Homeless survivor wants to go home

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Lying on a bed in one of the rooms of MMC Hospital in South Jakarta, Tuti Herawaty, 50, could not hold back her tears when asked about her plans after she is discharged from the hospital.

"I want to return and stay in Banda Aceh, but all of our belongings were washed away by the tsunami and I don't know if any of my relatives are still alive there. They are all that I have now," Tuti told The Jakarta Post while pointing at her sons Asrifal H. Rangkuti, 26, and Asfriwinaldi Rangkuti, 20, and daughter Astriyanthi Rangkuti, 23, who were sitting around her.

Tuti is one of few survivors evacuated to Jakarta for medical treatment following the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that killed over 100,000 people in Aceh and North Sumatra.

Tuti's three children were spared from the killer tsunami as they were all away from their Banda Aceh home. Asrifal and Astriyanthi were working in Jakarta, while Asfriwinaldi was sleeping at a friend's house away from his home.

Tuti's husband Asnawi Rangkuti, 53, is still missing, while her daughter Putri A. Rangkuti, 30, was found dead one kilometer from their home.

"I am still afraid to return (to Aceh) as I still feel the earthquake and the dreadful wave until now. I still have nightmares every night and have memories about corpses whenever my eyes see strange things. But, we have no house here," said Tuti.

She said she still could visualize her husband and daughter being washed away at around 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 26 when the third tsunami pounded their neighborhood in Merduati, one kilometer from the Baiturrachman, the biggest mosque in Banda Aceh.

"The earthquake shook our house. But we survived it. Then came the first and second waves that ran into our house. We ran up to the second floor of our house. The water receded but then I saw a black line from faraway approaching our house," said Tuti.

She said suddenly a coconut tree-high wave together with many heavy concrete blocks and wood from wrecked houses cut through their house and took away her husband and daughter.

"I just tried to hold on to anything I could to save my life. At last, the water receded and everywhere I looked were the remains of buildings. Every time I lifted a bar I found a corpse. I was trapped under a bar that injured my knee. I was so desperate then as I thought all of my family members were gone," she said with tears streaming down her face again.

Tuti said at least 51 of her family members who were attending a wedding party in the neighborhood were swept away by the tsunami and their fate remains unknown.

Asfriwinaldi came to her rescue and removed the bar.

"I swam to my house as soon as the water receded. I want to save any family members I could," said Asfriwinaldi, who then took his mother to the Baiturrahman mosque.

Now confined at MMC Hospital, Tuti must undergo surgery as soon as possible.

"The chance that may mother's knee can be saved is still fifty-fifty thanks to MMC's quick response. However, I really regret what Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital did to us when we arrived from Aceh. They just ignored us when we said that we were tsunami victims," Asrifal told the Post.

In fact, he said, they still had to pay around Rp 500,000 for blood tests and other tests to the hospital. After spending a night at the Cipto Mangunkusumo, they decided to move to MMC.

"We have been through very tough times. We were very exhausted then, and they treated us like that. I had to deposit Rp 5 million at MMC but I am glad as they treat us well. Although I have spent all my savings, I have to save my mother. She is all that we have," said Asrifal, adding that they had spent around Rp 10 million and have little money left for the family.

Asrifal, who quickly went to Aceh once he heard of the disaster to pick up family members, also didn't know where all of them will live in Jakarta as it is impossible to return to Banda Aceh.

"My brother and sister are now living in my rented room in Kemayoran. After my mother is discharged from the hospital, we hope we can find better a place to stay," he said.