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.