Unicef Scoping Mission Tsunami

Scoping Mission Tsunami + 10
United Nations Childrens Fund Jakarta Office, July 2014
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Storylines for UNICEF Indonesia:

Ten Years On: What journalists can cover on the
Aceh Tsunami
Indonesia Report | July 2014
United Nations Childrens Fund | Indonesia

Wisma Metropolitan II, 11th Floor
Jalan Jenderal Sudirman Kav. 31,
Jakarta 12920, Indonesia
www.unicef.org/indonesia | +6221.2996.8140

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... iii
BRIEF OUTLINES .......................................................................................................................................... iv-viii
I.
STORYLINES AND TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS - EDUCATION ................................................................ 9-14
II. STORYLINES AND TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS - CHILD HEALTH. NUTRITION. WASH................... 15-20
III. STORYLINES AND TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS - REUNIFICATION. TSUNAMI BABY. ...................... 21-26
IV. STORYLINES AND TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS - CHILD PROTECTION. ............................................. 27-30

V. ASSESSMENT KEY RISKS AND SITES FOR VIDEO AND PHOTO SHOOTS .................................................. 31-32

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Executive Summary
Wiping clean an 800-kilometer coastline in the Indonesian province of Aceh, the 2004 tsunami
killed a little over 170,000 people in this once conflict-plagued province. Ten years on, at least
18 new hospitals and 250 kilometres of roads have been built in Aceh by the government, in
collaboration with foreign and domestic aid organizations and agencies.
Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, is now a bustling metropolis, lined with coffee shops, very good
restaurants, a museum and a 2,600-ton ship which had been pushed ashore by the waves of the
tsunami. A modern Aceh Tsunami Museum was built in 2009. The four-storey building serves as
a reminder of the disaster. The ship itself, a floating power plant, has been turned into a tourist
attraction. There is also a significant increase in the peoples capacity to deal with disasters.
The tsunami paralyzed the Acehnese government but local education officials, health workers,
child protection activists and UN organizations, including UNICEF, worked with the Jakarta
government to coordinate reconstruction efforts.
A scoping mission organized by UNICEF was conducted in the province of Aceh on 10-18 July
2014. This was done in response to queries received by UNICEF from both international and
local media print and broadcast to cover the 10-year anniversary of the tsunami in Aceh. A
local consultant hired by UNICEF Jakarta travelled to the following locations in Aceh - Banda
Aceh, Lhok Nga, Calang and Panga - and worked with the UNICEF office in Aceh to provide with
at least 10 storylines that could be pitched by UNICEF to the media.
The story plans needed to cover the following categories, which were the main program
intervention areas focused on by UNICEF education, child protection, WASH, nutrition and
child health. The consultant hired by UNICEF arranged for field visits in Aceh and conducted
interviews all of which were taped with the use of a voice recorder and a few were recorded
on video as well as took photographs of the interviewees. At least 22 people were interviewed
from various sectors, which included education, child protection, WASH, nutrition and child
health. They included beneficiaries whose lives were impacted by the project. The consultant
managed to secure 16 storylines linked to the five categories mentioned above.
The following report lists out the storylines in brief and in detail. The section on brief outlines
lists out the story plans in a summarized version and provides with a brief synopsis of the
program description, the location of the interview, who was interviewed and on what subject.
The detailed storylines section contains some selected interviews which the UNICEF consultant
has transcribed and translated into the English language. Among them are some of the top
interviewees the consultant spoke with during the course of the nine-day scoping mission. An
assessment of potential risks in terms of negative media coverage is also included in the report,
along with contact details of the interviewees, as well as an Excel document on reunified
families that the consultant received on 22 July 2014 via e-mail from a source at the Aceh Social
Agency.
Aceh, 10-18 July 2014

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Brief Outlines
1. Child Protection. Adjutant Commissioner Elviana from Aceh Police Profile Story:
Female leader and key member of the Restorative Justice Working Group [RJWG].
Female police officer who loses husband, child and six other immediate family members
in the tsunami. She survives the tsunami, gets transferred to the detectives division, and
helps in the founding of the first Women and Child Protection Unit [PPA] at Aceh Police
HQ. She is the primary resource person as to how the PPA was first set up at Aceh Police
HQ and how assisting child victims and questioning children has changed through the
years. She loves children. She continued with her job as a detective in the hopes of
finding her lost child. UNICEF Angle She benefited greatly from training provided on
how to question child victims and child suspects as a police officer. She never remarried
again. She is married to her job and is dedicated to helping children. Elviana PPA Aceh
085260336719.
2. Child Protection. How the Restorative Justice Working Group [RJWG] works Interviews
with Jantho District Court Chief, Ms. Enal Mardiah; Meulaboh District Court Chief, Ms.
Rahmawati; university lecturer Riza Nizarli and child defense lawyer Ms. Djuwita. Riza
explains how the RJWG was first set up and why it is important for the child victims of
Aceh. Enal explains in detail what judges and prosecutors wear in court during child
trial proceedings and how they behave with children. What legal procedures are
implemented for child suspects, defendants and victims. Enal explained in detail the
different treatments afforded to child victims and adult defendants in a courtroom.
Djuwita, the lawyer and Rizas wife, handles each child case, on a case by case basis. For
those with no parents or those parents who do not want to take back delinquent
children, it is Djuwita from RJWG who works with the Aceh Social Agency to have the
child placed temporarily in a shelter. The Social Agency works with 23 institutions and
shelters. All of them have said that they have greatly benefited from training provided
by UNICEF. Enal in particular said she wanted even more training from UNICEF.
Interviews secured with Enal, Djuwita and Riza. Enal Mardiah 082161714624. Riza
Nizarli 0811687200. Djuwita. 0812.6924.200. NOTE: Enal Mardiah enjoys singing. She
was a former English language teacher who taught Acehnese kids the language through
singing.
3. Child Protection. Djuwita Child Defense Lawyer Profile Story/ Day in her Life.
Djuwita spends her days every weekday trying to help with child cases. Shortly after
the tsunami, she handled hundreds of cases where she found legal guardians and wali
for orphans. Today, she works closely with the Aceh Social Agency and shelters such as
the Panti Aneuk Nanggroe [children involved in crimes] and Panti Daru Saddah [child
trafficking victims]. On the day I interviewed her, she was willing to take us to Panti
Aneuk Nanggroe to meet a 14-year-old boy named Syafrizal. Syafrizal [only nonrecorded interview so far as he seemed afraid of being recorded] comes from a family of
8 siblings. He is the 7th of 8 children and is a delinquent. He used to steal mobile phones
and sell them.

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His mother works alone in Sabang and their father left the kids. Syafrizal had once gotten
himself an air ticket to Jakarta but left his bag in the airport toilet. Airport security checked his
bag, found the stolen cellphones. He was jailed for 2 months. Djuwita handled his case. After
serving his sentence, his mother did not want him back. Djuwita, under the banner of RJWG, had
him placed at Panti Aneuk Nanggroe. I interviewed Syafrizal. He goes to school now and is much
more relaxed about his life. On Sunday, he said he would finally meet his mother. NOTE: The
story with Syafrizal might be old two or three months from now, but Djuwita can help with
interviews of other child cases because she handles them every day. Djuwita. 0812.6924.200.
Social workers at Panti Aneuk Nanggroe: Vici Julian: 0852.6054.9256. Zulfikar [hes more
experienced with kids at this shelter]: 0812.6944.0475.
4. Child Protection. Daughter Intan Afriati and Mother Nazariah Reunification Story
Reunited Family: Intan was a 10-year old girl when she was carried off by the tsunami
waters. She was separated from her mother, Nazariah, and the remainder of her family.
Intan, 19, is now studying mathematics at university and is writing a novel about her
experience with the tsunami. She could not swim at 10 years of age. She nearly drowned
until she came upon a pile of bodies. She was rescued from there by a teenager, Halim,
who took her to South Aceh. She was separated from her mother Nazariah for a month
and 10 days. UNICEF provided the L300 pick-up truck that got Nazariah to South Aceh,
where she rescued her daughter. She to date believes Halim meant to steal her child
away. Nazariah also lost her oldest daughter for 2 days before being reunited with the
other daughter. Interviews secured with Intan, Nazariah and Firdaus. Firdaus is the key
resource person as he was part of an NGO at the time that arranged for reunification of
families. He does not seem to have records of the families reunited however. Interviews
secured with all three. Firdaus: 0812.6900.1912. Intan Afriati: 0852.9700.5008.
Nazariah: 0852.6070.2981.
NOTE: There is another child reunification story but the family is in Lhokseumawe, which is a
seven-hour journey overland one way from Banda Aceh. Seven hours back to Banda Aceh. The
young boys name is Mahmuddin: 0852.626.50.731. Mahmuddins number came from the Aceh
Social Agency. I went to the Social Agency to look for someone who may know more about
reunification cases in Banda Aceh. A woman from the Social Agency, Oir Chaerani, whose
number I only received on Thursday, 17 July 2014, was in Sigli for a conference and is due back
on Tuesday, 22 July 2014. She was the social rehabilitation officer for tsunami victims 10 years
ago. She may have details of other reunification cases. Oirs number is 0812.695.1506.
5. Baby & Mother Survival/ Nutrition: Tsunami Babies and Pregnant Women Survival
Stories: Rosnah and Juliana. Stunning survival stories of women who were heavily
pregnant, survived the tsunami, worked through the harrowing weeks after the tsunami
cleaning up their villages, and gave birth to healthy babies a few months after the
tsunami. Loads of UNICEF angles here as they received packets of clothing, food, milk,
vitamins and immediate survival kits when they were at the refugee camps. Bed-nets
were provided also by UNICEF. Children also received IDR 2 million education grants
from UNICEF. Both never gave up on life. Rosnah sold homemade cakes at the refugee
camp and from that, she bought her husband a motorcycle so that he could find work in
Banda Aceh. With the money from selling cakes, she also managed to rent a rundown
empty house located close to refugee camps. She taught at the UNICEF childrens center
in Jantho, before opening her own early education center. Juliana thought she would

