Tobacco and coffee provide relief

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

A weary-eyed man sat inside his wet tent in the military complex in the Mata Ie area, Banda Aceh, as his daughter cuddled beside him. Smoke billowed from his thick cigarette while he sipped black coffee.

Close by, several men sit about making almost similar gestures: smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee.

"This feels good. It (smoking) somehow almost feels like eating, you know, and coffee is the drink. During the first few days after the tsunami it was tough to get cigarettes here, but fortunately, those days are over," 43-year-old Ilhamimi, who smokes two packs a day, told The Jakarta Post.

In many refugee settlements, men are commonly seen smoking heavily.

"Yes, men here really love smoking and drinking coffee. It's like a package. But smoking is like the 'main course' because they usually drink just a couple of glasses of coffee, but smoke almost half a pack of cigarettes in just a single visit," said Rosida, whose coffee shop is located across from the Al Faidzin camp in Lampeuneurut, Aceh Besar.

She said she could sell three cartons of mostly clove cigarettes and countless glasses of coffee every day.

With most men in the camp losing virtually everything to the tsunami, some nonetheless still manage to spare some of their very limited cash to buy cigarettes.

"I like smoking. And after what happened, things have become so stressful for me that in fact, I get a bit of relief from smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee," laughed 60-year-old Zainun, a refugee at the Al Faidzin settlement.

Some refugees are quite distressed that they do not have enough money to buy cigarettes.

"Is there any possibility that cigarettes be included in the relief aid?" quipped an Acehnese, Syafiie, with nods of agreement from those around him.

As if to confirm their strong attachment to smoking, a paper sign glued to a tree inside the TVRI compound now used as a refugee camp says: Perempuan butuh pembalut, pakaian dalam dan rok... ok -- originally meaning "women need sanitary napkins, underwear and skirts". Someone, no doubt male, had added "ok" after the word rok, changing the word skirt (rok) to cigarette (rokok).