Schoolchildren feel insult and injury from tsunami

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, North Aceh

Muhfarizal looked sad when his friends went to school while he stayed at a refugee camp in a field at Cut Meutia hospital in North Aceh.

The 11-year-old sixth grader of SDN 5 Blang Cut elementary school missed school and stayed with his parents who now live at the refugee camp.

Badly wanting to go back to school, the son of M. Yunus, did not know when he could join his friends as all of his books and uniforms were destroyed in the massive tsunami.

"I don't know when I can go back to school because all of my clothes and books vanished in the tsunami," he said softly.

In Lhokseumawe, students and teachers of SMP 2 junior high school were in deep sorrow of losing their friend, Yunita Nanda, in the disaster.

Mustafa, Yunita's father, came to the school on Wednesday and told them of the sad news. He said that when the tsunami hit Banda Aceh, the second-year student was staying at her uncle's house while her parents were staying at a hotel.

"There's no news of anyone from the (Yunita's uncle) house. We have tried to look for them but nothing. They could be dead," Mustafa said.

Mustafa went to the school to return the money that Yunita was holding as she was the treasurer of her class.

"I came to return the money. My daughter was the treasurer of her class and in charge of the money," he said.

The SMP 2 principal, Ramli Ismail, said so far, only one of his students died in the disaster, while 45 have to live in shelters after losing their homes in the quake-triggered disaster.

Other children are luckier than Muhfarizal and Yunita.

Triyani, a third-year student of SMP I Samudra junior high school, showed up for her examination wearing ordinary clothes.

Just like Muhfarizal, all of her school textbooks and uniforms were destroyed when the tsunami hit the area.

Triyani did not have to stay in the shelter as her house in Samudra district in North Aceh was not destroyed by the giant tidal waves. She was able to sit for the examination.

Many other children showed up at schools wearing anything they could find.

"At first, I felt ashamed, but my mother insisted that I go to school and sit for the examination," said Triyani after her examination.

Rika, a third-year accounting student at SMK III Peusong Lhokseumawe, had no other choice but to go to school without her uniform.

"What can I do? All of my books are gone. It's also hard to study at the shelter. So I will just try to do my best for the test," Rika said. The local examination started on Monday and finished next week.

North Aceh Regent Teuku Alamsyah Banta said the administration would help students who were unable to sit for examinations and would hold the examination again.

"The examination will be held at the end of this month at the latest," he said.

He added that the massive disaster, which in North Aceh mostly took the lives of women and children, was understandable if some children could not attend schools or examinations. However, he did not have detailed data on the number of school aged children who were victims of the disaster.

The administration is currently being assisted by dozens of university students from the country's various provinces to provide detailed information on the victims, including their ages. According to data, over 1,800 people died and almost 700 are missing in North Aceh alone.

"We predict that the number of school aged children is high, but we're still working hard to get the exact number," he said.