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never get pregnant again because she believed her reproductive system must have been
damaged because of the I was in a blender of dirty water treatment when the tsunami
waters hit her. But, she did. I have interviewed Rosnah and Juliana. Rosnah:
0813.6297.5655. Juliana: 0852.6006.2802. Interviews secured with both women.
6. Education. Rosnah Childrens Early Learning Center PAUD Noor Ikhsan in Jantho,
Aceh Besar. Full of UNICEF angles. Within the isolated tsunami relocation center of
Jantho, in the regency of Aceh Besar, Rosnah, a tsunami survivor, who gave birth to a
boy, Arif, a few months following the tsunami, manages to set up her own Childrens
Early Learning Center [PAUD]. It is open on weekdays, with the exception of the
Ramadhan month, for 45 kids who live in the IOM relocation center. She teaches the kids
of tsunami victims aged 3 to 6 traffic signs and signs of warning for quakes and
tsunami; coloring, painting and a bit of English as well. When she was in the refugee
camps some 9 years ago, heavily pregnant, she had received clothes, food, survival kits
from UNICEF, all boxed up in tupperware. She has kept that tupperware, the musical
instruments received from UNICEF at the time to entertain children, coloring material
and teaching material received from UNICEF. She still uses them today at her early
learning center. She has thrown nothing away. She set up this PAUD on her own with the
help of her husband. The playground at this learning center is from UNICEF. A wardrobe
and a table there is also from UNICEF. NOTE: What is especially unique is the fact that a
lot of the women within the tsunami relocation center cannot speak Bahasa Indonesia.
They speak the local Acehnese dialect. Rosnah has attempted many times to give them
private lessons in Bahasa Indonesia, but the women refuse to learn, arguing that it is a
cultural trait and they want to stick to speaking in their dialect. Rosnah is now instead
focusing her efforts on the children of those women to teach them Bahasa Indonesia
among other subjects, as well as to identify colors. Rosnah: 0813.6297.5655. Interview
secured at Jantho, Aceh Besar.
7. Education. Two volunteer teachers Elvi Zaharah Siregar and Chaeriyah left their
comfortable lives in Medan to become full-time volunteer emergency teachers
immediately following the tsunami in Aceh. They are now full-time teachers and
government employees in Calang. They were among the 200 who passed a month-long
grueling training conducted by the Indonesian Military to recruit volunteer teachers
nearly 10 years ago. The experiences of serving children during the tsunami changed the
course of both their lives. They helped with logistics and keeping tsunami-traumatized
children physically healthy and provided them with nutrition as teachers. Both teachers
ended up settling in Calang, after taking the required tests to become government
employees, and full-time teachers. UNICEF Angle: Advertisements, recruitment, monthly
allowance for volunteer teachers for first six months were all paid for by UNICEF. Elvi
Zaharah Siregar 081362492927. Chaeriyah 085206534886. Umar Di from UNICEF.
8. Education. Aceh Education Agency Chief Anas Adam He was a technical education
officer on the ground and helped rebuilt temporary and permanent school buildings
after the tsunami. He also was instrumental in the hiring of 1,100 teachers to teach kids
at the time. UNICEF link on teachers evident here. Interview secured with Anas Adam.
Anas Adam: 0811.681.5328. Irhamuddin. 0811.686.506.

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9. Education and School Reconstruction. Rosnidjar and Ernida Childrens Early Learning
Center PAUD Nur Huda: Story on Rosnidjars survival: PAUD teacher who is separated
from her six-year-old in the tsunami but finds her again. Her whole immediate family
survives the tsunami. She ends up bringing her kid to PAUD Nur Huda, located in her
husbands village, where she ends up helping other kids study and toilet trains them at
this education center. Ernida, who coordinates teacher at PAUD Nur Huda, then offers
Rosnidjar a chance to teach at the education center. Survival story of Rosnidjar. UNICEF
angle The schools building structure was set up by UNICEF. It was originally built by
UNICEF as a temporary school. Ernida 081362721968. Rosnidjar 081321756632.
Interviews secured with both Ernida and Rosnidjar.
10. School Reconstruction/DRR. Muhammadiyah Satu Primary School School was
completely destroyed. This became the first school permanently fixed up by UNICEF in
Banda Aceh which apparently can withstand quakes. Interviews secured with teacher
Ernawati and principal Zahirah, and two female students who were babies at the time of
the tsunami. Zahirah. 08126980528.
11. WASH. Water Treatment Plant Story Mr. Teuku Novizal Ayub Loads of UNICEF angles
here. They took a non-functioning water plant that had no electricity and was
completely disused and left to rot, and following the tsunami, turned it, within 2 months,
into a functioning water plant that is sustainable till today. It distributes water to 25000
residents across Banda Aceh. UNICEF played a major plant into fixing that water plant,
and building its permanent water pipes. Ayub: 0813.605.37.581. Interview done with
Ayub.
12. Child Health Midwives on the Frontline. And babies delivered at homes. Midwife
Safrina was a UNICEF volunteer at the Childrens Center during the tsunami and then
eventually became a midwife to take care of mothers and children in the areas of Calang
and Panga, which were completely devastated during the tsunami. Safrina handles cases
across four villages in Calang. Her main difficulty is facing pregnant women who refuse
to deliver in hospitals or health centers, but instead want to deliver in their own homes.
She also has to compete with shamans, who are trusted by community members, to
deliver babies. Safrina has received UNICEF training on safe delivery of babies. She
learned further on how to detect preeclampsia symptoms and handle cases of
hemorrhaging. Yusnidar, a mother of four kids, is a former health worker and worked
during the tsunami as one. She gave birth to all four of her kids at her home, and Safrina
deals with her children. Top midwife and head of Panga Health Municipality Center, Tuti
Suryani, on why midwives complain of facing great difficulty in dealing with pregnant
women who only want to give birth at home. Dr. Sulasmi in Banda Acehs Health Agency
says midwives are on the frontline across Aceh in terms of giving immediate medical
services and not doctors and nurses. Sulasmi gives July 2014 figures of child and
maternal mortality rates in Aceh. She also explains why there was no breakout of
epidemic in Aceh during tsunami. Safrina 0813.601.303.80. Dr. Sulasmi
0852.960.88.369. Tuti Suryani 0852.601.56878. To get hold of Yusnidar, get hold of
Safrina. In Alue Peat, Panga, Safrina has delivered babies at homes of many women.
Interviews with Yusnidar, Safrina, Tuti and Sulasmi secured. NOTE: Heading to Panga is
a two-hour journey from Banda Aceh. But worth it if you get Safrina, Yusnidar and Tuti.

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13. Nutrition Linked to Storyline 12. Breastfeeeding. Yusnidar, Safrina and Tuti Suryani in
Panga. Both Yusnidar and Tuti tell of the merits of breastfeeding for children. Yusnidar
points out that two of her four children are faster, smarter because they were breastfed.
More interviews with Posyandu Plus officer Nurhayati of Gampong Nusa, Lok Nga,
midwife Qori and nutritionist Samidhan. Samidhan is a male nutritionist who has been
dealing with mother and child nutrition since 1991. He says breastfeeding is best and
that there is a correct technique of how to get babies to drink milk optimally from their
mothers. Dr. Sulasmi explains that if Aceh suffers from a high rate of children with bad
nutrition, it is because the children do not only solely suffer from bad nutrition. She said
there were tons of cases of kids who suffer from bad nutrition and other health
complications, like heart problems. July 2014 figures of child and maternal mortality
rates, and on nutrition problems in Aceh secured. Safrina 0813.601.303.80. Dr. Sulasmi
0852.960.88.369. Tuti Suryani 0852.601.56878. Nurhayati 0813.7011.8928. Qori
0812.6942.9174. Samidhan. 0852.7788.5188. Interviews secured. Sugiarto from UNICEF
on Posyandu Plus.
14. Survival/ Moving On: Lampulo, Banda Aceh This is not a UNICEF story. Lampulo is a
scenic fishing village, and great for TV shots. It was devastated completely during the
tsunami, and now rebuilt. Lampulo is best known for the Boat on the Roof. A boat on
top of the roof of a house structure has been turned into a memorial because it saved 59
lives. This boat is now manned daily, with the exception of Tuesdays, by an Englishspeaking young female guide named Salmi Hardiyanti. Originally from Lampulo, she and
her father were the only survivors in her entire family, who died in Lampulo during the
tsunami. She was saved because she was away in a dorm school and therefore was not in
her hometown. Salmi Hardiyanti. 085276364811. Interview done with Salmi. NOTE:
From Lampulo, for good TV camera shots, head to Alur Naga, which is a short distance
10-minute-drive away. Alur Naga has a bridge broken in half, never rebuilt. Bears marks
of tsunami.
15. Child Health. Batee Shok. Sabang Ms. Herdiana Basri Batee Shok in Sabang used to be
a village with the highest record of malaria-infected patients across Aceh. But then,
teams of volunteers, referred to as community anti-malaria volunteers, trained by
UNICEF, go door-to-door checking on the health of residents. They collect blood samples
from children and ensure that the insecticide-treated bed nets distributed by UNICEF,
are correctly used. Herdiana Basri. 0813.6047.3400. Nazariah. 081360464185. Herdiana
said that in 2012, a pregnant woman in Sabang contracted malaria and her baby died.
NOTE: Sabang was not directly hit by the tsunami.
16. Nutrition. Community health post activities in Pria Laot, Sabang. Growth monitoring,
immunization, nutrition, antenatal consultations and health promotion activities. This is
a new village built to house families displaced from the tsunami. Fitri Lubis.
085360225775. NOTE: Sabang was not directly hit by the tsunami.

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Storylines and Transcribed Interviews Education

STORYLINES
Aceh Education Agency Chief Anas Adam He was a technical education officer on the ground
and helped rebuilt temporary and permanent school buildings after the tsunami. He also was
instrumental in the hiring of 1,100 teachers to teach kids at the time. UNICEF link on teachers
evident here.
Two volunteer teachers Elvi Zaharah Siregar and Chaeriyah left their comfortable lives in
Medan to become full-time volunteer emergency teachers immediately following the tsunami in
Aceh. They are now full-time teachers and government employees in Calang. They were among
the 200 who passed a month-long grueling training conducted by the Indonesian Military to
recruit volunteer teachers nearly 10 years ago. UNICEF Angle: Advertisements, recruitment,
monthly allowance for volunteer teachers for first six months were all paid for by UNICEF.
TRANSCRIPTIONS
Anas Adam. Aceh Education Agency chief. Assisted with the recruitment of 1,100 emergency
volunteer teachers. He also oversaw the construction of school buildings both temporary and
permanent structures following the tsunami.
During that time in 2004 after the tsunami hit, I was the education implementation officer on
the ground. My superior was not in good health so I was appointed by the governor to fill in the
empty post and to implement the projects that had been decided upon to rehabilitate Aceh in
the education sector. The worst hit were Banda Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Besar and West Aceh.
Western coastal areas were terribly hit. These four areas were in the worst conditions.
Yes, Pidie was hit but not as badly as these four areas. The word tsunami was alien to
Acehnese. This is why so many people died they did not know what steps to take immediately
following a quake, much less a tsunami. There were people who were confused and came up to
me, asking why the seawaters had risen. There were about over 1,000 schools that were hit in
the tsunami. These included those that had been destroyed completely, swept away, some that
sustained heavy damage and superficial damages. So, we had to rehabilitate and fix the
structures of these schools.
The question then was: What could we do to get children to start studying soon as possible. Our
goal was to make that happen. Get the kids to study, not just for the purpose of continuing
studies, but to slowly get rid of the trauma they were suffering from and had witnessed. We
were all agreed on this. We guided a number of donors, international and domestic, as to what
our primary goals were, how we wanted to achieve this.
The most aggressive of these donors who wanted to see things happen quickly, was UNICEF.
UNICEF had after all been there even before the tsunami, when the conflict was still raging. It
was already there. During the conflict, UNICEF had already helped us with the building of
emergency school structures.
The government then established the BRR Aceh Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency.
BRR wanted that the emergency school structures be turned into permanent ones. We had built
about 500 temporary school structures, in addition to tents. Lots of children had died. Lots of
teachers had died. Schools could be combined.

