Houses Destroyed by NTT Earthquake: One Family Forced to Live in Pigsty
Tears could not be held back by Seriani Wati Mengo as she recounted her family’s fate following the earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The house, built with the fruits of a decade of migrant labour, has been levelled to the ground.
Alongside her husband and three children, the resident of Kampung Nara, Wancang Hamlet, Cibal District, Manggarai Regency, is now forced to occupy a former pigsty as their only place of refuge. Standing in front of the narrow structure that once housed pigs, Seriani described the heavy burden of fate that has fallen upon their small family.
“Previously, this was a pigsty; now we have made it our home. Our house is severely damaged, and there is nowhere else to go,” she told reporters on Monday.
Seriani’s family had briefly joined an evacuation centre. However, seeing that the conditions at the centre were still very emergency-level, dusty, prone to rain, and uninhabitable, they chose to return to their home grounds and utilise the pigsty, which had been repaired makeshiftly.
“We were at the evacuation centre, but it was not yet decent. We were afraid of the rain and there was too much dust. In the end, we chose to repair the pigsty and live here,” she said.
Life is becoming increasingly desperate. As farmers and weavers, Seriani and her husband, Siprianus Baeng, can no longer carry out their normal activities. Meanwhile, the needs for food and school fees for their three children must still be met. The stock of government rice aid they previously received is now down to just three kilograms.
“The remaining rice from the aid is only three kilos. We cannot work, even though we need to eat. We need rice, medicine, and clean water, not to mention the children’s school fees,” she expressed with anxiety.
Their greatest concern is not just about food. The eldest child is in the third year of senior high school, the second is in the second year of junior high school, and the youngest is six years old. Amidst the ruins of their home, their educational future is under threat.
“We are wondering how we will continue to school the children if we no longer even have a house.”
The collapsed house was no ordinary building. It was the result of a ten-year struggle working in Kalimantan, saving slowly to return and build a shelter in their home village. All of that was destroyed in a matter of seconds.
“We migrated to Kalimantan for ten years just to build this house. But in an instant, the earthquake came and everything was destroyed. The saddest part is that now we are living in a pigsty and a chicken coop,” Seriani said while sobbing.
Amidst the limitations and grief, one hope remains: that the government will intervene to see their actual condition and provide assistance to rebuild the home taken by the disaster.
“We hope the government can see our situation directly. We hope there is assistance to renovate our severely damaged house,” she hoped.