The world of Tzu Chi September 2020 (Vol.126)

41 Written and photographs by Choung Mou Hin Translated by Choo Suet Fun ouching Life Story Following her husband’s arrest and deportation to Indonesia for overstaying his visa, the pregnant Nursahara was left alone in Miri, Sarawak with no one to turn to. Help arrived in the form of Miri-based Tzu Chi volunteers, who went to great lengths to fulfil her wish to return to her home country and reunite with her husband. A LongWay Home Nursahara, who had been stranded alone in Miri for two months following her husband’s arrest, was moved to tears upon receiving financial aid from the volunteers. O n March 5, 2020, Indonesian native Nursahara found her life turned upside down. Her husband Buyong, who worked on a ship, was arrested by the Malaysian authorities for the possession of an expired work permit and deported back to Pontianak, the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. The pregnant Nursahara was left alone in Miri, Sarawak. “When I learnt of my husband’s arrest, I was at a loss and anxious, as though the sky had collapsed on me,” Nurshara recounted. Due to the limited access to communication infrastructure in Pontianak, the couple only managed to contact each other four to five times over the past two months and had to endure their intense longing for one another. Buyong is worried about his wife, yet lacked the funding to bring her back to Indonesia. Leaving home for greener pastures Nursahara, 32, hails from rural Yogyakarta in Indonesia, where most of the locals make a living from agricultural activities, farming corn, chilies and other crops for a daily wage of