Acehnese tsunami survivors celebrate Idul Fitri in tents, remember victims
Acehnese tsunami survivors celebrate Idul Fitri in tents, remember victims
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh
Many still living in tents, the Acehnese celebrated their first
Idul Fitri almost a year after the tsunami devastated Aceh and
parts of North Sumatra.
The time was also a time for many to quietly remember the
loved ones, relatives and friends not present at festivities this
year.
"Please come in," Asiah, 25, greeted her guests in her tent
for displaced persons in Gano village, Lambaro Skep district,
Banda Aceh regency.
Guests took their seats inside and out and were served with
traditional cakes, including tinphan, an Acehnese dish made out
of rice flour and wrapped in banana leaf.
Asiah had prepared the cake -- a must-eat for the celebration
-- a day before Idul Fitri. "It doesn't seem right to celebrate
Idul Fitri without tinphan," she said.
The guests were also treated with syrup and dates, donated
from Malaysia, which were distributed several days before Idul
Fitri.
"We plan to visit mass graves to pray for our relatives who
were killed in the tsunami," Asiah said.
The calamity left more than 126,000 people dead and over
90,000 missing. Around 100,000 of the 500,000 people made
homeless are still living in tents around the province as they
wait for houses to be constructed for them.
Abdurrahman and his wife, Nusari, both live in a tent in
Payung, Baitussalam, in Aceh Besar regency. They ate chicken to
celebrate the day.
"Back then, our children were still around, but now, since
it's just the two of us, we only had one chicken, which will be
enough for a couple of days," Abdurrahman said. The most
important thing was they could perform the Idul Fitri morning
prayers at the Baet Mosque, some 500 meters from their makeshift
tent and then visit their neighbors to ask for forgiveness, he
said.
"We're not going anywhere since, most of our relatives died in
the tsunami," Nursari said.
"This year's Idul Fitri is very different compared to last
year," she whispered, "It's so sad celebrating Idul Fitri without
a complete family."
Abdurrahman and Nursari also intended to visit mass graves and
to pray for their relatives.
The one good thing to come of the tsunami, the peace deal
signed between the government and the Free Aceh Movement in
Helsinki in August, improved the mood in Pidie regency, with
residents reviving the once-prohibited practice of firing bamboo
canons to celebrate Idul Fitri.
Loud bangs filled the air as children and adults joined in the
game.
"It's been a long time since we've heard the bangs of the
canons," a resident, Ali, 60, told the Post on Friday. "Since the
sound made was similar to a gunshot, it was prohibited by the
military."
The bamboo-canon is about 1.5 to 2.5 meters long and is filled
with a kerosene-gasoline mix. A fire built at the lower end heats
the liquid until it explodes.
"Now that it's safe, we think it's fine to play with bamboo
canons again," said Muktar, a Pidie resident.
"The canon is harmless but fun, only the sound is loud."