'I long to see Aceh as beautiful as it was before the disaster'<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida, Special to The Seattle Times<\/p>\n
It has been one year since the tsunami devastated Aceh. What Aceh
\nlooked and felt like when the tsunami struck, and the panic of
\nthe people around me are still fresh in my mind.<\/p>\n
The sad faces of those looking for missing family members
\nstick in my memory. And like any other survivor, I've had to
\naccept the fact that half of Banda Aceh, disappeared in the huge
\nwaves.<\/p>\n
As a journalist for five years, I know every corner of Banda
\nAceh and the surrounding landscape, the places that I scour every
\nday to gather news.<\/p>\n
A few hours after the tidal wave, I stood alone at the edge of
\nthe city staring at the vast expanse of sea water. There was no
\nsight of the houses that once stood closely in a row, and
\nfamiliar roads had vanished.<\/p>\n
Everything was flattened by the giant waves. In that moment, I
\nrealized that the lives of the Acehnese, including me, had
\nchanged forever. I never stop expressing my gratitude to God for
\nallowing me to survive and witness the events after this
\ndisaster.<\/p>\n
But working as a local reporter in a disaster area isn't as
\neasy as one might think. Jakarta and foreign journalists might
\nfind reporting on such a calamity to be a goldmine of stories.
\nFor me, as an Acehnese, the job has become a burden.<\/p>\n
In the last several months, I've heard the same stories over
\nand over: The sorrow of survivors continuing to search for their
\nmissing loved ones, their futile queries about houses or jobs,
\ntheir worries about an uncertain future.<\/p>\n
Two of the questions I hear most frequently are \"When shall we
\nget our houses?\" and, \"Why are we still living in tents while
\nthere are quite a lot of nongovernmental organizations in Aceh?\"
\nThere are more than 500,000 homeless people in Aceh today. Most
\nlive in tents or barracks or stay with relatives. One year after
\nthe tsunami, only 16 percent of the planned 200,000 new houses
\nhave been built. Only God knows when the remaining ones will be
\nbuilt.<\/p>\n
The patience of those living in makeshift tents is wearing
\nthin. Worse still, they feel their misery has been exploited by
\nmany parties.<\/p>\n
In this case, their displeasure and distrust are not only
\naimed at the government and relief workers, but also journalists.
\nI don't often feel offended or angry by their reaction. But at
\ntimes, when I interview them in their tents, their words hurt my
\nheart.<\/p>\n
I know perfectly well that there have been positive changes
\nsince the tsunami. The Indonesian government and the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) signed a peace deal to end 30 years of fighting.
\nMartial law was lifted, opening up Aceh to the world.<\/p>\n
That has been a blessing for all of us. But too little has
\nchanged in the lives of the tsunami victims.<\/p>\n
The less fortunate are still in tents, having to put up with
\nthe unfavorable effects of the rainy season - wet roads, malaria
\nmosquitoes and dirty water. Some tents have begun to wear out.
\nThe luckier ones live in barracks.<\/p>\n
Each barrack measuring 2x2 square meters must accommodate two
\nto three families, and people sleep packed like sardines.<\/p>\n
There are few regular jobs.<\/p>\n
Relief groups organize work-for-cash programs where each
\nperson is paid 35,000 rupiah -- about us$3.50 per day -- but
\nthese aren't steady. And the government's monthly allocation of
\n90,000 rupiah -- around $9 -- does not come on a regular basis.<\/p>\n
Everything is costly in Aceh now, with prices pegged to the
\nU.S. dollar, the currency used by foreign-aid organizations.
\nRice, for example, is now two or three times more expensive than
\nbefore the tsunami.<\/p>\n
Many survivors have begun to show their disgust at outsiders,
\nforeign or otherwise, who drive about in luxury cars while they
\nsit despondently in their tents. They have little confidence in
\nthe Indonesian government, believing graft keeps them from
\nreceiving the help they deserve.<\/p>\n
I sometimes feel frustrated because I believe that the
\nsituation in Aceh will hardly change.<\/p>\n
I have met Nurleili, a 23-year-old girl whose right leg had to
\nbe amputated because of the tsunami. I have met Mar, 54, a
\nhousewife who is still staying in her tent. I have met Hasra, a
\n23-year-old homeless victim now staying in a barrack.<\/p>\n
When I came to them for a story about tsunami victims, the
\nthree asked me the same question: \"Do you think our fate will
\nchange for the better after you write about us? Many have written
\nabout us, but our plight remains.\"<\/p>\n
Now, though a year has gone by, I feel as if the disaster took
\nplace just yesterday.<\/p>\n
It seems like only a short time ago that I saw the residents
\nin the Meuraxa district sitting on their terraces while it was
\nraining, eating fried bananas with their families. Now, these
\npeople -- their families torn apart -- sit in wet tents counting
\nthe passing days.<\/p>\n
I still have fresh memories of a time before the tsunami, when
\nresidents of the Kemukimam Lamdingin would smile hospitably and
\nask me to drop by when I passed their houses at night. Nowadays,
\nthey are busy each night drying out of their tents from the flood
\nthat rushes in with the high tide.<\/p>\n
It is too difficult to smile.<\/p>\n
At these moments, I realize that I long to see Aceh as
\nbeautiful as it was before disaster struck, at a time when people
\nstill smiled.<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida is an Acehnese journalist who writes for The Jakarta
\nPost and other publications. This story is being reprinted with
\nthe permission of The Seattle Times.<\/p>",
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