They Suffer From the Womb

Kompas/Wisnu Widiantoro

Mothers accompany their children who are being treated in the Indonesia Protestant Church hall in Papua, Agats, Asmat regency, Papua, on Friday (19/1). As many as 13 children suffering from malnutrition were moved from Agats General Hospital’s emergency room to the hall because the hospital was full.

Veronika Jofar, 2, who has not recovered from the measles, laid limply on the lap of Apolonia Wamu, 34, her mother who is seven months pregnant. Veronika’s older sister, Merileva Jakae, 7, who is suffering from a fever because of the measles, cried, asking to be picked up by her mother at a house made out of planks and a sago-leaf roof in a rural area in Asmat regency, Papua.

Scattered near them were cigarette butts. Apolonia and her husband Patrius Waok, 40, are active smokers. Smoking while carrying Veronika and Merileva is regarded as a normal thing. “It’s okay,” Patrisius said. Other than cigarette butts, the living room also had packaging of instant noodles and seasoning and energy drinks littered all over it. Since they were babies, Merileva and Veronika have been used to consuming those foods and drinks. They are also given coffee to drink.

According to Apolonia, the habit has become a trend in their village, Kapi village in Pulau Tiga district. In neighboring villages such as Aou and Nagai, Kompas also found a similar phenomena when following the Agats Diocese volunteer team on Thursday-Friday (18-19/1).

The instant food and drinks have pushed aside tebu sago, papeda sago or banana, which have been passed down through the generations, as food for infants in the village. Bananas and sago are now being sold to markets and the money is used to buy fried bananas, instant noodles, biscuits and other instant food. “If they are not given it, they would cry,” said Apolonia while calming Veronika as she moaned.

Veronika was then laid down in a bedroom, with pandan leaves as its bed. The floor and walls of the house are made out of planks of wood with big holes in them. Wind easily blows into the house, which consists of two rooms and space that is both a living room and a kitchen.

The stove cannot be moved outside. Fire from the stove is a symbol of life. Where there is fire, there is life. That is the belief of the Asmat tribe. At the Santo Gabriel Kapi Catholic Church building, for example, there is also a stove for enculturation.

Poor sanitation

Like other houses in the village, Patrisius’ home, which is a stilt house, does not have a bathroom and toilet. The people relieve themselves on the side of rivers or around the settlement. In almost all the villages in Asmat, the houses are built on top of swamps and rely on rainwater for all needs. In Kapi, the residents rely on the Mamac River water. The brownish turbid water is used for bathing, washing and drinking.

Daniel Basaram, 65, a community leader, believes that the river water is a blessing from God and their ancestors and so it is good to use. “From when we were born until now, we are used to drinking raw water,” Daniel said.

For food, they rely on sago, banana and tubers. As gatherers of raw food, they are not concerned with re-planting the plants they have taken. Nature will grow them back. The sago tree tops are taken in parties that are regularly held twice a year. Because of this, the sago dies.

The process of planting sago to the point that it can be harvested takes eight years. It is too long amid the pressure of needs and the ever-increasing population. As a result, the people have to go further.

The government’s program of providing foodstuff really helps but also destroys the people’s work ethos. Many heads of household rely on the aid. Hunting and searching for shrimp is being abandoned. The processing of sago and tubers are burdened onto their wives.

The tradition of sculpturing, which is one of the traditions of the Asmat tribe, is not being taken on by many of the youths, despite the fact that the art of sculpturing has raised Asmat to the world stage.

Women’s workload

While carrying their children, the women, including those that are pregnant, go to the forest to process sago. The men only sit around in jee (bachelor house), a building for cultural and religious ceremonies.

The heavy workload coupled by a lack of nutritious food contributes to the poor health among women. The babies in the womb and breastfed babies do not grow as normal. Most of the children in school looks as though it is merely their skin that is wrapping the bones, with distended stomachs and yellow eyeballs. They are used to sucking the end of their fingers.

The village with a population of 522 people is one of the villages hit by an extraordinary occurrence (KLB) of malnutrition and measles. Since November 2017, five children have died. This has also happened in a number of other villages.

Other than Pulau Tiga district, eight other districts also experience measles and KLB malnutrition, namely Pantai Kasuari, Swator, Aswi, Akat, Fayit, Kolf Braza, Jetsy and Siret. As of this moment, a total of 68 children have died. A number of national and regional institutions have come to Asmat to assist in mitigation efforts.

Economic difficulty and the lack of understanding of a healthy life is made worse by an absence of medical workers. They have chosen to live in Agats, the capital of Asmat, which takes around 3.5 hours by motorboat to reach.

When they are unwell, the locals usually go to Pastor Heri Ola Pr, a local religious leader, to ask for medicine. If the condition is really bad, they would ask only for a miracle from God and surrender to fate.

Most residents are unable to rent a motorboat to Agats, which costs Rp 3 million. The high rate is due to the expensive cost of retail fuel at Rp 20,000 to Rp 50,000 per liter.

The revelation of the malnutrition case in December was like an iceberg phenomenon. There had been similar conditions in previous years, but it has not been much-exposed to the public. Viktor Vi, 75, Kapi village custom head, said that since he first lived in the village in the 1950s, diseases have frequently come and gone, claiming the lives of their children.

Measles, cholera and vomiting have killed the lives of dozens of children in Kapi since the 1960s. That has continued to this day. According to Viktor, other villages also face similar conditions.

It is disheartening to see the portrait of malnutrition in regions that are not far from the location of the world’s biggest gold mine. It seems as though the people do not stop suffering, from the moment when they come out of the womb till the moment death takes them away.