{"id":167,"date":"2016-09-13T00:03:22","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T00:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devpolicy.org\/aidprofiles\/?page_id=167"},"modified":"2016-09-14T20:42:25","modified_gmt":"2016-09-14T20:42:25","slug":"like-family-how-australia-and-indonesia-united-in-recovery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/devpolicy.org\/aidprofiles\/like-family-how-australia-and-indonesia-united-in-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Like family: how Australia and Indonesia united in recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aisyiyah
Aisyiyah volunteer Ema Qojjimah and Kuningan bomb survivor Asep Wahyudin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like family: how Australia and Indonesia united in recovery<\/span><\/h1>\n

By Laura Jean McKay<\/em><\/p>\n

In September 2004, a terrorist attack struck the Australian embassy in Jakarta, killing nine people and leaving 150 injured, some very seriously. In the aftermath,\u00a0Aisyiyah\u00a0<\/strong>worked in partnership with\u00a0the embassy to provide support for the survivors, many of whom needed ongoing medical treatment and support, and the families of those who did not make it home that day.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Asep
Asep Wahyudin, before the bombing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the morning of his 20th<\/sup> birthday on 9 September 2004, Asep Wahyudin left the house to go to work and turned back three times. His mum told him: \u2018If you don\u2019t have a good feeling, don\u2019t go,\u2019 but Asep went anyway. The year before he\u2019d started working as a police officer in Vital Object Protection \u2013 a special unit of the force\u2019s Mobile Brigade in charge of protecting embassies. His assignment was with the Australian embassy, in Jakarta\u2019s Kuningan district. In his time there, he\u2019d changed. As a kid, Asep had always been happy \u2013 since becoming a policeman he also felt strong, like he could do anything. At 20, Asep was tall and lean, with a sudden teasing smile and always surrounded by friends. He cut a striking figure in his uniform: dark pants and a grey shirt with police badge insignia and a gold embroidered peaked cap. Guarding\u00a0the embassy was more than just a job to Asep. It was a duty.<\/p>\n

\u2018I am proud to be Indonesian… It was in my job description from head office that I must stay at the front of the Australian embassy \u2013 so I did it. I felt I had a patriotic responsibility. I stayed at my post.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Asep was working with one of the embassy\u2019s contracted security guards that day, Anton Sujarwo, a man Asep describes as his soul mate. They stood at the embassy gate \u2013 made up of thick green metal pipes \u2013 and observed the cars and passers-by. By 10.15am, H.R. Rasuna Said Street was bustling with traffic and people. The surrounding office buildings were full of staff; other police and security guards worked alongside Asep and Anton; the embassy gardener Suryadi was at his job inside the fence with another gardener; a mother and her daughter joined a queue of applicants applying for visas at the entrance; and a bus full of people drove past. A white Daihatsu delivery van approached, seemingly heading for the embassy gate. Asep stepped forward and raised his hand to stop it.<\/p>\n

\u2018Then the bomb went off,\u2019 remembers Asep.<\/span><\/p>\n