Before the floods came
Eleven-year-old Lala* loves to play with her friends, laugh with her family, and her favourite: dancing. She and her friends would wait for a message in their group chat – "We'll have practice at 4 PM" – then pick each other up and head to dance rehearsal together. “I feel good when I dance to a song,” Lala says.
But that life was put on pause on the night of 25 November 2025, when floodwaters began rising through her family's home in Aceh Province, Indonesia.
Two days that changed everything
Over the next two days, the floods grew more powerful. Lala and her family – parents Baim* and Risqiqa*, and her three-year-old brother Al* – fled and moved from shelter to shelter as each one was submerged. Tragically, their house was destroyed.
The aftermath of the floods near Lala’s home in Aceh Province, Indonesia.
Lala’s father Baim describes walking through his hometown with Risqiqa in the days that followed, searching for food for the children: “We didn't recognise all those places that were familiar to us,” he says.
The family eventually found a place in a camp for displaced people, where they have been living in a tent ever since.
A quieter girl
Lala took the loss of her home hard. “She cried to see the house gone,” Baim says. In those early days, he noticed the cheerfulness he knew so well, had quietened.
Her school had also been badly damaged, with floodwaters reaching the second level of the building. Until volunteers helped clear the mud and debris from the classrooms, she had nowhere to go.
“I like going to school to see my friends and to learn from the teachers,” Lala says. “I don't want to miss a lesson or forget everything. I still want to learn more.”
Getting back to learning
Thanks to our supporters, Save the Children worked with partners to restore access to flood-affected schools and establish temporary learning posts across the affected provinces. Lala received a back-to-school kit after her schoolbooks and stationery were washed away – “a dozen books, and then two more. A pack of pencils for writing, pencil sharpeners,” she says. Her family also received a hygiene kit with soap, shampoo, toothpaste, a bucket, towel, toothbrushes and sanitary pads – essentials that go a long way when you have lost nearly everything.
Lala’s back-to-school kit has helped her get her learning back on track.
Meeting Alam
Then there was the Child Friendly Space. A friend told Lala about it. “They said there's a talking puppet show,” she says. So Lala went along, and met Alam – the puppet.
\
Alam (and Andi) put on a puppet show in the Child Friendly Space.
“I met and played with Alam. He's funny.” On top of the puppet shows, the Child Friendly Space provided Lala with the opportunity to play games, draw, and take part in educational activities that she was missing out on without access to her school. “It's exciting and fun,” she says.
Back to her usual self
For Baim, the change in his daughter has been clear: “My daughter is a happy, cheerful girl,” he says. “My daughter has returned to her usual self. She found joy and became cheerful again. She also learned many things there.”
He understands what getting back to school means for children processing loss and displacement: “It is the most important thing for our children after the flood. To recover from the trauma, they need to see their friends again, to tell each other stories, to play and learn together again.”
“My dream job is to be a police officer,” Lala says, looking to the future. “I want to be successful and make my parents happy. I want to travel the world too.”
Save the Children and our partners are continuing to provide health and nutrition, education and child protection support to children and families across Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
We are also helping to clean and restore flood-affected schools, so that children like Lala can get back to their classrooms as soon as possible.
Your support helps children like Lala stay safe, learning and connected to the things that matter most to them.
*Names changed to protect identities.