Sunda Strait's Tsunami : Our Family Life is Everything

On Sunday evening, the seafood restaurant ‘Warung Krakatau’ of Kodir (34 yo) and his wife, Rohima (30 yo) is full of customers. They were enjoying the beach while eating seafood. On that day, Kodir was grilling the fish and Rohima was serving the order for customers. Suddenly, they saw a lot of people were running and screaming in fear.

“All people are screaming ‘Tsunami! Tsunami!!’ I saw big waves and very close from us. I was running immediately and still looking for Mala, our first child. I fell down and my tummy was hit twice by people. I saw my husband running but we separated. I saw how the waves swiped all the buildings,” Rohima says.

For hours Rohima tried to find Mala. Finally, on the midnight she met Mala with her grandmother. They went to a higher area with other people. Not long after, they met Kodir who turned out to be looking for his whereabouts.

“When it happened, I run and find Mala with her grandmother. We run together and I leave them behind the wall. I asked them to protect themselves and I went to another area to find my wife,” Kodir tells his story.

For now, Kodir’s family stayed in evacuation post with another affected people.

“Our children still worry if we go to the beach area. However, they happy to be here because they can meet people and play with other children. Even though no more house and restaurant, the most important thing of all is our family. Family life is everything. I hope everything will be okay soon,” he hopes.

Written by: Gracia Thomas, Social Media Officer Wahana Visi Indonesia