Juwai becomes 'father' to villagers after tsunami

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."