Julie Forman and her family are in limbo waiting to return to New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Julie Forman and her family are in limbo waiting to return to New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Their flights and MIQ spots were booked, the house packed up and belongings sold. New Zealand teacher Julie Forman and her family had said their goodbyes and were ready to come home after seven years in Indonesia. Then their son tested positive for Covid-19.
It was a blow, but they were able to rebook their flights and quarantine hotel for two weeks later in mid-July.
Two days before departure, the airline called saying it was a no-go. Singapore, their transit point, had barred all flights from Indonesia where the highly infectious Delta variant was pushing case numbers to an all-time high.
More than a month on, the family of four is still stuck in Medan with no way to come home. Indonesia is battling some 24,000 new infections a day on average and Medan, their city of more than 3 million, is in the latest of a series of lockdowns since March last year. They rarely leave the house.
"We wash everything we buy carefully ... change our clothing whenever we have been out. Masks are always supposed to be worn outdoors," Forman told the Herald over a video call.
Forman's family are among an unknown number of New Zealanders in Indonesia - 117 are registered on the Government's SafeTravel website - weathering long and successive lockdowns away from home.
The hardest part is the uncertainty, she says.
"You can't really make plans because you think you have everything organised, and things just change, constantly."
Originally from Palmerston North, Forman met her Indonesian husband Deni when she was teaching at an international school in Medan. Their son Arif (15) and daughter Anya (12) were born in New Zealand and the family moved to Medan in 2014 for the children to get to know Indonesian culture.
Primary school teacher Julie Forman married her husband Deni in 2005 in Shannon, New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
It was time to come home after seven good years. They wrapped up their lives and quit their jobs, only to find themselves in limbo.
Since July 12, Singapore has closed its borders to travellers from Indonesia including those in transit. Many other countries are now doing the same, and the only possible route for Forman's family at the moment is through Qatar and Brisbane, a journey that will take more than three days and at a cost of more than $29,000, not including transit hotels.
For now, they wait for Singapore to re-open.
"We might be going in a month, but maybe not. Maybe we'll be here for six months."
They are currently living off their savings and have no medical insurance. Forman and her son's Indonesian visas have to be renewed every month.
The family on holiday in Indonesia's Bukit Lawang in 2015. Photo / Supplied
Friends and neighbours have loaned them a car and motorbike so they can get around, and their landlord is letting them stay on in their partially furnished house.
"We've got beds, we've got a couch, table and chairs, TV, we've got all the basics. Friends have actually said if we need to borrow anything just let us know."
Lockdown means they can't go out and see friends, so finding off-screen activities for the teenagers when living out of their suitcases is a challenge. They used to have badminton and table tennis, but all their games and books have been packed up or given away.
But they are grateful for Te Kura, New Zealand's state-funded correspondence school that starts from early childhood to NCEA Level 3. Both Arif and Anya are enrolled; he is learning the physics of skateboarding and she is doing a course about space. Forman says the Kiwi curriculum has made a "huge difference" in helping them feel purposeful and connected to home.
Julie's 12-year-old daughter Anya is learning about space on Te Kura, New Zealand's correspondence school. Photo / Supplied
Their faith keeps them going. "We're Christians and really feel that God has been taking care of us ... We've overcome some of these difficulties better than we thought we would."
Forman and her husband are vaccinated and are now trying to get their teenagers jabbed as well. Not all foreigners in Indonesia are eligible for the free vaccine and many are struggling to get it, even if they paid.
Staying positive is a daily struggle but they are taking one day at a time, trying not to plan or think too far ahead. "There's so much that we can't control now."
The day before, the family had taken their borrowed car out for a drive just to get out of the house. Seeing the familiar but empty streets, it hit Forman again - they were still in Indonesia, stranded in limbo.
