14th February, 2005

Five-year-old Lidya Sofianda sits thoughtfully on the clean tarpaulin floor of the World Vision ‘Child Friendly Space’ in the tsunami ravaged city of Banda Aceh. Her eyes drift as if she is distracted, or perhaps looking for someone.

Cradling Lidya gently is her aunt, 31-year-old Mutia Erawati.

Lidya’s family lived in Kuja village, about 5 to 6 miles down the coast from Banda Aceh. They had moved two months before, and were just settling into their new home.

“On that weekend (of the tsunami), Lidya was visiting her grandmother’s house here in Banda Aceh,” says Mutia, adding that it is common for children to stay with relatives on the weekends.

Even though her mother, 29-year-old Rohani Djamil, wanted her to return the previous day, Lidya refused, insisting on staying with her grandmother for another day. In a type of stubbornness not uncommon between girls and their mothers, Lidya had made up her mind. She would stay at Grandma’s house for the weekend, and join her mother, her father, 32-year-old Adi, and her brother, three-year-old Raja, on Sunday. That stubbornness saved Lidya’s life.

“At about 8:00 in the morning I was looking after Lidya while my mother (Lidya’s grandmother) was working in her food-stall," says Mutia. "All of a sudden, the earthquake hit. We all ran out of the house and immediately laid down on the ground.

Image: Courtesy of World Vision "As she plays with some newly donated toys, Lidya looks like any other five-year-old. With support from Mutia and her grandparents, Lidya has a better chance than many of the orphans of Aceh. Yet it is hard to imagine the scars this little girl will carry as the reality of her loss sinks in over time."

Mutia says that although it seemed like an eternity, the earth shook for seven to eight minutes.

After the earthquake had subsided, Mutia’s thoughts turned to looking after the family’s basic needs, so she jumped on her motorbike and headed for the main market in Banda Aceh. Little did she know of the horror that was taking place just a few kilometers away. It took just 15 minutes for the wave to travel from the epicentre of the quake, off the coast of Sumatra, to Banda Aceh. Mutia didn’t hear the sound, but she quickly realised something was terribly wrong.

“As I was trying to get to the market, people were running and screaming in the opposite direction,” she recalls. “People in cars and on motorbikes were panicking, trying to leave the city. It became so clogged that I was trapped. They were all screaming ‘the water is coming!’”

Somehow, by a miracle, Mutia made it back to her house and, to her great relief, the water had not reached her house. Lidya, her grandmother and grandfather were also safe.

But the family’s joy soon turned to fear and anxiety, as news of the scale of the devastation began to reach them. As the day progressed, survivors of the tsunami began pouring into Banda Aceh. Desperately, Mutia and her
father, Suryadi Djhamil, questioned the shattered new arrivals. “Are you from Kuja? … have you seen anyone from Kuja?”

Soon the pieces of the puzzle began to form a terrifying picture. Survivors and witnesses described a scene of total and complete annihilation. The village of Kuja, and nearly all of its inhabitants were gone. Words could
not describe the level of devastation wreaked on the small coastal villages of Aceh Province on 26th December, 2004. Hardly a single brick of the poorly constructed houses and buildings stood. Where there were once bustling streets crowded with women washing clothes and children playing, there was now a desolate wasteland stretching from the coastal hills to the ocean.

Still they searched. As soon as they could arrange transportation, Mutia and Mohammed began visiting the many new tented camps that were being quickly erected near the coast. Desperately they searched, asking anyone they could if they had seen Lidya’s parents or her brother. As despair set in, Mutia and Mohammed gave up their search. A few days later, the national ID card of Lidya’s mother, Rohani was found and brought to them by a
friend.

Is it possible for a five-year-old to comprehend such utter loss? “We have talked with Lidya and told her that her mummy and daddy and baby brother won’t be coming back,” says Mutia. “But she doesn’t believe us. She thinks
that they are just away on a trip, and will come back again.”

Mutia looks at Lidya with concern. “Now, Lidya often cries for her mother.” All Mutia can do is hold her and comfort her as best she can.

A kindergarten teacher before the devastating tsunami hit, Mutia now spends her mornings at World Vision’s Child Friendly Space at the Gedong Sosial Centre, a former Community Centre, and now a temporary place of refuge for over 300 families - homeless tsunami survivors. Every morning, from 9am to noon, she plays with the children, leading activities, and providing much-needed care and comfort.

As she plays with some newly donated toys, Lydia looks like any other five-year-old. With support from Mutia and her grandparents, Lidya has a better chance than many of the orphans of Aceh. Yet it is hard to imagine the scars this little girl will carry as the reality of her loss sinks in over time.

This story was compiled by World Vision staff working in Banda Aceh. To donate to World Vision Australia, visit www.worldvision.com.au.