February 2005

Yenni: February 2005

Yenni Maulia’s father owned a motorcar repair shop, where men and boys of the extended family worked. The Tsunami swept away her home and father’s shop, and killed her two younger sisters and several other members of the family.

When the big wave came, tried to hold on to one sister’s hand. But they were soon separated, and the sister was never seen again.

Yenni now lives in a small rental house that is share by four families. Her father, mother, aunt and grandparents are with her.

"Life is so difficult now -- to find food, to find work," says Yenni. "We hope to find better work, so that we can open up the repair shop again."

Her father Usman salvages metal from the surrounding wreckage to make a living, and his family gets by with some help from the local relief post. Though he hopes to start a new business, he does not have enough money.

Meanwhile, Yenni attends emergency school, and is in the first grade of high school -- but progress is slow.

"Before the tsunami, I was learning to sew. I want to be a fashion designer when I grow up. But it is difficult to go back to school. All the books are gone -- the books to study, to read."

In our February story, Yenni tries hard to sound cheerful as she shows us around her temporary house. While it’s made of brick and mortar -- and definitely better than temporary shelter available to many other affected families -- too many of them are crammed into a tiny space.

Yenni continues the guided tour: "This is my little brother’s crib. This is my aunt’s room….There’s no mattress. Here are some crackers that we can eat..."

Yenni thinks that the tsunami was a punishment to people for ‘behaving badly’.

She remains optimistic about her own future. "I want all the children in the world to know that tomorrow is a better day. What happened should become a lesson for us to do good things in life."