September 09, 2011
What seemed to be a real-life hero story took an unexpected turn when it emerged that a volunteer who was reportedly kidnapped in Somalia had never even traveled to the war-torn African nation.
Aisha Wardhana, who claimed to be a doctor who volunteered for aid organization Rapid Relief Action (ACT), became an overnight sensation after reports from social media and blogs suggested she was kidnapped and wounded in Somalia.
Syuhelmaidi Syukur, an ACT official involved in the Indonesian Committee for Somali Solidarity, said he and several ACT members had a meeting with Aisha at a restaurant in Karawang to clarify the report.
“[On Wednesday] she apologized to us and said that she had never been to Somalia,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday. “But she did not tell us why.”
Syuhelmaidi said Aisha was not an ACT member, but rather a volunteer.
With news spreading of Aisha’s misadventure, the ACT felt disrupted in its work.
“We have so many duties and our main concern is humanitarian aid, but now we have to deal with this,” said Syuhelmaidi, who noted that the organization also worked to help earthquake victims in Singkil, Aceh, as well as people suffering from hunger in East Nusa Tenggara .
In a text message to the Jakarta Globe, Aisha said she had given an interview to a tabloid.
“I choose to remain silent,” she said. “Sorry.”
Bustanul Arifin, who was first reported as Aisha’s husband, also spoke up. He said that, based on her identification card, Aisha’s real name is Caroline Ruhning Tyassasanti and she lives in Karawang, West Java.
“I am not her husband, but we were in a relationship,” he told the Globe.
He said he first met Aisha during their volunteer work in Yogyakarta during the Mount Merapi eruption in 2010. They met again in January the next year and began their relationship a month later.
Bustanul said Aisha introduced herself as a plastic surgeon who studied in Japan, but he could not confirm the truth of her assertion.
He said Aisha went to his hometown in Central Java to say goodbye before departing for humanitarian work in Somalia, though she did not explain how she would get there or what flight she would take.
“Now I am very disappointed for being lied to,” Bustanul said. “I want her to publicly explain everything.”
Dr. Slamet Budiarto, the secretary general of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), said there was no doctor registered with the name of Caroline Ruhning Tyassasanti.
“We don’t have that name here, but that could be because our representatives don’t report all the names to us,” he said.
Police said Aisha could be charged with “telling the public a lie,” but someone would have to file a report against her.
“However, we are not expecting that,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said. “It will be enough if we summon her and ask her not to do that again.”
(x the JG)
do 8 sep 2011 - 17:48