The trip to my friend's village was so tiring💦. January 30, 2026

Hello everyone.

Hi friends, How are you? I hope you're all doing well. Although the situation in Aceh is still very bad and has changed significantly compared to the Aceh of old, we always try our best to maintain our strong spirits. Today, my friends and I have a very impressive plan. We plan to prepare to return to our village, but not to my village. My village is far away and still in dire straits. Today, I'm with my new friends in the evacuation center. I'm going with them to the village.

I think this will be really exciting. Early this morning, after doing some activities at my evacuation center in the highlands, I asked my grandmother's permission to accompany my new friends in the evacuation center back to their village. Today is January 30th. In our evacuation group, everyone is returning to their villages. But I didn't go back to my village in Aceh Tamiang because Aceh Tamiang is still in very bad condition. So, I'm going with my friends who are returning to their villages, since I live in a different place than my new friends.

Early in the morning, we asked a truck to take us to the highland village area. It would have been a long walk from the highlands to our destination. So, we asked a passing car for a ride. After about 35 minutes, we finally got off at an intersection, as the truck didn't pass through my friend's village. So, we just walked a short distance.

While walking, we continued our journey to my friend's village in Aceh province, Aceh Tamiang district. We were really tired here so we stopped at the local people's rice fields to rest for a while. While on the road, we shed a lot of tears when we saw 22 villages that were still in very bad condition, there was a lot of dust on the roads, the weather was quite hot, we saw children who were no longer strong enough to endure this life, we were so sad that we hoped that we would be like the situation in Aceh that used to be.

About tens of meters ahead, we will arrive at my friend's village. While on the road, we still haven't found any internet connection at all, even though I really want to tell my grandmother that we have arrived halfway, so that my grandmother doesn't worry too much there. My friends and I continued walking through several more villages. To catch up on time, I looked at the clock, it was already 2:00 PM. We would probably arrive in a few more minutes.

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We finally arrived at my new friend's village. It was quite tiring because we had walked so far. It wasn't that we didn't drive, but rather that we wanted to walk so we could clearly see the villages in the Aceh Tamiang region. We did, as we had planned. Walking is quite healthy.

Then my friend immediately hugged his mother and family. They must have been very touched and sad that their son had returned home, but the situation in his village was still very bad. My friend's house was in such dire straits that they had built a makeshift shelter. My two other friends and I were moved and moved to tears as we watched them hug and gather with their family. My friend was very grateful to our people for accompanying him home. When we arrived, their family was busy cleaning old coconuts to prepare dishes.

We also took a break in my friend's village, while helping his family peel and clean their heads and we told each other stories on the way so that we didn't feel the time passing so quickly because we talked so much with our family. And the situation in my friend's village, is still the same, in my friend's village still needs assistance from the government and other assistance, electricity is also often outages and the network is not yet normal, especially the houses of residents who have not yet been evacuated or given aid houses.

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In the afternoon, about an hour before nightfall, we went to the rice fields near my friend's village. We saw the conditions here and the activities of the residents here who were busy looking for food ingredients in their rice fields. Like my friend's relatives, who were picking ripe bananas and picking young pumpkin leaves in their rice fields. Just like in the highlands, we also had the same activities as in my friend's village.

Tonight, my friend and I had planned to stay overnight in my friend's village, as it would be impossible to return to our home in the highlands so late at night. So, we stayed here tonight. At 8:00 PM, we enjoyed breakfast prepared by the communal kitchen in my friend's village. Nasi bungkus (packed rice) is one of our favorite foods right now.

My friend's family and fellow travelers, along with me, enjoyed the evening in our friend's village while enjoying breakfast. Hopefully, it won't rain tonight, as we'll have easy access to the village paths we passed earlier tomorrow morning. That was a very impressive summary of my activities today.

Author Misslaila🙏.