Survivors take brave, first step toward new life (Part II)

Survivors take brave, first step toward new life (Part II)

Chisato Hara The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

The shelter settlement is located on the far end of Tingkeum next to a small stream and along the village's main road. A wide gravel pathway lined with potted plants leads up to the numbered shelters, and on each door is a pink placard indicating the head of household and their dependents who will live there. Roped, coconut-log "fences" painted white mark the boundary of the settlement, as well as cordon off the three village graveyards in the area.

There is a well in a rear corner of the settlement; on the opposite end are two "open-bottom" septic tanks buried in the ground and sealed with concrete -- one for "grey" water, such as dish- and laundry water, the other for "black" water, or sewage.

While bed mattresses were not part of the original shelter contract, IOM Banda Aceh received approval for their procurement from its Jakarta headquarters, purchased and delivered them within 24 hours after the families identified the need.

Even as the families move in, dozens of construction workers in IOM T-shirts, hardhats and rubber boots -- all recruited locally -- are busy building across the road. There, foundations for an additional 32 units have been excavated, another site for 55 units is being marked and laid out, and concrete panels and cement tiles are stacked. Another site slightly apart from the main settlement has been located for the remaining 11 units, so that all 107 IDP families in Tingkeum will be accommodated.

"It is essential that we maintain the cohesiveness of previous communities," said IOM Indonesia Mission head Stephen Cook during the symbolic handover ceremony that afternoon.

The families are visibly more relaxed as they sit together under a marquee erected for the event, and their faces emit a quiet radiance. The women have donned clean, white head-scarves for the occasion, and several IDP boys are playing in the vicinity with village children.

"I'm happy. Everyone is happy. My wife is happy," said Yatim, who is wearing a fresh shirt. Eddy seconds him: "We are happy beyond belief."

Cut Ayah is sitting with Rafdi, and his face is lit up by a smile. "We lost everything ... now I can be proud (as the head of a household). I have a house again, a place for my family to stay together. It is very important that we stay together, and now we can."

"I am so happy. We are all so happy. We have homes again. We are so grateful to the IOM, the regency head, the district head, the provincial government, the people of Tingkeum, the donors and everyone else who made this possible," said Ira after moving, then became uncharacteristically solemn.

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful in any way, but we still need jobs. We can't keep receiving donations for the rest of our lives. We can't continue to live on rations ... we want our children to have better lives than us. We want to live in dignity," she said, then burst into tears.

Two days later, the families have settled down somewhat in their new homes.

Samsinar, 41, lost her husband, a child and her only grandchild, and is living in a shelter with four surviving children and son-in-law Bahrum, whose younger brother is married to a Tingkeum villager. She has covered the concrete floor tiles with a vinyl sheet in a gay, green pattern, and has set up her kitchen with racks provided by Bahrum's in-laws in Tingkeum. Bahrum has found construction work in Banda Aceh and brings home salvaged wood and other recyclable material when he can.

"Today, someone gave us an old wardrobe they'd thrown out, so this place will look more like home." Just as Samsinar finishes speaking, a small rickety truck backs up outside with the wardrobe, and Bahrum hops down with fellow workers to unload it. "Come, come! I'll put on some tea."

Villager Salbia is visiting a shelter where her younger sister Fatimah's husband, 45-year-old Samsuddin, his mother Khatijah and eight nieces and nephews -- the youngest of whom is two years -- live. Fatimah, 35, and her eldest daughter Safrida, 19, were lost. Samsuddin, a farmer, is out working a field in Lhoknga, the same job he had before, and won't return until late in the evening.

One of Salbia's nephews, 17-year-old Julaidi, is one-half of a twin with niece Julaida. He has made some friends in the village, and is beaming: He must share a room with several siblings, but he is happy because he can sleep in a room again.

"We can remain a family," Salbia said. "But there's not enough water, no electricity. The children can't study at night ... if we only had a street lamp out front, it would make a difference."

The units are wired for electricity, but sourcing power is another matter -- not all houses in Tingkeum have electricity and who would pay the bills?

Certainly, conditions are not perfect, and the most common worry in the settlement is that there is not enough water. Due to the unusually high clay content of the soil, the well does not fill with water fast enough to keep up with the consumption rate of 75 people.

IOM water/sanitation engineer Rob Garlick has identified a location for a second well, and his team will break ground on it after the weekend. In the meantime, many residents are bathing at the house of a village relative and have set out plastic pails and buckets to collect rainwater -- just in case.

The high clay content also presents another challenge: the possibility of a slow ground absorption rate of residual liquid from the septic system. In anticipation, Garlick and his team are completing a back-up filtering mechanism to aid absorption -- a gravel pit designed to catch excess residual water from the grey water tank through a perforated pipe grid. As a further precaution, a second back-up system is being installed -- a run- off pipe from the gravel pit to the stream.

"It's a learning process ... and every site is different," said Garlick. The IOM has 708 other units in various stages of planning and development in Aceh Besar, and a total commitment of 11,000 units across the province.

As Cut Ayah said of his new house, "It is a start. A step at a time."

Meanwhile, Ira has placed woven mats on the floor, set up the kitchen and hung makeshift curtains in the windows, but she is a little out of sorts today -- Fayyath is being naughty and won't take his nap, she is trying to give Tasya her bath, and she wants to fold and store a pile of clothes that has arrived. Ma'ruf is out looking for work.

"Water is a problem," she sighed, a sleepy Tasya in her arms."We just have to be patient a little while longer." Then she added, "Please, come in. Won't you have some tea?"