JP\/1\/MIGRANT<\/p>\n
Sons, daughters coming home for Idul Fitri reunions<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Surabaya<\/p>\n
Across the country at most of the main entry gates, scores of
\nsons and daughters -- especially daughters -- are coming home
\nthese days for the Idul Fitri holidays. There is a lot of sobbing
\nand hugging all around once a face is spotted among teeming
\ncrowds at the airports. Even though Indonesian migrant workers
\nusually get far from a heroes' welcome, they still are heroes to
\ntheir families and communities, for which many of them become
\nrole models who succeeded, in their eyes, in bringing financial
\nrelief and a better future for their families.<\/p>\n
On Saturday at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East
\nJava, Kasmiati, 32, was one such fortunate worker; fortunate in
\nrelation to the many who come home penniless, dazed and
\ntraumatized -- or even in a coffin.<\/p>\n
Kasmiati burst out crying as she rushed through the waiting
\ncrowds carrying two large bags, and embraced a girl, her daughter
\nSiti Maesaroh, who she left four long years ago.<\/p>\n
\"You're Siti right? I miss you so much,\" said a tearful
\nKasmiati. \"You're so big now.\"<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people have descended on the airport this week,
\nhailing from East Java's various towns, which have long sent
\nhundreds of thousands of their young people abroad -- Pacitan,
\nBlitar, Sampang Madura, Tulungagung and Kediri. The latest
\nfigures reveal that 36,000 Indonesians from East Java are
\ncurrently working in Asia alone, helping to relieve the
\nprovince's unemployment figure of 1 million people. Many of them
\nhope to reunite with their families and friends on Idul Fitri,
\nwhich falls on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n
Members of the entourage that came to welcome Kasmiati were
\nalso looking for other returning workers. \"My elder sister should
\nbe arriving from Singapore today,\" said Subagyo, a relative of
\nKasmiati, who couldn't let go of her only child.<\/p>\n
\"I left her as a little girl, now she's in junior high,\" the
\nyoung mother said.<\/p>\n
She explained that her decision to leave home was a difficult
\none; Siti was only nine and was left with her grandparents. The
\nonly visible option for Kasmiati was to work on somebody else's
\nland, which brought barely enough income for the family.<\/p>\n
\"My family also needed money to build a home and funds for the
\nschooling of my daughter and other relatives,\" she said, who kept
\nsilent when asked about her husband.<\/p>\n
She had first left in 1989 and went home two years later. \"I
\ndidn't manage to improve my family's economic situation, and
\ndecided to go to Singapore again in 2001,\" she said. Kasmiati
\nadded that it was her determination to build a house that made
\nher stay in the neighboring country for four consecutive years,
\nsending home a large chunk of her monthly wages of S$250 (about
\nRp 1.5 million). The result: Relatives said the family now has a
\nfairly large house, a motorcycle and a number of cows.<\/p>\n
Alhamdulillah, Thank God, exclaimed Kasmiati of her reunion,
\nmade possible by the return ticket bought for by her \"kind
\nemployer\". In past years, \"I cried during each Idul Fitri, I was
\nhomesick and kept dreaming of meeting my daughter.\"<\/p>\n
After a few weeks, millions will have to leave the country
\nagain, perhaps stronger in the face of challenges abroad
\nfollowing their joyful family reunions.<\/p>\n
Last year 244,624 Indonesians worked abroad, including 197,291
\nwomen. They sent home a total of US$170.86 million in foreign
\nexchange.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp1migrant-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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