The Children

Teguh Muttaqien, 14 and Payu Mentari, 15

Brother and sister from a family of three. Payu was born in Banda Aceh on July 29th,1989 and Teguh was born in Takengon on July 7th,1990 and is currently in junior high school.

Their house in Punge Jurong was torn to pieces. Their oldest sister, Anita Ulfah, age 17 and both parents Kayaruddin and Firda Ulfah were presumed dead but their corpses were never found. They are now living in a temporary home in Takengon and are supported by the GiveLight Team until they move to our facility.

Brother and sister from Banda Aceh,now living in an orphanage in Jakarta.  The other picture shows a group of children who also moved from Aceh to Jakarta

Nurul and Wahyu

Aral, Tila, Dianita, Hayati.

Currently living in Jakarta and in need of additional financial support

Aral, Tila, Dianita and Hayati

The following true stories were taken during our field visits. These stories are unedited as we wanted to bring as much information to you as possible. These children are residing in over-crowded homes/shelters and unfortunately we will not be able to house them because of their age.

Idwati, 19 yrs.

My name is Idawati, and currently in my last year of high school. I am 19 years old. I lost my father when I was 9 years old.

When the tsunami happened, I ran with my mother for about 1 kilometer, to save our lives. Suddenly a tree hit my mother and we got separated. I kept on running until a giant wave hit me, and I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found my self in a hospital and immediately I rushed to look for my mother. She was found the second day already dead. On top of this, I lost 2 older sisters whose bodies were never found.

Although I’ve lost everything and I am all alone in this world, I am not giving up. I will work hard to achieve my dream to become a career woman. I consider every Muslim in the world is my brother or sister.

Alfin Nur, 12 yrs and Fuad Zaki, 17 yrs.

We met Alfin along with Fuad for a short time and were immediately amazed to find out he has memorized three Juz of the Quran at 12 years of age. He is currently living in a temporary housing in Bandah Aceh.

Zaki is currently in his second year in high school and speaks three languages (Indonesian, Arabic and English).

Their house was totally destroyed and they lost their entire family in the tsunami (mother, father and two siblings). Their father, Haji Azhari Usman, was a prominent religious leader/cleric in Bandah Aceh. Their mother was a national champion in the Quran recitation competition held in Indonesia.

Alfin

Zaki