Ride to safety brings Aceh teenager to Jakarta

Ride to safety brings Aceh teenager to Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The tall, thin 15-year-old boy sits slumped on a couch in a
Jakarta living room, his eyes focused on the baby niece of the
Acehnese architect who has taken him in.

"She reminds me of my eight-month-old brother. He is able to
walk now," said Dedy last week. He has been living in Jakarta
with the Zulfikar Wahab family for two weeks now, since one of
the architect's relatives, Dr. Buchori, gave him a ride to safety
on Dec. 26.

"Dedy is a good and brave boy. He was very lucky to find us,"
said Vira Milya, 21, one of the eleven people from Banda Aceh
that Zulfikar has provided with refuge since a few days after the
earthquake and tsunamis hit Aceh province.

On the day of the disaster, Dedy became separated from his
father, a police officer, his mother, and two younger brothers,
Alfian, 10, and the infant Rayhan.

As the wave approached their house near Ukelele beach, his
mother ran back inside to get something.

After running for a while, Dedy, who was carrying the baby bag
for his mother, turned his head to see if she and Rayhan had
caught up with him yet. All he could see was a wall of water
rushing at him. Even his father and Alfian, who had been right
behind him, were suddenly nowhere in sight.

Dedy, whose home was close to the neighborhood where the
Buchori family lived, came running up as they prepared to get
into their car after panicked people had warned them that they
should leave immediately. He asked if he could go with them and
they took him along.

"In the early days of Dedy's time with us, he looked so
gloomy. A lot of the time he cried, wondering where his family
were. He kept praying for their safety," Vira said.

"Then 'uncle' Zulfikar took Dedy over to the RCTI TV station
to report that Dedy was seeking his family. They put him on a
live broadcast, and almost immediately one of his relatives in
Aceh called and informed him that his father and brother Alfian
were safe," Vira recalled.

"They said that his father was OK and being treated in Medan
(North Sumatra) for a badly injured leg, and that Alfian is safe
and living with relatives in Sumatra. Since then, Dedy smiles
more and sometimes even laughs," Vira said.

"He even seems to enjoy staying here with us, because my
little cousins are very fond of his accompany," Vira added,
explaining that the group had flown to Jakarta on the Wednesday
after the disaster.

In Jakarta, Dedy has found more than shelter. Zulfikar and his
family are taking care of him and sending him to school while he
remains in Jakarta. Dedy is already registered as an eighth
grader at State Junior High School 250 in Jatibening, Bekasi,
near Zulfikar's home.

Dedy's father has requested that Dedy stay with the Zulfikar
family until he recovers enough to get back to work. He is also
concerned that Dedy gets the support he needs to be able to
acknowledge that his mother and baby brother have died. Relatives
of Dedy's family in Aceh have confirmed that they are missing and
presumed dead.

Dedy is one of 302 disaster survivors, mostly children, who
have ended up in Jakarta. Of this number, 199 have been treated
in hospitals and then released to relatives or friends living in
the capital. Six have died from their injuries, and 97 remain in
hospital.

Dedy is one of only two children who came to Jakarta through
the help of strangers, according to the Aceh Representative
Office in Jakarta.

Suryadarma, the general secretary of Taman Iskandar Muda, an
NGO affiliated with the Aceh Community Group of Greater Jakarta,
said that child survivors of the disaster that has claimed a
total of 175,458 lives, require a safe place that will help them
recover from their trauma. (001)