief caused by the disaster, described by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the “most destructive natural disaster in living memory.”

The children are also asked to respond to letters written by students from other schools to help them cope with tragic memories of the tsunami.

Several schools in Jakarta like Sekolah Bina Nusantara and Jakarta International School have been corresponding with Acehnese children to help them overcome their mental suffering.

In Indonesia, at least 30 percent of the estimated 100,000 – 300,000 children, orphaned or separated from their parents or other family members suffered from severe trauma. Most are aged between four and 10, according to the National Commission on Child Protection.

As part of its effort to help child victims, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) set up 21 children’s centres in tsunami-ravaged areas to serve as focal points for psychosocial support activities, including trauma healing programmes. The centres now handle approximately 17,000 children a week.

Two years and six months after the tsunami ravaged Aceh, a semblance of normality has finally begun to set in. Children are once again playing in streets that not long ago were quiet with the shadow of death hanging over them.

“Aceh is back to life again,” said Kate Fuller, Indonesia projects co-ordinator of the International Baccalaureate Organisation, a non-profit educational organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Homes, buildings and schools have been constructed and there are new restaurants and coffee shops. Business appears to be better for some,” said Fuller, who is in charge of linking schools in Aceh with other schools across the world.

According to Fuller, most schools in Aceh “don’t need cash, but knowledge”.

”The tsunami was, in some ways, a blessing,” said 47-year-old Bahyuni, who lost his wife and eldest son to the catastrophe and saw his village of Lepung being flattened. Out of 12,000 villagers, only 26 survived the disaster.

Before the tsunami, said Bahyuni, a trader who got married two months ago, Acehnese were scared to venture out in the evening because of the fighting between the Indonesian military and members of the militant Free Aceh Movement (GAM). ‘’Now, even at midnight, we can still walk around the city,” said Bahyuni, who nowadays works as a driver for a car rental company.

On Aug. 15, 2005, compelled by the international attention drawn to Aceh by tsunami, the Indonesian government and GAM signed a peace agreement in Helsinki to end 30 years of fighting. Martial law was lifted and Aceh was opened to the world so that humanitarian aid could flow in.

GAM’s weapons have been destroyed and troops withdrawn from the province, all because the tsunami changed the rules of the game.