Physical and mental torment

Some food has been provided by the regional government in a program funded by Lapindo, but this food service has become another source of discontent. Every day identical packages, consisting of rice, a bite-sized piece of fried fish and a morsel of cabbage, are provided by the Centre for Food Aid. As emergency food, the package is passable, but when the state of emergency has lasted for well over a year, the provision of such meagre meals is intolerable. A woman in the open air kitchen at Pasar Porong unwrapped a package of the food for us to see. ‘They provide the same food for everyone, from babies to the elderly,’ she explained. ‘Old people really need lots of vegetables. This kind of food is not nutritious. Not hygienic either. So we usually don’t eat it. We’d rather buy our own food and cook for ourselves.’

In an incident earlier last year, the food provided was found to be rotten. Since that time many of the women just dry the rice in the sun and then sell it for krupuk (rice crackers) or chicken food.

Three year old Hariyanto has undergone several operations for a    stomach hernia while living at the Pasar Porong refugee camp

Sickness is another ongoing problem for the refugees at Pasar Porong. Many residents suffer from chest problems and asthma, which they believe is caused by the pollution blown across the highway from the Lapindo site. Infant health is also a matter of concern. Three year old Hariyanto has undergone three operations to correct a hernia that he developed while living at Pasar Porong. Hariyanto’s mother claims that the food at the camp exacerbated his illness, pointing to his bloated stomach and its barbed wire-like scarring.

For many mud-flow victims, it is the mental scarring from the traumatic events of 2006 that will take longest to heal. On the afternoon of our visit an elderly refugee, Tahub, sat outside his tent, his empty eyes staring off into the distance. Inside the tent his wife was itchy and agitated. Ten, 20, 100 times a day she asks when they will return to their village. Even though she has seen the grey barren mud plain across the highway with her own two eyes she refuses to accept that her home lies beneath it. She is not the only one who suffers from post-traumatic stress. Several victims of the mud-flow have experienced nervous breakdowns and panic attacks. These mental health issues present a more difficult challenge to the refugee community in Pasar Porong. As long as they remain in the refuge, their lives are fraught with uncertainty.