Xmas different for bomb victim family
Xmas different for bomb victim family
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
Christmas last week should have been celebrated joyously, but for
the family of Johanes Boelan, a driver killed in the Aug. 5
Marriott hotel bombing in South Jakarta, it was not as cheerful
as it used to be.
"This Christmas was very quiet without my husband ... He used
to help me with shopping and baking cookies before Christmas,"
said Frida Charlota Sopacua, 48, wife of the late Johanes.
"He loved helping me bake nastar (pineapple jam-filled
cookies). That was his favorite. Even if I made two kilograms of
nastar, he would eat them by himself," she said, wiping tears
from her cheeks.
Frida and Johanes used to go to church together to celebrate
Christmas.
"The children preferred to go with their friends," she said.
Johanes -- a driver for Kitty Yu Kway Ngar's family -- was
killed in the blast when he pulled up at the front of the JW
Marriott hotel to pick up Kitty, who had just finished a business
lunch at the hotel's Sailendra restaurant.
With the family's sole breadwinner gone, Frida took over by
selling basic foodstuff from door to door. She used the Rp 20
million (US$2,353) donation from the Marriott to start the
business and pay for her children's school tuition and medical
treatment for the youngest child, Yuanita, 16.
Yuanita, or Nita, has been suffering leukemia and needs Rp
800,000 (US$94) per week for the treatment. Frida's two eldest
children -- Paula, 27, and Michael, 23 -- work at private
companies, while twins Christina and Yohana, 22, are still
studying.
The family will also receive a monthly allowance of Rp 500,000
from January 2004 to June 2004 from plastics producer Tupperware
and financial help from the United States through the Nurani
Dunia Foundation, the amount of which is not yet known.
"I will not use up all the donation on my family. I will
distribute 10 percent of it for my neighbors. They are my family
here since I live far from my hometown," said Frida, who comes
from Maluku.
She said that Nita refused a blood transfusion, preferring
alternative medical treatment. Each week, the mother spent around
Rp 600,000 on Chinese herbal medicines. She had to stop buying
Chinese medicine to treat Nita's cancer because it was too
expensive and difficult to obtain.
Despite all the help, Frida was disappointed at the Jakarta
administration's failure to distribute Rp 10 million in funds
that had been promised by Governor Sutiyoso.
"Twenty-one children of Marriott victims were supposed to
receive the money on Oct. 28 in a ceremony in Jakarta, but only
16 did. None of my children got anything," she said.
She has tried to clarify the matter with officials at the
Jakarta administration, but to no avail.
The family is facing another problem, as Yohana has been
suffering from back pain after surgery to remove a cyst in 2000.
"It's all my fault. I devoted too little attention to Yohana
because I focused too much on Nita," Frida sighed.
"Now, I can face reality after my husband's passing. I believe
God has another plan and it's being put into action. We have
received financial help ... thank God, many people have helped
us," she said.