A Trophy on a Broken Fridge
In Opak, Aceh Tamiang, I saw something that stopped my steps. A small trophy stood quietly on top of a broken fridge, left on the roadside among mud, wood, and flood debris. It was shiny, but everything around it was ruined.
Delivering aid to flood victims in Opak
On December 17th, 2025, we, the teachers of SMP Negeri 2 Lhokseumawe, traveled to Opak, Aceh Tamiang, to deliver aid to flood victims. The flood had struck Aceh on November 26th, weeks ago. Yet when we arrived, it felt as if time had stopped. The mud was still thick. The damage was still everywhere. And many schools remained untouched, uncleaned, and unrepaired.
Along the road, between broken wood, ruined furniture, and piles of debris, I saw something that quietly broke my heart. A small trophy stood on top of an old refrigerator, placed at the edge of the street. It did not belong there. It looked lost, but somehow, it was still standing.
The school has damaged by the flood
That trophy once lived in a school. It once sat proudly in a classroom or a trophy cabinet. It was a symbol of hard work, discipline, and dreams. It represented children who stayed late to practice, who believed in themselves, and who once felt proud to be students of their school.
SMPN1 Kejuruan Muda
Now, the school is silent.
Weeks after the flood, many children in Opak still cannot return to learning. Their classrooms are filled with mud. Their books are damaged. Their chairs and tables are broken. While life slowly moves on for others, these children are still waiting, for help, for attention, for action.
SMPN1 Kejuruan Muda
Disaster does not only destroy buildings.
It pauses dreams.
It interrupts education.
And when recovery comes too late, the damage becomes deeper.
Seeing that trophy among the ruins felt like a quiet question. How long must these children wait? How long will education remain under the mud while promises float above it?
That trophy did not cry. It did not fall. It stood there, silent and patient, like the children of Aceh Tamiang.
It reminded us that education is not only about buildings or schedules. It is about dignity, hope, and the future of a generation. When schools are forgotten, dreams are delayed. And when dreams are delayed too long, a nation slowly loses its light.
That small trophy, standing alone in Opak, is not a memory of the past. It is a warning for the present.
Hope does not always come in big promises.
Sometimes, it begins with simple actions: cleaning a classroom, repairing a desk, reopening a school gate. For children, hope means being seen, being remembered, and being allowed to learn again.
The Children in Aceh Tamiang
They do not ask for luxury. They ask for a safe place to sit, a book to read, and a teacher to welcome them back. When a government chooses to care, it chooses to protect the future, not with words, but with presence and responsibility.
If hope is given on time, children will rise again.
And when education is restored, the light returns, slowly, quietly, but surely.
The children was running for the aid
To the children of Aceh Tamiang:
stay strong, even when the days feel heavy.
Keep learning, even when the classroom is not yet ready.
Your courage in difficult times is already a lesson to us all.
The mud will be cleaned.
The schools will open again.
And one day, your dreams will stand taller than this disaster.
Amin...
All the pictures are my original shoots, captured by using my vivo v40 in Aceh Tamiang, on December17, 2025.
I set beneficiary 20% to @behappyco as my donation to the victims of flood in aceh.
Regards @ubayiqbal
The teacher of SMPN 2 Lhokseumawe
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