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During these emergency times, we were also lacking severely in teachers, many had died. There
were about 2800 teachers who had died. There were teachers who were still alive but had lost
all their belongings and land and all they owned. They could not teach because they themselves
were traumatized.
So, we together came with the idea of contracting temporary teachers. Because we were very
short on funds at that point, we asked UNICEF to help us with funding the contracting of
temporary teachers. These teachers but their academic qualifications were considered. The
certificates that they held. We were more interested in their willingness to teach, and if they
could actually teach such kids who were traumatized.
Teachers were recruited and eventually placed in locations within West Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Banda
Aceh and Aceh Besar. Some 1,100 teachers. They were provided with a month-long training in
techniques on how to teach kids during emergency conditions and kids who had undergone
disaster.
They were contracted by UNICEF for six months. And then, many were taken on as teachers by
the Acehnese government. The focus was not so much on studies, as it was on lifting out that
fear and the trauma the kids were feeling. These kids needed to feel open and needed to get
back to normal situation as kids should be. Kids need to be kids. All the 1100 teachers came
from different areas in North Sumatra and Aceh. Priority was given to Acehnese because we had
to think of the fact that we had to provide them with temporary accommodation.
During the reconstruction phase, we had offers for assistance from Save the Children, UNICEF,
other UN organizations, Care, IOM and others. Our architects designed structures that were
quake-resistant. We had to take care of the steel foundations and strength of the structures.
We also provided with training and capacity building for teachers. UNICEF built 300 structures
for schooling.
What did you witness on the ground that you felt changed your way of working on the field at the
time?
Firstly, what I did not expect was that two weeks after tsunami, we saw children who were
hungry to learn and go back to school. They wanted to study. I had at the time asked Umar Di
[UNICEF] for emergency tents because children wanted to study even though they had lost their
parents. I was surprised as to how this was possible. So, I followed and worked hard to ensure
that kids got what they wanted.
My question was answered after a few months. I spoke to those kids and I learned that they all
took this as an act of God. They took it as Gods Will and accepted it as it was. They were some
kids who said that when it comes to conflict and separatism which saw them separated from
their parents, that was the act of man. The tsunami on the other hand, had effected everybody in
Aceh, and therefore they were more willing to accept it as an act of God which they could not
alter or influence in any way.
Secondly, there were teachers who had lost all, but they still wanted to teach and save what was
left of their schools. That is extraordinary.
Whats changed 10 years on within education sector?
The most important is how people here should deal with their own lives and lives of people
around them when disaster strikes. What should people do when a quake or a disaster strikes,
this is something that is now in our curriculum. For us, how do we recruit teachers, what should
we do to build temporary structures when disaster strikes.

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Second, there were plenty of lessons learned as a result of the tsunami tragedy. How to help
each other during disasters and how to deal with assistance that comes from outside or
overseas.
Third, how to provide with child-friendly facilities and structures that offer comfort and safety
after a disaster strikes.
What about educational access for children across Acehnese regencies?
Disparity in terms of educational access is still quite high.
Conflict. On quality of education and educational access for children, we have seen that there is a
declining trend in quality education after years of conflict. Areas of conflict like Aceh Besar,
Pidie, North Aceh, Bireuen, East Aceh, Central Aceh, West Aceh and South Aceh. During conflict
years, education for kids was seriously hit. In villages, children were not allowed to study at the
time. If they were allowed to study, then there were some subjects that they could not study. So
quality of education went down and this went on for years. During the conflict times, all the
laboratory equipment would be taken away by rebels. Conflict occurred through generations of
families. From 1991 to 2003. We see this as generations. In Aceh, generations of students were
effected. They could not have caught up with the education they had missed. Now, after tsunami,
children post-tsunami years [after 2006] are coming up.
Teacher willingness. There remains a decline in willingness of many teachers to teach and to
develop themselves. Till now, our teachers are not as skilled as they should be. Principals also
effect this. Incompetent or ineffective principals who are appointed to their posts possibly by
regents are also in some way responsible for the kind of teachers that are employed to teach.
Teachers did not only fail to develop themselves, but they failed to competently teach the basic
subjects they were supposed to teach. So, our kids today in Aceh have received low quality
education. Competency tests for teachers, the highest we have achieved is just 42. Can you
believe that? Averagely, it is about 30ish. So it is pretty low their competence level on average.
Budget and Teacher Training. Money may be plenty, but a lot of that money was used to build
buildings. So more on the structures than on the quality of education. We have only began
properly training our teachers in 2013. If you want to see it from the budget point of view, our
education budget through the past 10 years have primarily been used to build structures. Build
schools. But training for teachers, not really. In 2012, we had IDR 15 billion to train our
teachers. We used it to train them in 2013. So, ineffective use of funds. Our buildings may be
good, but teachers and quality of teachers are not good. In 2014, also, we are training teachers.
This will take time. Our domestic ranking in terms of education has risen slightly from Rank
No. 32 to Rank No. 28.
Umar Di: The appointment and dismissal of principals today is conducted through a Directive
Letter from the Regent. So this is the effect of regional autonomy. This effects quality of
principals and teachers. So, it is up to the regent. So, if a teacher with no competence who
happens to befriend the regent or is connected to the family of the regent, he or she can be
appointed to the post of a principal.
Anas: Distribution. We have 6700 schools [elementary, junior high and senior high schools]. And
distribution of teachers is a primary problem. Regents decide on which teachers end up in
which location in Aceh. Autonomy has effected the teaching business because the regents and
no longer the province as a whole who decide where teachers end up being located to teach.
The province only deals with two schools. Isolated villages suffer from a lack of teachers
teachers. Specialty. There are many teachers who are teaching subjects they are not qualified to

Page 12
teach at all. There are cases where physics is taught by history majors. Now what we are doing
to cope with this is: teachers who are not qualified to teach certain subjects, we provide them
with crash courses 3 semesters worth to learn on how to teach the subjects they are teaching
but are actually not qualified to teach. Yes, there are so many of our teachers and students who
get scholarships. But they not necessarily want to come back to Aceh to teach. We have to make
do with what we have.
Elvi Zaharah Siregar and Chaeriyah Volunteer Tsunami Teachers. Now full-time government
employees and teachers in Calang. Advertisements for volunteer teachers, the monthly allowance
for these teachers for first six months paid by UNICEF. Selection of teachers was also assisted by
UNICEF.
Both of us are from Medan [North Sumatran capital]. We had read in the papers that there were
postings for volunteer teachers. And that the LPMP [Indonesias Educational Quality Control
Agency] was working in collaboration with UNICEF. It was immediately after the tsunami. We
were recruited in early 2005. We were tested for a week. We proceeded to education training
that lasted for a month, and this training was provided by the Indonesian Military. It was
grueling, like military exercises. Those training us were military officers themselves. We knew
then that this would not be your ordinary teaching assignment. There was nothing ordinary
about what we would be doing.
Chaeriyah: Our family said that we had gone mad. Acehnese were evacuating to Medan, so why
are we from Medan heading to Aceh? I told my family, I am not mad. I did not know what would
lie in store for me, but I knew that I wanted to do this and this was the time to do something for
Aceh.
We were taught dancing lessons, how to teach language, how to teach prayers basically teach
children on how to have a good productive time which involved lots of activities. We were also
taught to live and sleep in tents for days. Because we were told from the start, this is how we
would be living for an indefinite period of time.
There were hundreds of us. There were about 1,000 of us who applied. Those who passed were
about 200. But as soon as they came for the training provided by the military and they saw the
tents, many immediately left. I dont think they could handle it. They had arrived, and
immediately started asking around for clean water. Chaeriyah: I told them, this will not be the
condition at the actual refugee [IDP] camps when we end up being stationed there. Refugees
will need clean water first and foremost. We are secondary. So, many of them who had come for
volunteer teacher training left. Some stayed for 3 days. Others lasted only a week. Those who
lasted the full month were about 100 or so. We were two of them.
Evi: Once we passed that military-officer given training, we were transported to the areas in
Aceh we were supposed to teach in six separate L-300 trucks. All of us got into those trucks,
together, and then we headed to Aceh from Medan via the route of Brastagi. When we reached
Tapak Tuan, there was gunfight [Ed = conflict between separatists and government officers]
and it was then that we realized, so this is what Aceh is going to be like. The trip from Medan to
Aceh took longer than one night. It was a convoy of trucks. The trucks were supposed to stay
together in one line.
Trucks were not allowed to go on their own routes because Aceh was still vulnerable to conflict.
We reached Meulaboh. We stayed there one night. And then we used fishing boats the next day
to head to another seaport. We stayed at an office of the education agency that was still

