Acehnese kids express grief, hope through poems<\/p>\n
Dedy Ardiansyah, The Jakarta Post, Meulaboh<\/p>\n
Our Prayer<\/p>\n
Oh Allah, the most compassionate and merciful<\/p>\n
We are subservient to You and we are weak<\/p>\n
Don't bequeath this ordeal anymore<\/p>\n
Don't deal out this suffering again<\/p>\n
As we know the blame is ours<\/p>\n
Oh Allah, You have put us to the test<\/p>\n
We don't want to see our people cry anymore<\/p>\n
And the cries of our little brothers and sisters<\/p>\n
Oh Allah, will You forgive us<\/p>\n
Only to You can we plead and only to You can we pray<\/p>\n
Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin<\/p>\n
This poem, titled Our Prayer, was written by Cut Nurfajria,
\n13, an eighth grader at SMP 3 junior high school. During a Bahasa
\nIndonesia class, Cut, as she is fondly called, and 40 of her
\nfellow students were asked by their teacher to express their
\nemotions about the tsunami disaster that ravaged the town of
\nMeulaboh on Dec. 26.<\/p>\n
Her friends listened closely as Cut read out the poem in her
\nsoft voice. She read the poem with emotion but not to the point
\nof crying. \"I'm sad as many of my friends were victims of the
\ntsunami,\" said Cut after reading the poem.<\/p>\n
Cut and her family were lucky to be spared by the disaster.
\nTheir house in Lapang village was far enough from the beach. In
\nspite of that, she can feel the pain that her schoolmates and
\ntheir families went through.<\/p>\n
The poem she had written was also a prayer to God that there
\nno more tsunamis would occur, not only in Aceh but anywhere else
\naround the world, as well.<\/p>\n
Cut was not the only student who expressed her grief and
\nsadness over the impact of the tsunami disaster. Her surviving
\nfriends also diligently wrote poems, most of which were related
\nto the tsunami disaster. The tsunami and earthquake have been
\nhorrible experiences for these children, and are still fresh in
\ntheir minds. Thirteen-year-old Hendri Rizky, for example, wrote a
\npoem titled The Cries of My Relatives.<\/p>\n
When The Jakarta Post visited their school last week, the
\nstudents were studying under the trees around the school compound
\nas a section of the school has been used as a relief post by the
\nFrench military for the past week. They form circles and some
\nalso sat in lines facing each other, while teachers sit on one
\nside. \"Come, let's sit in a cooler place, or you'll be sick,\" a
\nteacher told some students who were sitting in the sun.<\/p>\n
Even though lessons are still brief, the students' interest in
\ncontinuing their studies is quite high. Laughter was frequently
\nheard among them. They were all glad to get back to school after
\na month off.<\/p>\n
\"I'm glad to return to school and get back together again with
\nmy friends here,\" said Furqon Muttaqin, a seventh grader.<\/p>\n
The school had earlier planned to accommodate students from
\nthe No.1 and No.2 junior high schools, which were leveled by the
\ntidal wave. But according to its principal, Kasmuddin, the
\ncapacity of the 16 classrooms can only accommodate his own
\nstudents, which number 665.<\/p>\n
The earthquake and ensuing tsunamis in West Aceh damaged 99
\nschools with 48 of these totally destroyed. The calamity also
\nclaimed the lives of 189 civil servants working at the West Aceh
\nEducation Office.<\/p>\n
Twelve teachers were also killed, all of which led Minister of
\nNational Education Bambang Sudibyo to choose Meulaboh as the
\nplace to announce Education Awakening Day in Aceh and Nias, North
\nSumatra.<\/p>\n
Cut and many of her school friends are more fortunate than
\nothers. They still have school uniforms, and Cut is not living in
\na refugee camp.<\/p>\n
Cut is aware that there is not much she can do to help less
\nfortunate fellow Acehnese, who lost their families, friends and
\nhomes. The only thing that she can do is to write a poem, which
\nshe believes will be able to inspire her fellow children to cope
\nwith the situation and look to the future.<\/p>",
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