Jakarta big flood begets thousands malnourished babies

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Her mother tried to cajole her, but the emaciated six-month- old baby girl showed almost no response. She just lay quietly on the floor -- too quiet for a baby of her age.

Rina, the baby, who only weighs six kilograms, is a victim of the flood that paralyzed almost all parts of the city recently.

Along with her parents, she became an evacuee for over two weeks when her home by the Ciliwung river in Kampung Melayu area, East Jakarta, was submerged during the flood.

Her mother, Weni, acknowledged that she fed Rina with the same food she ate as there was not sufficient food for the baby.

"I received milk for Rina once from a health post, but that was it. I then gave Rina sweet tea since I was unable to produce breast milk," she said.

She continues to feed her the same menu as she cannot afford to buy nutritious food for her baby.

"Milk and baby cereal with milk is too expensive. We can't afford that now; we lost almost everything during the flood," Weni told The Jakarta Post, adding that her daughter could already eat food eaten by adults.

Before the flood, Weni, a seamstress, was able to give Rina some nutritious food such as milk porridge, egg and sometimes chicken. Since the flood damaged her sewing machine, she could no longer earn additional income.

Weni and her husband, a car washer, have spent their remaining money to repair their house which was damaged by the flood.

"It's not easy to feed her. Perhaps she is bored with the menu," Weni said, saying that she usually fed her daughter rice, instant noodles and tempeh.

Her neighborhood in the Kampung Melayu area, East Jakarta, was inundated on Tuesday morning. The water level reached 50 centimeters. Her home, luckily, was not flooded.

Another baby victim, Didit, looked better than Rina but was still malnourished. The four-month-old flood victim weighs five kilograms although her mother, Supriyanti, feeds him with mashed rice and gravy.

On Tuesday, Didit's lunch consisted of a ladle of mashed rice plus several spoonfuls of gravy made from an instant noodle sachet. Supriyanti looked happy when Didit finished his lunch.

"I know he should eat baby cereal but it's enough for him as he always eats the food I make. Didit is a good boy," she told the Post proudly, saying that her son was not sick during the recent floods although many other babies were.

Supriyanti and her family live near Krukut river in Perniagaan market area. They stayed in a shelter for more than two weeks when the floods hit the area three weeks ago.

In the temporary shelter, Supriyanti fed Didit mashed rice from a ready-to-eat package given by the subdistrict office as there were no meals provided specially for babies.

After they returned home, Supriyanti continued to feed Didit mashed rice or rice porridge. Before the floods, Supriyanti gave him banana, milk porridge and breast milk.

"We don't have money to buy baby cereal any longer. The flood swept away some of my housewares, furniture and food supplies," Supriyanti said.

After the floods, Supriyanti could no longer breast-feed Didit as she was unable to produce breast milk.

Her husband, a contract worker, has started to work, though the money he earned was not enough to feed the whole family. The couple have two children, Didit and his four-year-old sister.

Up until now, they still rely on assistance from the subdistrict office. The assistance consists of two kilograms of rice, five packs of instant noodles and a small bottle of cooking oil.

"Sometimes I give him rice porridge and soup gravy, as an alternative. The most important thing is that Didit can eat three times a day," she said, adding that she bought the soup if her husband gave her some money.

Supriyati, an elementary school graduate, admitted that she had no idea about nutrition.

"My son is fat enough; it means he is healthy," she said.

Rina and Didit are two flood victims among 20,000 other babies across the city who are facing hunger due to the limited supply of baby food provided for flood victims.

Data from the Mental Guidance and Social Affairs Agency revealed that 20,000 of 26,000 babies were suffering from malnutrition due to the recent flood.

Only 6,000 of them have received baby porridge with milk as there is insufficient food for babies. Serious malnutrition could harm the development of an infant's mind and body.

Following the recent floods, many babies are suffering from diarrhea, which has claimed the lives of dozen of infants around the city.

More than 380,000 people were affected by the worst flood in the history of the city recently.