Merri Oviana, 30, of Lampulo village in Banda Aceh city, Aceh Province, was out of the country, working in Brunei Darussalam to raise money for her family, when the tsunami struck her village four years ago. It would be a year before she could return home and discover the full extent of the damage to her family and to Aceh.
“My father is a carpenter and my mother a school-teacher and both my brothers are in college,” Oviana told IRIN. “I was in Brunei as a migrant worker from 2004 to 2005 answering telephones at the state radio and television station.” Oviana had studied hotel services but was unable to find a job in Banda Aceh.
“In Brunei, my salary was not much … I sent money home as I could but also had to pay for board and lodging, which didn’t leave much.”
The day of the 2004 tsunami, which ultimately killed 167,000 people in Aceh Province alone, a friend at work told her what had happened.
“I went to the internet and saw the pictures of the destruction in Aceh. It was so thoroughly broken.
“I cried, I was frantic. I called and called my Papa but could not reach him or any other relatives.”
Finally after five days, her aunt answered the phone. “Auntie said, ‘So many are dead, and those of us who survived are living in tents, and almost every day there are new earthquakes,’” Oviana recalled.
Fortunately, Oviana’s father and mother and two brothers survived. But their house was destroyed and most of her immediate relatives perished in the waves.
“Thirty-three of them died in all, including aunts and uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers and all their children,” she says. “My favourite aunt, Bemoa, who had been the inspiration for my striking out for Brunei for better opportunities and to help the family, was among them.”
After Oviana heard about the extent of the disaster, she went to her boss in Brunei, and told him she had to go home.
“‘Your contract is not finished,’ he said. ‘You have one more year to go on it.’ I pleaded, but he said he would take me to the police if I persisted.”
For the next year, she saved all her money for the plane trip home at the end of 2005. “So many houses and buildings were still broken and the roads were filled with holes. It was unbelievable to me,” she said. “The dust was everywhere and we had to wear masks when we motorbiked.”
Today, Oviana works as a waitress in a hotel in Banda Aceh. “I will never leave Aceh and my family again,” she said. “I think Aceh is now improving because so many government and international agencies have provided houses and done other rebuilding.”
Nevertheless, Oviana says, the new house built for her family is inadequate. “It’s okay, but too small and it has no kitchen.” Her parents remain traumatised. “They cannot stay in the house or near the sea because of so many bad memories, so they rent the house out.”
On 26 December 2008, she travelled to the mass grave at Blang Bintang, where the remains of 20,000-30,000 tsunami victims are buried, including her relatives, and prayed that “God has given them entry into paradise”.
bj/mw
“My father is a carpenter and my mother a school-teacher and both my brothers are in college,” Oviana told IRIN. “I was in Brunei as a migrant worker from 2004 to 2005 answering telephones at the state radio and television station.” Oviana had studied hotel services but was unable to find a job in Banda Aceh.
“In Brunei, my salary was not much … I sent money home as I could but also had to pay for board and lodging, which didn’t leave much.”
The day of the 2004 tsunami, which ultimately killed 167,000 people in Aceh Province alone, a friend at work told her what had happened.
“I went to the internet and saw the pictures of the destruction in Aceh. It was so thoroughly broken.
“I cried, I was frantic. I called and called my Papa but could not reach him or any other relatives.”
Finally after five days, her aunt answered the phone. “Auntie said, ‘So many are dead, and those of us who survived are living in tents, and almost every day there are new earthquakes,’” Oviana recalled.
Fortunately, Oviana’s father and mother and two brothers survived. But their house was destroyed and most of her immediate relatives perished in the waves.
 I
will never leave Aceh and my family again. I think Aceh is now
improving because so many government and international agencies have
provided houses and done other rebuilding. |
After Oviana heard about the extent of the disaster, she went to her boss in Brunei, and told him she had to go home.
“‘Your contract is not finished,’ he said. ‘You have one more year to go on it.’ I pleaded, but he said he would take me to the police if I persisted.”
For the next year, she saved all her money for the plane trip home at the end of 2005. “So many houses and buildings were still broken and the roads were filled with holes. It was unbelievable to me,” she said. “The dust was everywhere and we had to wear masks when we motorbiked.”
Today, Oviana works as a waitress in a hotel in Banda Aceh. “I will never leave Aceh and my family again,” she said. “I think Aceh is now improving because so many government and international agencies have provided houses and done other rebuilding.”
Nevertheless, Oviana says, the new house built for her family is inadequate. “It’s okay, but too small and it has no kitchen.” Her parents remain traumatised. “They cannot stay in the house or near the sea because of so many bad memories, so they rent the house out.”
On 26 December 2008, she travelled to the mass grave at Blang Bintang, where the remains of 20,000-30,000 tsunami victims are buried, including her relatives, and prayed that “God has given them entry into paradise”.
bj/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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