Displaced Chinese wait to go back home
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/Medan
Thirteen days after fleeing Mulia village in Banda Aceh for Medan, Laisa Lan returned home only to find her house gone and the streets littered with corpses.
The 50-year-old Chinese-Indonesian woman could not do much. She realized she could not stay and would have to return to the displaced persons' camp in Medan with her husband.
The couple were the only survivors in her family. Five of Laisa's family members, including her children and parents, all died in the quake-triggered tsunamis.
Laisa said she did not want to stay for fear of disease spread by decomposing corpses.
"I'm afraid of staying (in Banda Aceh), the smell from rotting corpses is very strong," Laisa told The Jakarta Post in a camp for displaced Chinese-Indonesians in Medan.
Laisa has no idea how long she and her husband will have to stay at the camp since Aceh is still in chaos.
All of Laisa's belongings were lost in the tsunamis, including her jewelry and important documents. The only thing she was able to save was her official family card. She estimates her losses at almost Rp 1 billion, which includes her house.
Laisa is just one of many Chinese-Indonesians living in the displaced persons camps for Chinese-Indonesians organized by the Tolong Menolong Organization.
Tjhin Tjhung Mauw, head of the organization, which organizes people in the camp, said many people were still afraid to return to Aceh.
Another person staying at the camp, 39-year-old Nurmala, said she would return to Banda Aceh once the city had been cleaned up.
"My family and I dare not return while there are still corpses in the street. We don't want to get sick," said Nurmala, whose family all survived the disaster.
Tjhin Tjhung Mauw said 7,000 Chinese-Indonesian refugees, mostly from Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, fled to Medan.
He estimated that the number of Chinese-Indonesians who died in the disaster stood at 500 in Banda Aceh, and 20 percent of the 500 Chinese-Indonesians in Meulaboh. He added that some 200 Chinese-Indonesians who remained in Aceh were not affected by the disaster.
In the camp, the situation is not getting better. In the last few days, many of the refugees had started to suffer from fever and diarrhea.
The organization's 28 by eight meter building has been transformed into a makeshift hospital to treat refugees. Many volunteers, including foreigners, were around to help.
Previously, the refugees slept in the building. Now, they are sleeping on a 40 meter by 16 meter open-air basketball court at the back of the building, with a thick tarpaulin serving as a roof.
In this field, the refugees conduct all of their activities, from cooking, to storing their aid and sleeping.
Here, they are given treatment -- massage and Chinese herbs -- by the volunteers.
Martin Chang, a volunteer from Hong Kong, was not a massage expert but could help relieve the pain of older people in need.
"I've been working here for eight days now. Although I am no expert, I'm glad I can help," the 24-year-old man told the Post on Thursday.
The employee of a cafe in Hong Kong voluntarily came to Medan to lend a helping hand to refugees.
Concerned about the refugees health, Tjhin Tjhung Mauw hoped the government would set up a decent camp for the refugees.
"As you can see, this place is not suitable for them to live in. The government should quickly relocate them because if they stay here, I cannot afford to take care of all their needs," he said.
As for Laisa, she said that she and her husband would eventually return to Banda Aceh and start all over again.
"When the evacuation and cleanup are completed, and there are no more corpses in sight, we'll go back to Banda Aceh because we don't have any relatives here."