Indonesia: Six years after tsunami
LANGSA, Indonesia (AP) - Six years after a powerful tsunami swept
more than 200,000 people to their death, Titik Yuniarti still clings to
hope at least one of her children is alive.
Like other desperate mothers, she has placed ads begging for
information in newspapers in western Indonesia and hung fliers alongside
others fluttering from lampposts.
Earlier this month, her search almost cost her life.
The 43-year-old woman raised suspicions when she tried to meet a girl
she thought might be her child. Villagers accused her of being a
kidnapper and thrashed her and a friend almost to death.
The Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people in 12
Indian Ocean nations, from Thailand to Sri Lanka. Hardest hit by far was
Indonesia's Aceh Province, where 164,000 died. Of those, 37,000 were
never found, their bodies presumed washed out to sea.
Today, a massive international aid effort has rebuilt tens of
thousands of homes, schools and roads. But closure has been much more
difficult for some. While most have given up the search for missing
children, a number press on.
Yuniarti, who lost her entire family in the disaster, set out earlier
this month in search of her middle child, Salwa. The journey was
inspired by a dream Yuniarti's mother had, in which Salwa appeared and
said she had been taken in by a family in the town of Langsa in Aceh.
It took seven hours on a bumpy coastal road to get there. Clutching a
picture of her curly-haired child - who was 6 when she was ripped from
her mother's arms and sucked out to sea - Yuniarti and a friend went
from school to school, talking to principals, teachers and students.
They sat down with police and met with neighbourhood leaders, anyone
who would listen.
"After three days, we finally met a girl named Febby," Yuniarti said
from her hospital bed, her face covered in bruises, her neck swollen and
an intravenous drip dangling from her arm.
"She had the same tumble of black hair, a freckle over her lip," she
said in a soft voice, smiling weakly. "Some people even told me she'd
lost her parents in the tsunami and had been adopted. I was still afraid
to believe it, but in my heart, I thought, it's her ... it's really
her."
When they returned the next day, though, a woman who identified
herself as Febby's mother blocked them and demanded to know what they
wanted with her only daughter.
A crowd started gathering, quickly swelling to more than 100.
Soon whispers spread that Yuniarti might want to abduct the
12-year-old, maybe even sell her organs, echoing kidnapping rumours that
have circulated across Indonesia in recent months.
Some chanted "Hang her! Hang her!" Others torched the building where
the two women had been hiding. When they emerged, the mob beat them with
heavy sticks and rocks, ignoring warning shots fired by police.
Eventually, officers gathered up Yuniarti's crumpled body and brought
her to a hospital. Her friend was also seriously hurt.
Yuniarti, who also lost her husband, a 3-year-old daughter and a
9-year-old son, wants a DNA test on the child, saying it could be her
last chance.
Febby's mother, Ainun Mardiah, said she would oblige if it would help
end the dispute. Her daughter is so traumatized by recent events, she's
stopped going to school.
"I just feel angry, confused," the 34-year-old Mardiah said. She
moved from Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, to Langsa with her
husband and child soon after the tsunami, hoping to start life anew. "I
just want this to be over," she said.
A government program that reunited nearly 1,600 children with their
parents closed in 2006. While officials still offer assistance as
needed, the number of requests has dwindled, said Farida Zuraini, who
works at the provincial Social Ministry office in Banda Aceh.
Maisarah, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, broke down
in tears when asked about her husband and three children, all swept away
by the waves.
She said she has given up hope after spending several years visiting
orphanages and even travelling hundreds of miles (kilometres) to track
down a young girl in a photograph who looked like her daughter - just to
make sure they were not alive somewhere.
"The most important thing for me was just knowing the truth,"
Maisarah said.
One mother who hasn't given up is 30-year-old Suryani.
Even a DNA test failed to convince her that 11-year-old Riko Anggara,
who appeared on a popular TV talent show, was not her boy.
"When we first saw him singing on television, I screamed to my
husband, 'That's Rahmat! It's him!'" she said, pointing to photographs
she has of both boys. "Just look at the scars on their faces!" |