Acehnese family reunites after nearly 6 months
Acehnese family reunites after nearly 6 months
Dean Yates, Reuters/Banda Aceh
Muhammad Ali stood nervously, his hands clasped tightly. All of a
sudden, his 15-year-old daughter whom he was sure died when
massive waves smashed into Aceh last December, ran toward him.
They hugged and wailed, tears streaming down their faces after
social welfare officials and the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) helped reunite them on Wednesday, nearly six months
after the Dec. 26 tsunami tore thousands of families apart.
"I thought you were gone," said Ali, 45, sobbing in front of
dozens of journalists invited to witness the reunion.
"I'm happy to see you. I thought you were dead too," replied
Sri Handayani after officials brought her to the social welfare
department in the city of Banda Aceh from Meulaboh, 250 km to the
south. She had been visiting relatives there at the time of the
disaster and thought her family were all dead.
The reunion marks a happy moment as many more families
struggle with separation.
Charity group Save the Children in conjunction with UNICEF and
the social affairs department runs a database with 1,968 children
registered as being without their parents. Some 4,000 parents
have filled out requests to trace lost children.
More than 140 children have been reunited with parents and
extended families, although the number of reunions has dropped
sharply in recent months compared to the period soon after the
tsunami, Save the Children said.
Indonesia estimates 5,270 children either lost one parent or
both in Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island. Children made
up more than a third of the 168,000 people dead and missing.
Ali, a carpenter who lost his wife and two other children,
said he believed his daughter was dead. Meulaboh was very near
the epicenter of the 9.15 magnitude earthquake that triggered the
tsunami, which destroyed half the city.
He went to Meulaboh, but could not find her, he said.
Handayani was living in a refugee camp with a relative and was
registered with a child center there a month after the tsunami.
Finally, a month ago, Ali visited the UNICEF office in Banda
Aceh and following a thorough verification process, was able to
be reunited with his daughter.
Two of Handayani's other siblings survived and she will now go
to live in a tent with her surviving family members at a refugee
camp. Wearing a black shirt, white trousers and with a multi-
colored band holding her hair back, Handayani said she wanted to
get back to school in Banda Aceh.
"I want to be a policewoman so I can help people," she said,
her left arm wrapped over her father's shoulder.