INDONESIA: SCHOOLS IN BANDA ACEH OFFICIALLY RE-OPEN ONE MONTH EXACTLY AFTER A DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI SHATTERED THE INDONESIAN CITY
Record ID:
566170
INDONESIA: SCHOOLS IN BANDA ACEH OFFICIALLY RE-OPEN ONE MONTH EXACTLY AFTER A DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI SHATTERED THE INDONESIAN CITY
- Title: INDONESIA: SCHOOLS IN BANDA ACEH OFFICIALLY RE-OPEN ONE MONTH EXACTLY AFTER A DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI SHATTERED THE INDONESIAN CITY
- Date: 26th January 2005
- Summary: (W2) BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA (JANUARY 26, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. CHILDREN ARRIVING AT SCHOOL 0.12 2. VARIOUS OF CHILDREN WAITING FOR SCHOOL TO START (3 SHOTS) 0.27 3. VARIOUS OF CHILDREN CLEANING THEIR CLASSROOM 0.46 4. WS: PEOPLE SWEEPING THE COURTYARD OF SCHOOL AS CHILDREN WAIT 0.51 5. CU: MORE OF PEOPLE SWEEPING 0.53 6. CHILDREN WAITING 0.57 7. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) 11 YEAR-OLD MULYA MENTARI, SAYING: "My friends live far away and they have not come yet but I don't know if they are still alive or not." 1.02 8. (SOUNNDBITE)(Bahasa Indonesia) RAHMAD RIYADI, 14, SAYING: "Our friends who aren't here now we may be able to meet later at night as ghosts. Last night I had a dream in which a friend who had died appeared and told me I should not be naughty." 1.18 9. MEN CARRYING IN SCHOOL SUPPLIES IN TIN CASES 1.30 10. TEACHERS SIGNING FOR THE BOXES 1.36 11. CU/SV: UNICEF OFFICIAL OPENING BOX AND INSPECTING CONTENTS (2 SHOTS) 1.52 12. (SOUNDBITE)(English) SHANTA BLOEMEN, UNICEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER SAYING: "The provincial authorities have had to start from ground zero. They don't know how many teachers are alive, they don't have a clear picture. They estimate at the moment more than 1,700 dead or missing but we don't know yet. We think that that is one of the biggest problems. We still have to do assessments." 2.12 13. PARENTS AND CHILDREN OUTSIDE OF CLASSROOM 2.17 14. TEACHER AND STUDENTS OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL 2.23 15. SCU'S/CU: TEACHER REGISTERING STUDENTS (3 SHOTS) 2.36 16. MV: STUDENTS 2.41 17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER ISLAMIYATI SAYING: "Today, I think it is impossible because some of the students have already gone to other homes and some of the teachers have not come to this school and it is impossible to start study today. We think that tomorrow we will be able to start studies" 3.08 18. PAN: EMPTY CLASSROOM 3.15 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th February 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BANDA ACEH, ACEH, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Reuters ID: LVAE0V69AKFP3SEP9SX01H3TA6TT
- Story Text: Missing students, teachers and school supplies
complicate the first day of school in Banda Aceh a month
after the devastating tsunami.
Schools officially re-opened on Wednesday (Janaury
26), exactly a month after a devastating earthquake and
tsunami shattered the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh.
But the start was mostly symbolic due to missing
students, teachers, a lack of school supplies and
classrooms which were damaged by the calamity or by the
scores of homeless refugees who had been living there in
the past weeks.
Parents brought their children to schools all over
the provincial capital of Aceh province, some in uniform,
others in regular clothes.
They stood in the courtyard as a truckload of people
with brooms, shovels and wheelbarrows cleared away the
rubble still left in the courtyard and the classrooms.
Concerns about classmates was apparent at the reunion of
school children for the first time since the tsunami. Of
the 240 elementary school students, less than half had
turned up on Wednesday.
"My friends live far away and they have not come yet but
I don't know if they are still alive or not," said
11-year-old Mulya Mentari.
"Our friends who aren't here now we may be able to meet
later at night as ghosts. Last night I had a dream in which
a friend who had died appeared and told me I should not be
naughty," said Rahmad Riyade, 14.
One teacher arrived in time to sign for crates of
school and recreational supplies called "School in a box"
from UNICEF, one of the international organizations working
with the government to re-start education in Banda Aceh.
"The provincial authorities have had to start from
ground zero. They don't know how many teachers are alive,
they don't have a clear picture. They estimate at the
moment more than 1,700 dead or missing but we don't know
yet. We think that that is one of the biggest problems. We
still have to do assessments," said Shanta Bloemen, a UNICEF
communication officer.
The high school down the street also suffered from
the same problems. The school had hoped to start classes
today but with only two teachers and a third of the 140
student body present, the start was put off.
Cleaning the classrooms, which is usually done by
the students was not done either inspite of the grit and
grime left over by refugees who had been living in the
school while it was closed.
Students were too frightened to go to the second
floor, where all of the classrooms are located and even the
registration process had to be held on the ground - in the
courtyard.
"Today, I think it is impossible because some of the
students have already gone to other homes and some of the
teachers have not come to this school and it is impossible
to start studies today. We think that tomorrow we will be
able to start studies," said English teacher Islamiyati.
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