Page 13
standing. We slept there overnight on the floor. All on mats. One next to each other. Like in
camps.
We were briefed by LPMP that when we reached there, we were not to expect that we would be
teaching in classes. We were also asked that just because we held bachelor degrees, this would
not mean we would be teaching high school or junior high. We could be teaching elementary
school or even kindergarten school students. This is why we were reintroduced to certain
musical instruments, to dancing classes, to language lessons Acehnese language, Bahasa
Indonesia and Arabic language.
Once we reached Aceh, directive letters from the government agency were issued for us to teach
officially and we were all to be placed in the four areas Teunom, Lamno, Panga and Setia
Bakti. Elvi: I was placed in Lamno. And Chaeriyah was placed in Teunom.
Chaeriyah: The principals of schools which had lost their teachers and students in that western
coast came and fetched us. They decided where and which areas we would be placed in. So we
taught in those areas. When our contracts with UNICEF ended, we actually wanted to return
home. But the communities in Teunom, in my case, said please dont leave. We want you to be
among us and stay with us.
I remember when I started teaching in Teunom, a classroom I was teaching in, the walls were
riddled with bullet holes. We had to face that. SMP3 Teunom. We taught children who lived
extraordinary lives. I remember one child, and this boy was known to teachers as a person with
many lives. Thrown into the waters, dragged by the waves far off, but somehow got thrown back
again into land. Of several students, this was the one boy who lived. I dont know where this
child is now. We had asked children to tell stories of what they had faced, as a way of
unburdening themselves. This was one of their stories. It could have been turned into a novel.
Evi: If Chaeriyah ended up in Teunom by traveling via road, I instead had to take a ship to
Lamno because the roads were destroyed. There were no passable roads to speak of. In Lamno,
we were placed in a classroom at SD1 Lamno. And we stayed there. We could not teach
immediately. It was evident to us that the kids were in complete shock and were traumatized.
For the first month, we did not teach. We got children to tell us their stories and to open up.
They needed to first learn to communicate again with us, those who were still living. We had not
been in Aceh so we did not carry the baggage that they did and we did not see what they did.
This gave us some balance in that we ourselves were not suffering from the trauma and shock
they witnessed and lived each day, the losses of lives they had suffered in their families. Some
told us that they lived because they were stuck in coconut palm trees and held on to it.
Elvi: I remember a child had become so close to me, and I had taken this girl, Yati, to Medan with
me to meet with my family. I dont know where she is now. I told her, this is Medan, and there is
nothing you need to fear of because the world is big. The world is not just Aceh. I became close
to her because she would actually wait for me, when the class started and class ended, she
would wait by my house door and wait for me. I would ask her questions, and goad her to speak
up. Little by little, she learned to speak again and open up again.
Tsunami has gone. You had become teachers then to volunteer in Aceh. Whats keeping you in
Aceh now? Why remain as teachers? What differences have you seen in Aceh in the education
sector since?
We learned so much. We gave so much and we consider this our blessing. Elvi is teaching at SMK
1 Calang. When we reached Aceh in 2005, we taught we would only teach. Chaeriyah: And then

Page 14
we reached the barracks, and saw that kids needed blankets, and milk, and so many other
necessities and logistics. They needed lamps. We helped distribute that too. We were more than
teachers. We finally thought: This is why we came. This is why we were needed here. This was
not just a teaching job. We were of use for the children of Aceh. So this is why we also ended up
staying here.
Elvi: The Acehnese themselves told us to stay, saying that we should build Aceh together. We
wanted to go back to Medan but Acehnese people stopped us saying that we were more needed
here in Aceh. We listened. In 2006, we took the government employee tests and we passed. So
we became full time teachers.
Chaeriyah: There is today still a problem in proper distribution of teachers across the western
coast. In Lamno there are too many teachers. In Calang also there are many teachers, but there
are subjects which do not have teachers: subjects like geography, sociology, and arts teacher.
Even after the tsunami, there is no school in Calang who is actually specifically trained in
Acehnese arts who can teach Acehnese arts to kids, or music and dance to kids. This is what we
are missing.

Page 15
Storylines and Transcribed Interviews Child Health. Nutrition. WASH.

Mr. Teuku Novizal Ayub WASH - Former director of Water Treatment Facility. UNICEF took a
non-functioning water plant in Lambaro that had no electricity and was completely disused and
left to rot, and following the tsunami, turned it, within 2 months, into a functioning water plant
that is sustainable till today. It distributes water to 25000 residents across Banda Aceh.
TRANSCRIPTION
The water treatment plant in Lambaro had been built before the tsunami but it was never
operational or utilized. It was just left as it was, because possibly way before the tsunami, the
public still had access to well waters. People in Aceh also were used to just accepting and
receiving water in the condition it was. Whether well water or not, as long as it was drinkable
and nobody fell ill, they would carry on. They did not see any use for the treatment plant. Our
government is like that at times. They build things and then sometimes, if they do not see a use
for it immediately, well, they dont use it. This is common.
After the tsunami, all the water facilities for Banda Aceh completely collapsed. Completely
destroyed. Then NGOs came in droves. And of course they wanted to focus on getting water for
the people, because that is the most basic necessity for people. All the waters had turned
terribly dirty. All well waters were dirty. People had no access to clean water. Up to 100 per cent
of wells could not be used. So many NGOs were finding for a source of clean water. There were
NGOs from Germany and from Russia looking for this. But the most adamant and aggressive of
the lot looking for access to clean water was UNICEF. They were focusing on getting clean water
for refugees in the barracks and the children.
Initially, they were looking for sources of water that was the nearest to Banda Aceh and which
of course needed to be operational. They found nothing. All had been destroyed. Then, we just
used whatever clean water we could find from any part of North Sumatra and initially, water
came in portable tanks. But the need for water began to grow rapidly. Initially, the tanks could
manage this need but as days went, this need for clean water grew. We were getting the
portable tanks filled with water from far-off, from Jantho even, which is about 50 kilometers
from Banda Aceh. No other alternative was there at the time.
UNICEF began to organize and act as coordinator of NGOs interested in water and sanitation
needs for Aceh. We all began to hunt for sources of decent drinkable water. And finally, we
found that water treatment plant/ facility in Lambaro. The installation was dilapidated and
could not be used. No electricity either so it could not be made operational. The machinery
inside, some of it was lost, and what was worse, the reservoir did not have flooring as yet. It only
had walls.
With UNICEF, we worked to try and get that water treatment plant working. Less than two
months of working day and night basically, the treatment plant started to function. It was a
crash program, working day and night. Initially, it was functioning only to fill up trucks/ tanks,
since the pipes were completely destroyed.
UNICEF coordinated the NGOs interested in water and sanitation and these NGOs ICRC, Oxfam
- came with their trucks, and got them filled with water, and they distributed the water around.
Initially, a day, at least 500 trucks would be filled up. These were big trucks. We did this for a
year. We worked with the government water company, PDAM, to ensure that water was
distributed to all the barracks and temporary shelters - about 30 barracks. And UNICEF paid all

Page 16
of it. UNICEF also paid for operational costs of those who worked on the treatment facility.
Payment of chemicals, electricity, staffers, all handled and paid by UNICEF.
As time went on, we found that transporting water in trucks and tanks was costing a lot because
trucks need fuel and the roads were pretty bad. So, again with UNICEF, we tried to build a
network of pipes to go to the barracks [IDP camps]. We made sure that these pipes would not
just work temporarily. These were good pipes for permanent use. Big size. We did not want to
change them anymore after the refugees were no longer refugees. We wanted this to work for
long-term purposes. Those pipes are permanent. Tens of kilometers worth of pipes.
With UNICEF also, we learned that getting calcium hypochlorite were a pain, because they were
coming from a long way, from Medan. So, we, myself and UNICEF, built a warehouse here in
Aceh to stock the calcium hypochlorite. This was not just for the water treatment facility in
Lambaro but also for the PDAM water company. The tanks were still going on and distributing
water till the 3rd year, and UNICEF was still paying for it.
Water went to about 30 barracks 50,000 to 70,000 refugees, all of Banda Aceh. But then new
locations and homes were built, like the ones built by IOM. UNICEF built pipe installations to
those locations. These pipe installations are sustainable till today.
Our relationship with UNICEF lasted till 2009. Because of UNICEF, other donors came and they
helped too. The most help however in the end came from multi-donor fund [MDF]. 70 per cent
to 80 per cent of the water needs went to Banda Aceh. The remainder went to Aceh Besar.
The one that was most helped was near Kajou Jail. This treatment facility is self-sustaining till
today and provides water to 25,000 residents today.
We built latrines in every refugee [IDP] camps 20 to 100 latrines. UNICEF and other NGOs
built it. UNICEF held meetings every Tuesday to coordinate that. But latrines were essential to
keep everything clean.
Child Health and Nutrition. Dr. Sulasmi, Chief of the Division that Oversees Maternal Health, Child
Health and Nutrition at the Aceh Health Agency, says midwives are on the frontline across Aceh
in terms of giving medical services for pregnant mothers, toddlers, babies and ensuring safe
deliveries of babies and not doctors and nurses. Dr. Sulasmi explains that if Aceh suffers from a
high rate of children with bad nutrition, it is because the children do not only solely suffer from
bad nutrition. She said there were tons of cases of kids who suffer from bad nutrition and other
health complications, like heart problems. Top midwife and head of Panga Health Municipality
Center, Tuti Suryani, on why midwives complain of facing great difficulty in dealing with pregnant
women who only want to give birth at home. Breastfeeding and Nutrition. Posyandu Plus officer
Nurhayati of Gampong Nusa, Lok Nga say breastfeeding is best and that there is a correct
technique of how to get babies to drink milk optimally from their mothers.
TRANSCRIPTION
Sulasmi, Chief of the Division that Oversees Maternal Health, Child Health and Nutrition - Aceh
Health Agency.
Why no epidemic during tsunami? No outbreak?
Following the tsunami, in the refugee camps, there began a lot of talk of fear that corpses are
going to bring about viruses and diseases. So, people worked to get corpses buried soon as they
could. They followed a system. This was done in a coordinated manner. Bodies were buried in

Page 17
mass graves, and equipment that was used to conduct the mass burials was basically whatever
people could get their hands on at that point. The process, which was coordinated by the
Indonesian Military and the Indonesian Red Cross, was done quickly and efficiently. There were
many volunteers who helped clean up the beaches. Huge amounts of corpses were strewn
everywhere across the beaches.
The military had instructed the public that should anybody find corpses in their backyard,
inside their homes or anywhere in their surroundings, they were to carry it to the nearest main
road. Trucks would then arrive to carry the bodies to the mass graves. This was a positive move
on the part of the government at a time when people were seriously traumatized and did not
know what to do and how to carry about their lives after the tsunami. Among the first primary
issue that was dealt with by the government, was the health and safety issue the matter of
preventing an outbreak and burying corpses in mass graves.
President Yudhoyonos government also took the absolutely correct decision to allow aid
organizations to immediately enter Aceh on the second day itself and do whatever necessary aid
work in any sector they deemed needed the most help with. The UNICEF, WFP and the WHO
was already here.
The second reason - NGOs poured in and together, working with the government, they managed
the immediate basic needs of the IDP camps. Access to water was provided. Sanitation needs
were met. Latrines were installed within a short period of time at every single camp. At every
single camp, public toilets were available, kitchens were available.
What was your role then?
I had helped with the opening up of the offices of WHO in Aceh. We established the office in
2002 during the conflict situation. We conducted a series of training workshops at that time
health as a bridge for peace. This was during the conflict years. We did these training sessions
because a lot of our health workers were being targeted by those on both sides of the conflict,
and we needed to train them as to how to react should they ever end up being questioned by
people directly involved in the conflict.
We were housed in a building. The building housed offices of the WHO, UNICEF and WFP. Our
office building was drowned in the tsunami. We formed a camp and conducted a meeting
immediately after. We were all given pieces of paper to fill in with what were our basic needs
most of all. Some wrote milk, some wrote money. I left mine blank. They asked why. I said I
dont need anything, and that all I wanted to get out of Aceh ASAP.
I brought my family members to the airport. I did not care who would take us out of Aceh and to
where all I wanted was to leave Aceh and head for a place where at least ATMs were
functioning and hospitals were functioning. A plane came in I believe bringing UN staff. I loaded
my family and myself onto that flight, and it was headed for Jakarta. This was Day 3. Upon
reaching Jakarta, every day I had to go to the WHO offices and updated information from Aceh.
Those from WHO in Aceh, I had to coordinate them with whom actually they should meet up
with and coordinate their efforts with. I was in Jakarta for four or five days. Then I returned to
Aceh. I led health coordination meetings every day from then on.
Brief description on your career.
A long time ago before joining WHO, I used to head a health municipality center in Teunom,
Aceh Jaya [then it was West Aceh]. I started my career in health in 1995. In 1998, I returned to
Banda Aceh and worked at Zainal Abidin Hospital. Then I took up a masters degree at Monash

