Indonesia remembers Tsunami in Aceh and thanks international community

By Devi Asmarani 

Vice President Jusuf Kalla (left) at UNICEF’s stand at the Tsunami Expo accompanied by UNICEF’s Banda Aceh Field Office Coordinator Umar bin Abdul Azis (second left) and UNICEF Indonesia Representative Gunilla Olsson. ©UNICEF Indonesia/2014/Devi Asmarani

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, 26 December 2014 - Thousands of people gathered in Aceh today in a solemn and moving ceremony to remember the Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated much of Indonesia’s westernmost province 10 years ago today. 

Many survivors as well as local and foreign dignitaries attending the ceremony at the Blang Padang public park in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh burst into tears as they listened to poems and songs that were performed accompanied by photos and videos of the disaster.

Acehnese singer Rafly led the audience to sing along with him to a haunting folk song in the local dialect, and prominent poet Taufik Ismail read a poem that recalled the giant waves that swept about 170,000 people to their death.

"Thousands of corpses were sprawled in this field,” said Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the ceremony. “There were feelings of confusion, shock, sorrow, fear and suffering. We prayed.”

But he said the massive help received for Aceh immediately after the tsunami, which left nearly half a million people displaced, helped revive the spirit of the survivors.

After the earthquake in Aceh, Indonesia – Putting a smile on children’s faces through learning and playing

Yusniate engages her daughter Liana
with a puzzle game inside UNICEF's
temporary learning centre.
© UNICEF Indonesia / 2013 / Juanda

BENER MERIAH, Indonesia, 9 July 2013 - "It was like kiamat, doomsday," – that’s how Yusniati (25), a coffee farmer from Serempah, Ketol, recalls what happened on 2 July when a powerful earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale ravaged villages in Bener Meriah and Aceh Tengah district in Indonesia. The quake in the province of Aceh left 39 people dead and more than 2,400 people injured.  "We were in the plantation, and we could feel the earth moving up and down.  The sound was incredibly loud," she says.

About 50,000 people from more than 12,000 households in over 70 different locations in the two districts have left their homes.  This includes families whose houses have not been damaged but who still prefer to camp outside, in fear of aftershocks.  Around one third of those affected are children, younger than 18 years of age.

“After what felt like 5 minutes of shaking, I saw friends and neighbours running around.  We saw some people trapped and crying for help.  Many people were bleeding, but we helped each other and finally we managed to move to an open space.  We were shocked and confused, and we still are," Yusniati adds.