Wawasa residents struggle against poverty, malaria

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Wawasa

Despite the scorching sun, eight-year-old Ratima was shivering. She appeared weak and her eyes did not shine with anticipation, as other children's do when they greet visitors.

Ratima has had malaria for over two months. She is not the only one in her family who is sick. Her four siblings and her parents have malaria.

"I'm hungry," Ratima said.

It was not that she had lost her appetite due to the disease; the truth is there was no food in the house, not a single grain of rice.

Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu visited on Saturday Wawasa hamlet in Amaresekaru village in the easternmost part of Seram Island -- which is the biggest island in Maluku province -- to distribute food aid.

Starvation and malaria have claimed 22 lives in Wawasa.

"We go hungry because there is no food left," sighed one man, Hakim, holding his daughter tight.

Many residents with malaria have been too sick to work and have survived until now on dwindling supplies of dried fish and cassava.

"At this time of day, people would usually be busy in their kitchens. But no smoke billows out of these kitchens," Hakim said.

The hamlet has no hospital or community health center and when people get sick transportation becomes a serious issue.

To reach the Amarsekaru community health center -- which only has two health workers -- Wawasa residents have to travel by katinting (motorized boat) for two to three hours, depending on the weather. The boat fare is Rp 10,000, which is a lot for a person who earns Rp 100,000 a month.

In addition, residents' drinking water comes from a source two kilometers away from the hamlet, which they reach by foot.

Many residents also have to share their houses.

Ratima's eight-square-meter house, which is occupied by three families, is poorly lit as the hamlet is without electricity.

The house, like others in the neighborhood, has poor ventilation and a rudimentary drainage system.

Maluku Health Agency head Christian Siahaya said the people were poorly nourished and could not fight the disease.

"Their immune systems are weak -- it is very dangerous," Christian said.

Nowadays, Ratima spends most of her time at home, leaving the house only for medical treatment at a makeshift post nearby.

Ratima's father, Hakim Keliata, is a fisherman, but fierce weather and his sickness means the 49-year-old cannot work, though he would do anything to ease his daughter's suffering.