Page 18
University. I went back to work at Zainal Abidin, before joining WHO in 2002. There were only 3
officers then a health officer, a driver and a receptionist.
Ten years on, what has changed? Has the health sector in Aceh worsened or become better?
What I can say is that the ongoing process to make conditions better for maternal health in
particular seems to be a long, long one. So much money is spent, but the results are not
significant. Loads of effort, so many people undergo training here, so much money is spent but
why is it that the rate of maternal deaths is not decreasing significantly.
What is better is that those in the health sector are aware and are sensitive to the fact that the
rate of maternal deaths is not decreasing as quickly as it should. I see that.
How?
In a single year [last year] we had 1,360 midwives from the villages trained specifically to deal
with maternal health in 17 separate batches one after another. This shows that people in the
health sector are sensitive to this.
Why the focus on midwives today, 10 years on?
Today, midwives stand in the frontlines when it comes to providing health services in villages
across Aceh and not doctors and nurses. During the tsunami, midwives would probably not
receive adequate training and reminders. Today, they absolutely have to. There are a number of
focus areas which they are required to monitor and control. From the time a patient gets
pregnant, to the point of delivery. The neonatal stage, baby stage, toddler stage.
These are the basic points they must focus on. The rest of the diseases patients suffer from
which midwives deal with in the villages, actually should come after. But because villagers are
sometimes completely dependent on midwives, due to their proximity [midwives live in those
villages], they sometimes forget about the focus areas.
Today [16 July 2014] we invited chiefs of midwives across Aceh for a meeting on maternal and
child health. From every regency, we invited 5 health officials each one on general health
services; one on mother and child health; one on immunization; and the rest on nutrition. My
mobile phones are programmed to receive updates on child deaths and maternal deaths, as well
as malnutrition, in every regency across Aceh.
Why do people in the villages still solely on midwives?
Midwives are the closest health officers that the people have in their villages across Aceh. They
are your one-stop shop health care treatment givers in the villages. Villagers still have a very
strong belief that there is no need to go to doctors and nurses, when midwives are an option.
Midwives are close to them. They can deliver babies in their homes and midwives can do this for
them. Midwives check on nutrition and health of children and mothers in the comfort of homes.
So, they believe they do not ever need to end up at a municipality health center, much less a
hospital because this would take the use of transportation and in the end, cost them
financially.
In Gayo Lues regency, for example, almost all women who get pregnant there, they have a
culture to use shamans in order to give birth to babies in their homes. They believe that when
the women get pregnant, there are ghosts around them that could harm their children. Shamans
can see these ghosts and get rid of them. Doctors cannot. When the babies are delivered,
shamans are known to prepare a concoction and put it inside the vagina of a woman.
Midwives themselves face a lot of problems on the field. They have to deal with shamans. They
have to deal with families where the husband or elders are the decision-makers for the

Page 19
pregnant woman or women in the house family may decide they prefer the shaman to the
midwife because the midwife may be trained, but she is too young.
What are a midwifes primary and secondary duties given the health problems faced in Acehnese
villages?
Primarily, it is to do everything possible to rescue lives of mothers and children. One issue that
is not receiving adequate attention is bad nutrition in kids. This sometimes does not show
initially but it is there.
When it gets to a very bad stage, it is still treatable if it is just purely bad nutrition. It becomes
however very difficult to treat if bad nutrition is accompanied by other complications, like a
heart valve defect, or an active disease in the kid. With a heart valve defect, even if the weight
goes up of the child, it will end up going down again because of the defect.
Midwives deal with all. Immunization, communicable diseases, dealing with elderly patients.
She is a superwoman. She administers medicines. All are on her shoulders. So, the local
government decided a while back that every village in Aceh must have at least 1 midwife.
What are the main causes of maternal deaths and child deaths today in Aceh?
For maternal deaths, it is due to hemorrhaging and eclampsia. Training is therefore given to
midwives on: how to prevent, and immediately deal with hemorrhaging, and check for
preeclampsia. For babies we have to check low birth weight, lower than 2500 grams.
What midwives in Aceh need to know and deal with are how to detect high risk pregnant
mothers in the first weeks; how to deal with hemorrhaging during delivery, how to detect
preeclampsia. For children, it is the management of low birth rates and asphyxiation in Aceh.
Children with low birth weights must be brought to hospital for treatment. For nutrition, food
for toddlers, babies and children must be monitored. For babies, nothing beats mothers milk for
at least the first six month.
Nurhayati, Posyandu Plus officer at the Nusa Posyandu Plus center in Lhok Nga, Aceh.
Before the tsunami, the Posyandu [integrated health service posts] did not have the Plus. After
the tsunami became a model Posyandu Plus for Aceh Besar. It had integrated services that did
not just have immunization and other health services, but also had Al Quran reading services;
early education child center [PAUD]; and family development for toddlers [BKB].
In terms of providing nutrition of children, because BKB deals with disseminating information
to families who attend sessions at Posyandu Plus to listen to what can be done to strengthen
nutrition of kids, villagers become more aware of how to strengthen their kids health. Mothers
of toddlers are encouraged to just pay IDR 1,000 [one thousand rupiah] one-time payment
and they receive basic services of a Posyandu Plus.
They get to meet other mothers of toddlers, attend sessions where they learn how to increase
health welfare of kids. And for nutrition purposes, what is the best way to hold their babies to
their breasts how to ensure that babies receive the optimum amount of nutrients from
mothers milk from positioning of breasts to the mouths of babies. Every month mothers come
here two or three times in a month, they learn about the importance of immunization.
Are fathers of babies/ toddlers invited?
Fathers are also invited. Fathers complain a lot that children get feverish and end up crying after
immunization so getting children immunized is not important. They receive sort of briefings too
from the doctor here on the importance of getting all their children immunized.

Page 20
On UNICEF?
UNICEF initially provided us with training and workshops, but they did this through the Health
Agency office in Aceh Besar. It would be great if they could provide us with workshops now, and
did it directly with us. We would greatly welcome it and we need the training. Aceh Besar has
604 villages. All of them have a Posyandu. But not all of them are Posyandu Plus.
Tuti Suryani, Chief of Health Muncipality Center in Panga, Calang.
I faced the tsunami. I lost my parents, my only daughter, my husband and other family
members. I lost nine immediate family members in all. I am originally from Panga. But I decided
to carry on with life. I am a midwife and have always been a midwife.
I was in a wheelchair for two months, because I suffered a broken limb at the time after the
tsunami. At the time I was working for MERLIN. I am Acehnese and I knew I had to work for
Acehnese no matter what. Even though I knew all my family members had died, I also knew that
we were ridiculously short of nurses and midwives. At this location, then a camp, only one
midwife was left. And one nurse.
From UNICEF, we all got a week-long training on breastfeeding for midwives on breastfeeding.
This was for nutrition. On breastfeeding exclusively we learned on the techniques of
breastfeeding to get optimum nutrition for the babies.

Page 21
Storylines and Transcribed Interviews Tsunami Baby [Education/Child

Survival/ Mother Survival Nutrition] and a Reunification Story.
Rosnah Tsunami Baby and Tsunami Survival Story/ Women Survival and Nutrition/ Child
Survival and Nutrition. Outline: Rosnah survived the tsunami, and gave birth to a healthy baby a
few months after the tsunami. She received packets of clothing, food, milk, vitamins and
immediate survival kits when they were at the refugee camps from UNICEF. Bed-nets were
provided by UNICEF. Children she knew also received IDR 2 million education grants from
UNICEF. Rosnah sold homemade cakes at the refugee camp and from that, she bought her
husband a motorcycle so that he could find work in Banda Aceh. With the money from selling
cakes, she also managed to rent a rundown empty house located close to refugee camps. She
taught at the UNICEF childrens center, before opening her own early education center, PAUD
Noor Ikhsan in Jantho. The playgroup at her PAUD was donated by UNICEF. She was born in 1977.
She gave birth to her son, Arif, on 13 May 2005, safely at Zainal Abidin Hospital. This interview
was conducted twice one was recorded on a voice recorder [Banda Aceh interview] and another
on video [Jantho interview PAUD Noor Ikhsan location].
TRANSLATION
People normally refer to me as Ibu Dede. I originally come from Lamteumen Timur in Banda
Aceh. It was a Sunday when the tsunami hit. I was pregnant. My daughter was then 3.5 years of
age. We as a family were preparing to go for a picnic to the beach/ seaside. My daughter likes to
eat at the beach. Normally we cycle there. The distance between Lamteumen and Ule Lheue
port is near. As we were preparing, a huge quake hit in the morning.
My husband said, we have never felt such a quake before. Before this incident, my husband had
once conducted research. He is a science [physics] major. He was an assistant lecturer at Syiah
Kuala University. He had once told me sometime ago that one day, a tsunami may hit Aceh. He
had told me about the disastrous effects of a tsunami a month before it hit Aceh.
A day before the tsunami hit, I was watching television. I watched a show about tsunamis. And
that is when I watched on TV how destructive a tsunami can be. My grandmother had also once
told me, if Ibenah comes, Ibenah is the Acehnese word for tsunami or waters that go up high,
then we have to straightaway head for the mountains.
My house was on stilts. We immediately rushed down. Another quake hit. And then came
sounds like a cannon had gone off. My husband immediately said, this is the sound of the
tsunami. We have to run to the mountains. I told him, go change immediately. I was in a sleeping
gown. I told my cousin in the house, come down and let us get ready to run. I took my shawl for
head cover. I only had IDR 500. My husband had IDR 20,000. I prayed. And we ran. I took my 3
grams of gold with me which I had prepared for the baby. My husband was shouting, this is the
tsunami. But, we had not seen waters at the time. We started to run.
And ran and ran. Some ran toward the fields. I and my family toward the mountains. We ran
forward. Others took the backdoor and went for the fields. Those who went for the fields, died. I
was running toward the area of Mata Ie.
While I was running toward Mata Ie, I could feel water lapping up my knees, then upwards. I
looked back, and I could see my whole village gone, drowned in seawater. There was no village.
Only water. I saw and I got scared. My husband said, Dede, dont look behind. Keep going up.

