Bomb victims face difficult future

Bomb victims face difficult future

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

How to survive the future is haunting Endang Isnanik, a 31-year
old widow who lost her husband when the devastating Bali blasts
killed him and over 190 others on Oct. 12, 2002.

She survives with her three sons -- Garil Arnanda, 10, Dwiga
Meiza, 5, and Izzul Haq, 2 1/2 years. They live in a rented
boarding house consisting of two rooms in the Kepaon Muslim area,
about four kilometers from Legian, Kuta.

In addition to her hardships, Endang has been suffering from a
type of rheumatic disease since giving birth to her youngest son,
which affects her left knee. Her foot is sometimes swollen and
consequently, she has to take medicine every day so that she can
walk.

Her ailment forced Endang to quit her job as an administrative
staff at the warehouse of a small-sized company in Denpasar, the
capital of Bali.

It is unrealistic for Endang to rely on her maternal family
since the death of her father in 1996. Just last July, three
months before the Bali bombings, Endang's elder sister had passed
away.

Endang's husband, 37-year-old Aris Munandar, was a driver and
offered private taxi services at Paddy's Cafe in Legian, the site
of the first bomb explosion, which was quickly followed by a
second and much larger bomb in front of the neighboring Sari
Club. Aris was killed instantly inside his Kijang van -- the car
he used as a taxi -- which was also destroyed by the blasts.

Married in 1991, Endang is a migrant from the East Java town
of Banuwangi, and Aris was a Muslim originally from the Central
Java town of Brebes.

Several days before the tragedy, her husband had asked her and
their sons to perform ritual prayers together.

Endang woke up at around 12 p.m. on the night of the bombings.
Minutes later, her relatives knocked on her door and told her
that bombs had exploded in Kuta. She panicked, and felt sure Aris
was killed after his colleague told her that her husband's car
was among those destroyed outside Paddy's Cafe. However, she
could not verify the report immediately because the blast site
was cordoned off by the police and closed to the public.

Endang identified her husband's body at 10 a.m. on Oct. 13 at
the Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, where the victims' bodies had
been taken. She, along with the families and relatives of other
victims, including those from Australia, packed the hospital in
search of loved ones.

Endang fainted immediately after confirming her husband's
death.

The bombing tragedy occurred one year after Aris had started
working at Paddy's as a taxi driver. Last August, he had to pay a
fee of Rp 6 million to obtain a license to queue every day in
front of the cafe for passengers, mostly consisting of foreign
tourists.

In order to cover the fee and daily needs, her husband
borrowed Rp 12 million from a local bank. Fortunately, the lender
understood Endang's loss and exonerated her of the debt after she
handed over the wreckage of her husband's burned-out Kijang.

"For the time being, my family and I are living on funds
provided by the government and private agencies. As for the
future, I don't know," Endang told The Jakarta Post at her home.

She said she received a total of more than Rp 20 million in
humanitarian aid from donors including the Ministry of Social
Affairs, the Bali provincial administration, the Hati Foundation
and the Rotary Club.

The assistance included a government compensation of Rp 4
million for Aris's destroyed Kijang, which is valued at Rp 40
million.

Her difficulties are typical of those encountered by other
widows who lost their husbands in the bombings.

In spite of her hardship, however, Endang faces her uncertain
future with hope and strength.

"I believe that behind every incident, there is some goodness
for human beings," she said, consoling herself.

She remains traumatized by the bombings and sometimes cries
when she thinks of her husband.

Residents in Kepaon, which comprises more than 100 families
such as Aris's, depend on the transport services they offer at
clubs in Kuta for their livelihood.

Aris was among the eight casualties -- four Hindus and four
Muslims -- from Kepaon.

These are but a few of the lives ruined by the bombings in
Bali, and the families -- along with the rest of the world -- are
still searching for answers that the investigating authorities,
as of yet, have been unwilling or unable to provide.