Cerita dari aktivis JRS di Aceh
Dear friends,
I warn you that the following story is awful and sad, so please stop here
if you do not want to read on. I want to tell about what Ivo, JRS staff in
Aceh, told me on the phone, without changing the language to make the
story more positive. Once again, take care of yourself and stop reading if
this is too much for you.
I just called the office in Banda Aceh. Ivo answered. I was happy and
relieved to hear his voice, but at the same time sad to hear what he had
to say. Ivo himself was shaking while telling the story about what he has
experienced.
Corpses, corpses and more corpses. That is Banda Aceh now. Walking on foot
in the streets, its is all corpses. The river behind the office is full of
floating corpses. Yesterday they buried 40. Today more corpses appeared in
the river brought by the stream. There is a rotten smell everywhere.
Because people drowned, their stomachs are full, and today they started to
tear open. The Raya mosque is full of corpses.
The market in Banda Aceh is wiped to the ground. The stores are filled
with dead bodies. (The floods came in the morning so that stores were
full, and all died). In the jail in Kedah, all inmates died inside. The
Brimo Asrama is also destroyed. The hospital is destroyed, only the health
station in left. Many doctors are dead. There is no medicine in the
health station. Disaster.
Right now there are many traumatized people. People scream "water, water"
while running. But there is no water. We can see people eating quietly
next to dead bodies, that are rotten and smelly. Many people cry
hysterically. People come to the health station although they are not
sick. Children have lost their parents (one child of a doctor slept in the
JRS office one night because his parents are gone).
From the Panayung bridge there is not a single tree left. Everything is
gone. In Blang Padang there are corpses. In front of the Kuala Tripa
Hotel there are corpses.
Ivo could feel the earthquake that they while he was cleaning the house.
Nangtok (also staff of JRS Aceh) was asleep on the second floor, but came
down immediately. Together with Jun (staff JRS Aceh) they where all shaken
by the quake, and went outside on the street.
Someone from Meulaboh came to Banda Aceh today and said that our staff
Nyaksih is safe. Thank God!!!
People that lived close to the river and the sea could see water coming
already 5 minutes after the earthquake. That is why they could not save
themselves.
Everything is lacking now. Petrol is lacking. All markets are closed.
Medicine is all out. There is no food. The military only remove the dead
at night because during the day families of the missing are walking
between the dead to try to identify their own. They do not allow heavy
equipment to remove the corpses. Although the corpses are no longer in
shape. Everything is rotten. But that is to respect the emotions of the
people. Although this is one of the reasons why 4 days have passed, and
the dead are still there.
Ivo is also traumatized. Nangtok is still strong although he is also sick.
I asked them to come to Medan, to rest. There is nothing they can do when
they are stressed and sick. I assume that within a few days there will be
more JRS staff coming in that can replace them in Banda Aceh.
Pudji and Hans (JRS Medan staff now in Banda Aceh) went out today to
witness the horrible situation.
I am also very sad. My feelings are strong, especially remembering the
people in Aceh who have lost everything.
Andre Sugijopranoto SJ
JRS Asia Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand
Sumber: email
From: "Rudy Hermawan CM"
Subject: Ungkapan Prihatin
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 10:54:17 +0700
Posted by prasetyocm
at 12:34 AM EST