Page 22
I had worn Carvel [brand] slippers which was flat and had straps. The point to wear this was so
that I could run. But once the waters hit me, I could not run. Debris was also hitting me. When
an iron rod hit me, I got scared. My husband kept on saying, you need to run up. I was pregnant.
And then, the waters pulled back all of a sudden. We reached an intersection and the second
wave of waters hit us. People were drowning. I saw grandfathers carrying grandchildren, and
they looked like they were being swallowed by fallen buildings and debris.
I saw so much garbage. When the waters receded, I could run to Fakina hospital. We were the
first batch of people who received assistance from the soldiers. Because I was pregnant, I was
so, so thirsty. I had been hit by that filthy, black water that smelled of sulphur. That tsunami
water was so black, smelled strongly of sulphur to me. People told me not to drink that water. I
did not. I could not walk. I was dragging a neighbor with me. My husband was carrying my first
child. We reached Mata Ie. This was the military complex.
I was fully wet, and I walked toward the home of people I knew. On the way, we saw so many
[Tionghoa from Aceh] Acehnese of Chinese descent. And we knew them and asked them how
did this happen. I thought it must be Dooms Day. The main thing was to get to the home of a
family member so that I could clean up, I wanted my baby to be fine. I was so worried.
After that, I confirmed with whomever I met, where my in-laws were. We learned they were
somewhere in Mata Ie. We found them. I was thinking of my family and my parents. I asked my
in-laws, please check Lamteumen. If my parents are alive, they will be at the mosque in
Lamteumen. Please find them. They did not believe me. They said, how could water reach up
and drown Banda Aceh. This was not possible they said. I convinced them. They went and took
motorcycles to check. They could not go through because of the debris and waters, and they
parked their motorcycles at Fakina hospital, and walked. It was like walking down a hill. They
found my mother. She was saved because she had gotten herself up into a mango tree. And at
one point she had held on to a wire and she was saved. She said that she felt she was in a
blender because of the tsunami waters turning her body around.
My mother, Mardiana, asked how is my daughter. She then learned that I was alright. I did not
know all of this. The incident had occurred in the morning. At 5 or 6 pm, then only did I see my
mother again. She did not look like my mother. All her hair was standing upright, in sections.
Stiff and clotted from the dirty water. She had wounds on her forehead.
We went to a coconut tree and got the sap and used it on her wound. Then military officers
came and started distributing water. While we the family got together. In total from my big
family, 116 people were effected by this tsunami. That night, we received a sack of clothes. But
then I saw that others were more in need of it. So I gave it to them. My dress was still wearable
and had dried. This was at 3am.
That night we tried to sleep. But my daughter, Ata, was crying, saying my body hurts. My elder
brother was still finding for his kid. And he found his kid. There were people who pulled others
because they would see a finger sticking out. And they would pull. And these people would be
alive even though they were buried in the mud.
On the 4th day, we began to receive aid. Only on the 4th day. Water, Sarimi and some clothes. And
then on that day, I still remember, I told my husband, listen, the baby in me is no longer moving.
I need to get myself into a hospital. So we went to Fakina hospital. There were no doctors and no

Page 23
medical services in Fakina. Only corpses. Lots of them. And a couple of people pulling those
bodies into Fakina. Black corpses completely.
My husband did not allow me to enter. He was scared that some bacteria or virus would get to
me from the corpse. I begged him to take me back to my village. So we went back. And then we
walked for 1.5 kilometers but then I could not do it any longer. The route we had taken from my
village to Mata Ie, was now lined with corpses. The roads were full of corpses.
I was 16 weeks pregnant. There was death around me. And I thought that since I had not eaten
for I dont know how long, my baby was effected. Everytime food came to Mata Ie, people fought
over it. For two days I had no appetite for food. Only drinking milk.
On the 5th day, I went to Medan using a bus. I went to Aceh Sepakat, in Binjai. We were taken
care over there by family members, and then I went for medical check-ups and ate properly and
I was well-taken care of there. After spending 2 weeks there, we came back to Aceh.
I did not go to Medan to run away from the disaster. I was concerned about my baby. Once I was
certain my baby was fine, I came back to Aceh. And I ended up at a tent in Mata Ie. There were
thousands of tents then. In each tent, there would be about 2 families. Tents came from the
military who set it up. Every time there were aftershocks, we would run out. And then go back
in. This went on for quite some time. UNICEF helped us with bed-nets, jerry cans [with faucets]
for water, food, snacks and vitamins. This was for all families in the tents in Mata Ie. It was not
just UNICEF. Also from IOM. UNICEF gave biscuits and canned food, bread, fruits and milk. For
kids and pregnant mothers.
After I returned back to the tents, I was really pregnant. Malaysians had come and helped us
with bread, meat, milk, fruits, and canned fruit. So we were really taken care of. But we were not
safe or comfortable. We were always bothered by aftershocks. My Ata, my daughter, was
traumatized. She could not go to school.
And then I thought, we should evacuate to a Family Welfare Center [PKK] in Banda Aceh. We
used this building with our family. We would take aid from the tents, but we lived at PKK,
because I was pregnant and I wanted to be comfortable. My husband would go back and forth to
the village he was working for Mercy Corps. His job was to clean up the village. He was a
volunteer. He would pick up the corpses and put them to the main road.
When we returned to our village the first time, only 12 households had come back. Initially, one
hamlet would have 300 households. Here, there were only 12 who had gone back to start
cleaning up their land. My husband cleaned up so much.
A week before the birth, we had gone home. And my husband was still cleaning up the village.
We found two corpses at the time. They were dragged to a coffee shop which had become a
place to stockpile corpses temporarily before they were buried. Black plastic bags were a must
in every house. All I did was carry clean water. At the time tanks would come in with clean
water. I was in charge of carrying water to the house. We always cleaned up the village before
going back to Mata Ie. This was our village after all. We had to clean up really clean up so that
people would come back to the village.
UNICEF was giving and distributing bags to children which contained stationery, and a book
which was blue in color. I still remember. My kid, Ata, would draw and color. She was so, so
happy. It was a bag black in color, and inside there were color pencils, a drawing book. Also a T-

Page 24
Shirt. For pregnant mothers, UNICEF gave bags filled with pregnancy kits and sarongs with the
UNICEF logo picture of a kid, and a thin blanket.
I wanted to give birth in my home. Our old home on stilts, which had been washed away several
kilometers away, we found the pieces, and using whatever equipment we could find, we dragged
it back in carts and brought it to my land. Built it back. And stayed in there. My husband, Johan,
warned me that there could be viruses/ bacteria hanging around those corpses found
everywhere in my village. But I did not want to listen. I wanted to give birth in my village. I
wanted to sleep in my home. In the morning we got 3 corpses again. Another day, 2 more
corpses. Near our house directly, we found 13 corpses. I am not talking of neighbors homes.
My niece, all her hair was falling in clumps. She said that while cleaning her home, she had used
a shovel to get the mud out of her home. It had dried up and was thick. She hit on a hard object.
She had hit the head of a dead kid. She sat and was still. A team of volunteers came by and got
the body out of the mud and cleared it out. But she was traumatized. And she suffered and was
stressed out. Her hair had started to fall out.
I gave birth to a boy, Arif, on 13 May 2005, at midnight at Zainal Abidin hospital. I was told it
would be a breech baby. I was going to need to go through an operation, they said. An Australian
doctor, Rebecca, said that I needed to go to a hospital. I think the work of getting water from the
mosque to my house, wheeling it down for 100 meters, this was exercise. And I gave birth. This
was a normal birth, head first.
A week after I gave birth, more families came home to my village. Nine days after I gave birth, I
was cooking an Acehnese soup to celebrate the birth of my new boy. When the soup was
boiling, a huge quake shook the earth. My husband took my daughter and ran which way. I took
my nine-day old baby and started running also.
And then we took a pedicab and we went to Mata Ie. When I reached there, I was bleeding in
Mata Ie in the camp in the tents. I later learned my husband had taken our daughter and hopped
into a Chevrolet of a friend, who had evacuated to a camp in Blang Bintang airport. I had headed
to Mata Ie. This was the condition with every family. You would never know where the other
person was running to. We just ran.
I again was taken to hospital. On the 11th day, my husband said it was best to move all the way
to Jantho. We had received a letter from the people at Mata Ie camps that an option to move was
to move to camps in front of the Jantho general hospital at the time. Thats the option we took.
Far off from the waters, and high up above ground. Jantho is some 50 kilometers from Banda
Aceh. Upon entering the tents of that camp in Jantho, we saw that we had received aid from
UNICEF. Tupperware that contained Rinso [detergent], soap, blanket, towels. Also, bednets,
clothes, blankets.
In front of those tents, there were empty houses. I would go there and sleep in a house that
night, paying a very cheap rent I made from selling homemade cakes. From the sale of those
cakes, I would buy a motorcycle which would be used by my husband to find work in Banda
Aceh. I knew I had to be in the tent in the mornings in order to receive aid. UNICEF had also
given aid, worth IDR 2 million, to 14 children if I am not mistaken, at the time.
I love children. I taught at the Childrens Center of UNICEF in Jantho. But after that was done in
2009, I started my own early education center [PAUD] in Jantho. Here, I educate up to 45 kids of
families who evacuated to Jantho, many things. How to identify colors. How to read signs so that
they can run to safety. The kids spend their days here at this PAUD in Jantho. I saved everything

