Juwai becomes 'father' to villagers after tsunami

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Lhok Nga, Aceh

Juwai squinted into the horizon as he talked about family members who died in the Dec. 26 tsunami.

"We will always remember those who have died but we must help the survivors face tomorrow," he said as he stood beside an empty 100-square-meter plot of land where his house used to stand in the coastal town of Lhok Nga in Aceh.

The dark-skinned villager whose face conceals deep pain, repeated the words once more.

Lowering his voice, he said: "Those words were whispered to me almost every day by foreign volunteers who came here to help us in Aceh. They lifted my spirit."

Around him the scene is like something from a disaster movie, a testament to the utter destruction wrought by the earthquake and tsunami. The entire coastal village of Deah Baru, where Juwai lived, had been razed. The shattered frames of a few houses were all that was standing.

Destruction and ruin were the only scene as far as the eye could see. It was as if an atomic bomb had been dropped here. A few tents and some makeshift wooden houses belonging to non- governmental organizations were the only signs of life in the devastated village.

Juwai is just one of more than 450,000 survivors of the tsunami who are now without homes. Six months have passed and there is some hope that he will get his house rebuilt, thanks to help from Oxfam and other NGOs such as World Vision.

Recovering from the shock and depression of the disaster was not easy, he said.

"It took a long time before I could overcome my deep sorrow. I am indebted to those kind foreigners who rekindled my spirit through their words," said Juwai, taking a deep breath.

He stepped aside as a group of people passed along the narrow alley where he was standing. "Are you working on your house today?" the man who appeared to be the leader in the group asked.

"Yes, sir, I am," replied Juwai.

"What is important is to teach others how to build a house," the man said.

"Yes, sir, I'll do that," Juwai replied respectfully.

The man who had just passed was former minister of mines and energy Kuntoro Mangkusubroto. As head of the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Executive Agency, Kuntoro is the most senior official overseeing reconstruction efforts in Aceh.

"He was the first government official who came here," Juwai said. "As a government official myself, I feel ashamed that so few government officials visited."

Juwai is the former village head of Deah Baru in Meraksa district. He said he lost his father, mother and three children in the tsunami. Only he and his wife survived.

"My name is Juwai but I am known here as Pak John. I agreed two months ago to a suggestion from fellow villagers that I resume as village head."

About half of the residents of Deah Baru were fishermen, but Juwai was a civil servant.

"I have already retired from the local public works office," he said. "That is why I was willing to become village head again."

There is another reason. "Why did God allow me to live even though I am already old? Maybe I have a mission to accomplish. Yes, I may have lost all of my children, but I can become the father to the hundreds of villagers here."

"I will devote the rest of my life to them."