Schoolchildren feel insult and injury from tsunami

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.