Page 25
that UNICEF gave me, including the musical instruments that were used to play music for kids,
and instruments for dancing.
The playgroup in my PAUD was given to me by UNICEF, and it had been a part of the childrens
playgroup. I have tried before, to give private lessons in good Bahasa Indonesia to parents in
this Jantho relocation center, because they can only speak Acehnese. But they refuse to learn. So,
I now concentrate on their kids. Sometimes, I wish to forget the tsunami completely. I dont
want to remember. But, if I dont remember, and dont talk about it, I worry that people will not
fully learn the horrors of the tsunami, and the consequences of ignoring the signs of a tsunami.
So, I teach about it.
Tsunami Reunification Story Intan Afriati and Nazariah Intan, 19, was separated from her
mother, Nazariah, for a month and 10 days immediately following the tsunami. They were
reunited. This is the only reunification interview secured. Nazariah lost her older son to the
tsunami. Her eldest daughter, Novella Puspasari, was separated from her for 2 days but she found
her again. Current location: Behind Penjara Kajou [Kajou Jail]. Lamseunong, Polayasa. Kec.
Baitusallam. Near Jalan Laksamana Malahayati.
Intan: I am writing a novel now about my experience with the tsunami. I have been writing since
high school. Now nearly 500 pages. I am taking mathematics now at Syiah Kuala University. I
wanted biology but by mistake, I ended up with mathematics.
Nazariah: It was a Sunday. This was my house. There was a quake. After the quake, the house
started to fall apart. All started to fall down from the roof. There were sounds that resembled
thunder. Thrice this was. So we all collected in front outside our homes. There were great
whooshing sounds, winds coming from the sea. This house we stay in now was built for us by
aid assistance. Everything had been flattened to the ground following tsunami. But this is our
land. Intan was in elementary school SD 4.
Intan: I was small then. I saw many people running. I was sitting outside the house. I followed
them. I was scared. So I started running in their direction. I was with my older sister. In front of
Meusanah Lamsanong, we had seen the waters. They were rising rapidly. We only realized later
on that mother had been left behind. We thought she had been swept off by the waters. I and my
sister waited but we thought mother was gone, swept off. She did not show up. Waters hit me
not long after. I could not swim. I went one way, the waters dragging me off. My sister went the
other way. We were separated.
Nobody helped me. I was drowning and coming up, drowning and coming up. I was later found
on top of a pile of dead bodies. It was there that I was pulled out by people, because I was living.
After I was saved by people, we all walked toward some direction. We rested for a while. I did
not know where I was. Later I found out that this was Lambaro. And then someone shouted,
waters have arisen again. So, again we ran. And then we came upon a bunch of women whose
houses were unaffected. They took me, bathed me, gave me clothes. I was then helped by an ojek
driver named Pak Kasim. I stayed at Pak Kasims house, and he had three kids. We were given
food, but I did not want to eat if it is not my mothers food. So they gave me bananas.
I was fine there. But somehow my custody from Pak Kasim had changed hands. To a teenager it
seems named Halim. I was then taken to South Aceh. I had asked this Halim why cant you leave
me to my village, but he said that there is no guarantee that anybody is living. Most likely, all
were dead because of the tsunami.

Page 26
Nazariah: Intan lived in Halims house in South Aceh, past Tapak Tuan.
Intan: I lived in that house, but it was so small. Smaller than this house currently. There was no
room. Nothing. I was fed nothing but Sarimi. [Noodles].
Nazariah: There was a government official in South Aceh there whose wife knew us. She found
out about Intan. I had by then evacuated to Sigli, my family home. That government official and
the wife tried many times to visit Intan, but Halim did not allow it unless under strict
supervision. They gave her clothes for Lebaran holidays and every time they visited they gave
her IDR 50,000. Halim accepted this but did not allow them to take Intan.
Intan: Halim had to work. So, he hid me somewhere in a shop-house. I was there for a long time.
My mother somehow got Halims phone.
Nazariah: I had asked UNICEFs help. I did not know where she was exactly but people said
Intan was somewhere in South Aceh. I did not know how to get there. So we reported to UNICEF
but we did not know how to get there. UNICEF said I had to speak to Intan over the phone.
When we finally got her on the phone, UNICEF asked us how do you want to get there? Do you
want to use a plane? I said no. Halim said only one person can meet her. Either the mother or
the aunt or just a family member. One person. Not a bunch of people. So, UNICEF provided us
with a L-300 pickup. And we came with a bunch of people. Also with Arif [Ed man who helped
us find Intan]. When we found Halim, he was still hiding her. I had to beg Halim dont hide her.
Finally, when Intan saw me she came immediately and hugged me. Started to cry. She kept on
saying, dont go back to your village, everybody is dead there. So I told her, who told you all are
dead. Not all are dead. Many of us are still alive. I was separated from her for a month and 10
days.
Halim wanted to kidnap her for himself. His mother even said I should marry Halim to my
daughter. I refused. I did not report him to police. I was just happy to get Intan back. I was
thankful for that. There was no child protection bylaws back then or anything on trafficking.
People were more concerned about saving lives.

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Storylines and Transcribed Interviews Child Protection

Brief Outline: Jantho District Court Chief Enal Mardiah, police officer Elviana, university lecturer
Riza Nizarli and child lawyer Djuwita: How the Restorative Justice Working Group [RJWG] works:
Riza explains how the RJWG was first set up and why it is important for the child victims of Aceh.
Enal Mardiah explains in detail what judges and prosecutors wear in court during child trial
proceedings and how they behave with children. What legal procedures are implemented for child
suspects, defendants and victims. Enal explained in detail the different treatments afforded to
child victims and adult defendants in a courtroom. Djuwita, the lawyer and Rizas wife, handles
each child case, on a case by case basis. For those with no parents or those parents who do not
want to take back delinquent children, it is Djuwita from RJWG who works with the Aceh Social
Agency to have the child placed temporarily in a shelter. The Social Agency works with 23
institutions and shelters. All of them have said that they have greatly benefited from training
provided by UNICEF. Enal in particular said she wanted even more training from UNICEF.
TRANSCRIPTIONS
Aceh Police child protection officer Adjutant Commissioner Elviana:
There were plenty of child victims in Aceh who were vulnerable to trafficking and kidnapping
after the tsunami. Vulnerable to exploitation. So many kids had lost parents and they were open
to being picked up by anyone and were vulnerable to trafficking. There were rumors circulating
after the tsunami that children of Aceh were being taken out of Aceh and to other areas.
We worked with UNICEF in 2005, right after the tsunami. UNICEF, along with the National
Police Headquarters, Aceh Police, the National Police Detectives Directorate [Badan Reserse
Kriminal Mabes Polri], NGOs who could escort child victims for necessary occasions, and the
Directorate-General of Social Affairs worked together to provide protection to children who had
become victims of the Tsunami Tragedy.
A number of female police officers were brought down from National Police Headquarters and
placed at children centers set up by UNICEF in Aceh following the tsunami. Even toward the end
of 2005, Aceh Police did not have a women and child protection unit [PPA] within Aceh Police
Headquarters. I have been in the detectives division since 2003, and we did not have a women
and child protection unit. So, finally, it was founded in 2006. We underwent training for this in
Jakarta, in order to be able to deal with child victims.
After that, there was a collaboration with UNICEF to train police officers who were going to be
placed in police precincts across Aceh for child protection purposes and dealing with child
victims. In 2006, the training began. A telegram had been issued by the National Police
Headquarters to build a Special Services Room [Ruang Pelayanan Khusus/ RPK] within every
police precinct in Aceh for child victim cases/ child victims. This was for 21 police precincts.
Every RPK unit would have a head. These heads of RPK were trained in dealing with child cases.
The training was focused on child-friendly questioning to be held by police.
There were a number of training sessions in 2006. In 2007, judges received training too. This
was a collaboration between Aceh Police and UNICEF, but we thought that this was required
training for judges and prosecutors and police. And then also social workers received this
training. We all found this training very beneficial. Particularly for police officers.

Page 28
Detective training is very different from training provided for child protection police who deal
with child cases. We learned that child victims are not adults and do not have a specific concept
of time. They may not have the vocabulary, much less the adult knowledge of the act that has
occurred, to describe what they have undergone. Special interview techniques are required to
extract information in order to bring the case to court. These techniques include building a
rapport with the child, and asking questions that are non-leading. We should also be able to
extract the needed information that is required to bring the case to court. Considering their age
and the trauma they have undergone, child victims may not be able to remember exact details,
but this in no way implies that they cannot be accurate. We need to have empathy and be
friends with the child. We had to change our attitudes because interrogating children is totally
different. We I believe should take their lead. With victims, you must listen and follow them first.
Initially, if they refuse to speak and refuse to be questioned, I follow them. Give them the space
to play around, to relax and assure them that their lives are not under any sort of threat. They
will only open up to you when they are ready.
I lost my immediate family members 8 in total to the tsunami. They remain missing till
today. They include my husband, my 10-year-old daughter, my mother, and three of my sisters.
I lost my only child. On that day I was working at the Aceh Police HQ. My position was then a
police administrative officer in the division for case analyses. I was a Sunday. I followed
instructions from leaders at the Aceh Police. They told us to run in a certain direction. And we
all ran. My family were all at home. I never remarried. I carried on working as a child protection
officer following the tsunami because I enjoyed working on the field and I thought, this is one
way I could possibly find my daughter or any other family member who are missing. Because we
were scouring the fields for lost children.
Jantho District Court Judge Enal Mardiah
Interviews with child victims must be conducted in a child-friendly manner and in a childfriendly environment. Such an environment should serve as no threat to the child, and this
includes the location of the interview. They should be interviewed by law enforcers who are
sensitive to the childs immediate needs and concerns. Law enforcers should not just have good
listening skills, but they need communicate with children using language that children can
understand. But they must be sensitive to the needs of the child. Our responsibility includes
lessening the trauma experienced by the child victim and enabling the victims to recover
gradually. Questions are very informal, non-leading and sometimes we have to be playful with
the children. Personal approach is paramount. We have to be personally open to child victims. If
we act formally and close ourselves up, children could take it as a reason to feel fear and feel
suspicion. We want to take that feeling away. Their comfort and peace of mind is most
important.
Before becoming the Jantho District Court chief, I was a judge at Banda Aceh District Court since
Nov 2009 Nov 2013. I and Rachmawati [Meulaboh District Court chief] are both sensitive to
how children are dealt with by law enforcers. Whenever there was any activity carried out by
RJWG, I and Rachmawati would be involved in it. When they wanted to draft out and formulate
their standard of procedures, we would be involved in this. I have always found training and
workshops given by UNICEF/ RJWG as very beneficial.
Our existing laws and regulations are clear when it comes to deal with child victims/ child
suspects/ child defendants. Normally, in a courtroom trial which deals specifically with child
cases, there is only one sole judge, who had received an official letter from the Supreme Court
[SK Anak] to try such a case.

Page 29
This is not the same with adult defendants, who have at least three judges trying the case. The
point is to minimize any source of fear for the child. The judge, prosecutors and lawyers in the
courtroom will be in plainclothes. Nobody will be wearing black robes or official court attire.
Again, this is to lessen fear in the child. The courtroom hearings will be closed to the public. The
child will be accompanied by legal guardians in the case of absence of parents.
I would ask for more training from UNICEF and I hope they are not targeted at random judges. It
is judges who really care about kids and laws linked to children that should receive the training.
Otherwise, the training is wasted on judges who dont really care much about children. I would
also like to stress that protection of the privacy of child victims is of great importance. All
necessary measures must be taken from exposing to the public the identity of the victims to
protect them from harm or the feeling of shame.
Child Defense Lawyer Djuwita
After tsunami there were plenty of cases of orphans and kids whose parents were missing.
There were a number of law enforcing officials like Banda Aceh District Court chief Suhendar,
Aceh police detective Suaedi, Riza Nizarli [Ed her husband and Syiah Kuala university lecturer]
together built the foundation, the Restorative Justice Working Group [RJWG]. The primary aim
was to provide legal aid/ accompanying children at court, at police stations or at shelters
wherever we were needed to legally represent children who had lost their parents. Even before
the tsunami, I was working as a legal advocate for an NGO which specialized in providing
perwalian [guardianship] for orphaned children. After the tsunami, I joined RJWG and my role is
as a child defense lawyer. UNICEF does provide training for lawyers, judges, prosecutors and
people linked to restorative justice and child victims. These training sessions act as reminders
that not all child suspects/ defendants should be detained or jailed, but that their dignity and
want to live as good people can be restored through rehabilitation and them undergoing social
work. If they are jailed, it effects their psychological growth and they feel stigmatized as kids. I
have handled drug cases, fighting, thieving, all of them and finding legal guardians for children.
I have recently handled a case of a 14-year old boy Syafrizal, who comes from a broken home.
His father has remarried in Medan. His mother lives in Sabang. He has six siblings. This boy used
to often steal cellphones. His mother is poor and is a washerwoman. She could not handle him
so she placed him at an Islamic boarding school. He managed to get out of there, get hold of car
keys, get into a car and steal a cellphone from inside the car. He did this a number of times. He
sold some of the cellphones and then buys himself a ticket to Jakarta-Bogor. He reaches the
airport, buys a ticket, but then by chance leaves his bag in the airport toilet. His bag is secured at
the toilet by security guards, who find a number of stolen cellphones in it. He ends up at a police
station, gets tried and is detained in jail for 2 months. I from RJWG am then contacted to
represent him. His mother did not want him back. I then contacted the Social Agency and so
Social Agency decided that he should be placed at Anak Nanggroe Orphanage in Banda Aceh. Its
been a while since he has been placed there. He has gone back to school and has made friends in
school. Looks like he is doing OK. He is also ready to meet his mother now in Sabang for
Lebaran.

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Riza Nizarli Head of RJWG

After the collaboration between UNICEF and Aceh Police, National Police Detectives brought
together Aceh Prosecutors Office chief, Banda Aceh District Court Chief and other top law
enforcement officials, to found a legal organization that dealt specifically with child victims or
children who were facing legal consequences. On 23 July 2007, RJWG was formed. After that, a
lot of training and workshops facilitated by UNICEF were provided. It was quite helpful for the
police, prosecutors and judges. Prosecutors are still the most difficult. Police are still focused on
restorative justice, in that, if police see a chance to settle disputes involving kids out of the police
station, they will. Prosecutors dont see the value in that. They have to fulfil their quota of trying
cases for the government in court.

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Key Risks and Sites for Video and Photo Shoots

The following touches on the potential risks in terms of negative media coverage linked to
UNICEF and the Aceh Tsunami:
a. There is no actual UNICEF list that I or UN volunteer, Sarah Granger - who accompanied
me during the trip to Aceh in July 2014 - which we could get our hands on, on reunited
families in Aceh linked to the tsunami. I asked Pak Oemar Di of UNICEF Aceh and he said
he did not have it. He provided us with details of a contact, Firdaus. Firdaus himself did
not have a list, but he was willing to help. He got hold of someone who had personally
reunited a family and that family was in Banda Aceh. This friend, Arif, got us the only
reunification story in this report. Sarah contacted Astrid, who provided her with contact
details of three men who were involved in the reunification of families, none of which
could provide us with a list of reunified families. On 17 July 2014, I and Sarah visited the
Aceh Social Agency to meet with anybody from the social restoration division to inquire
about the possibility of her having a list of reunified families. Oir Chaerani was
apparently one among a few still left at the division from the tsunami days. She was not
at her desk as she was in Sigli for a conference and was only due back on 22 July 2014 to
Banda Aceh. I got her number from her colleague in that division. On the 22nd of July, I
receive a call from Ibu Rita Maryani, who said that she was assistant to Oir, and that
even though the records of the social restoration division of reunified families were
destroyed at the Social Agency, she had a friend who had then worked on reunification
of families with the Social Agency. This friend had kept an Excel document of those
records. I asked her to e-mail that document over. I have e-mailed the Excel document to
UNICEF Indonesia communications specialist, Nuraini Razak, on 23 July 2014.
b. Possible questions journalists may ask UNICEF representatives in Jakarta and Aceh:
How much money was spent by UNICEF Indonesia and UNICEF offices worldwide on the
whole for the Aceh tsunami? Could we be provided with a breakdown of numbers? It is
best that UNICEF offices who were involved in the Aceh tsunami prepare a financial
breakdown a pie chart possibly of figures that were spent to rehabilitate Aceh. The
chart could include breakdowns on education, child health, child protection,
infrastructure; etc.
c. Possible questions journalists may ask UNICEF representatives in Jakarta and Aceh:
Questions on GAM and sharia law we require interviews to address the following:
require specifics on how Aceh progressed in the past 10 years following
decentralization. How did GAMs strengths dissipate and what exactly happened to
GAM? How did sharia end up incorporated into law and why is caning allowed? My
suggestion would be not to evade such questions, but not to promise them anything. The
best way is to alert Governor Zaini Abdullah and Deputy Governor Muzakir Manaf about
this possibility. Ask the journalists to give you a list of questions pertaining to the
subjects they would like to ask the governor and deputy governor.
Background on Zaini and Muzakir: Zaini was born in Pidie, is in his 70s and was a
cofounder of GAM. Trained as a medical doctor, he took part in the declaration of the
Acheh-Sumatra National Liberation Front in 1976 with Hasan di Tiro. He worked in
Simpang Kuala hospital until 1981 when he left for Sweden, and was the personal doctor
for Hasan Tiro until the latters death.

Page 32
Was chosen on the basis of seniority in GAM rather than electability. Deputy governor
Muzakkir Manaf is a former GAM commander and hails from North Aceh, so both are
from the populous east coastal Acehnese heartland. Why are they appropriate for
interviews that raise sensitive questions about sharia and GAM? They are now fully part
of the Government of Indonesia. Both were closely involved in almost all the stages of
negotiations to end the GAM resistance and both were key in the GAM negotiating team
during the 2005 negotiations, which then led to the signing of Helsinki MOU on 15
August 2005. They would absolutely know how to answer sensitive questions without
giving it all or getting incensed. Journalists will try and secure interviews with Muzakir
and Zaini Abdullah anyway to talk about the tsunami and the Helsinki agreement. It
would be best if UNICEF controlled this matter from the beginning possibly get hold of
the journo questions first, inform Zaini and Muzakir about what will be asked and I am
pretty certain both governor and/ or deputy governor will know how to handle
sensitive issues pertaining to Aceh because they have handled this countless times
before. Zaini was trained as a doctor.
Alternatively, for an even more safer option, UNICEF could opt to suggest interviews
with other top government officials like Kuntoro Mangkusubroto and vice presidentelect Jusuf Kalla. Both Kalla and Yudhoyono, particularly Kalla, was key in setting up the
peace process in Aceh. Yudhoyono, who will be a former Indonesian president as of
October-November this year, might be willing to offer up interviews for the UN. Securing
an interview with Pak Kuntoro should be, I think, mandatory, since he oversaw the
rebuilding of houses all across the tsunami-devastated areas of Aceh. Pak Kuntoro can
be reached via his aide: Zaky Prabowo: 0811.1492.169.
d. Statistics: I secured the latest statistics on maternal and child deaths and other mother
and baby-related diseases in Aceh for July 2014. However, should journalists require the
latest health statistics on Aceh, please liaise with Sulasmi from Aceh Health Office:
0852.960.88.369.
e. The Indonesian Military played a significant role in distribution of aid during the
tsunami, as well as the clearing and burial of corpses. I asked Pak Umar Di and others at
the UNICEF Aceh office and said that they had no military contact who could be
contacted on work the military had done together with UNICEF. Journalists may ask for
interviews with military officials, and UNICEF should possibly prepare one or two
names in the Indonesian Military who can talk about the impact the tsunami had on
military officers in Aceh, and the relationship they have now with the Acehnese people.
f.
On the water treatment plant story, UNICEF might face some problems with the new
director of the water treatment plant in filming or shooting video right outside the plant,
without permission. This is in particular if the interviewee being filmed is Pak Ayub,
who is the former director of the plant. It took some time before an interview with Pak
Ayub was secured because those at the new plant refused to divulge details of Pak Ayub
without authorization from the new director of that plant. It is best that UNICEF secures
some form of permission before it plans to film in front of the water treatment plant.

Page 33
The following points touch on the sites for video and photo shoots:
a. Lampulo, Banda Aceh A fishing village. Scenic backdrop for video and photo shoots.
One of the badly devastated areas during the tsunami. Today it is picturesque.
[Consultant has pictures]
b. Alur Naga A 10-minute drive away from Lampulo. Also a picturesque site. And its
broken bridge bears the clear marks of the tsunami devastation. The bridge was never
rebuilt. Great for video shots.
c. Lampuuk Mosque The historic Lampuuk Mosque that was the only structure standing
while the rest of Lampuuk was razed to the ground. Renowned mosque that made
headlines around the world.
d. Floating plant The 2,600-ton ship which was a floating electrical plant is now turned
into a memorial in Banda Aceh. It is one of the provinces top tourist attractions. Filming
can be conducted here, as long as permission is secured.
e. Calang On the drive to Calang, there are many scenic spots and beaches that can be
used as a backdrop for filming.

Unicef Scoping Mission Tsunami

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Scoping Mission Tsunami + 10

United Nations Childrens Fund Jakarta Office, July 2014

Storylines for UNICEF Indonesia:

Indonesia Report | July 2014

United Nations Childrens Fund | Indonesia

Scoping Mission Tsunami + 10

STORYLINES AND TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS - EDUCATION ................................................................ 9-14

IV. STORYLINES AND TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS - CHILD PROTECTION. ............................................. 27-30

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Storylines and Transcribed Interviews Education

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Storylines and Transcribed Interviews Child Health. Nutrition. WASH.

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Storylines and Transcribed Interviews Tsunami Baby [Education/Child

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Storylines and Transcribed Interviews Child Protection

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Riza Nizarli Head of RJWG

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Key Risks and Sites for Video and Photo Shoots

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