Kisah Lala dari Sittwe Burma | The Lala Story From Sittwe Burma

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Kedua kaki kecil itu melangkah pelan di atas kerikil tajam di halaman shelter pengungsi Rohingya di Gampong Blang Adoe, Kecamatan Kuta Makmur, Aceh Utara. Wajahnya tampak meringis ketika beberapa kali menahan sakit. Satu ember berukuran sedang yang diisi penuh air, membuat tumpuan di kakinya kian berat. Sengatan matahari yang cukup terik, semakin menambah penderitaan bocah kecil ini.

Saya mematung sembari menatap lekat ke arah tubuhnya yang hitam. Bulir bulir keringat memenuhi kening dan wajahnya. Beberapa menit saya nyaris tak bergerak. Di pikiran saya, muncul rasa kagum, takjub dan simpati yang begitu besar pada anak perempuan itu.

Baru setelah sadar, bahwa dia mulai tak sanggup membawa beban dengan kaki telanjang, saya setengah berlari menghampirinya. Wajahnya tersenyum indah, ketika saya berujar “Biar mamu yang bawakan.” Kata mamu berarti paman dalam bahasa Rohingya. Gigi putihnya yang berbaris rapi semakin membuat anak ini terlihat manis. Saya pun kemudian mengambil alih ember hitam dari kedua tangannya yang telah diisi penuh air.

Lalame namanya. Ia menempati shelter Blok K nomor 12 bersama ibunya Dolly yang sedang hamil tua. Ayahnya di Burma, juga tinggal di salah satu kamp pengungsi di negara bagian Sittwe. Lala, begitu nama panggilan kecilnya sehari-hari merupakan anak yang rajin. Hampir setiap kali saya melihatnya di depan shelter, Ia kerap sedang melakukan sesuatu untuk membantu ibunya. Kadang Ia mengangkut air untuk ibunya cuci piring atau mandi. Di waktu yang lain saya melihat Ia mengumpulkan ranting kayu di sekitar areal shelter. Kayu kayu kering itu dibawa pulang untuk kayu bakar.

Meskipun di shelter ada dapur umum yang menyediakan nasi, ikan dan sayur untuk para pengungsi, tapi banyak di antara mereka yang memilih memasak sendiri. Para pengungsi sepertinya tidak selera dengan menu yang disajikan dari dapur umum, karena rasanya tidak seperti masakan mereka sendiri. Orang-orang Rohingya memiliki masakan yang hampir semuanya sangat pedas. Semur jengkol dengan cabai rawit merupakan menu favorit di shelter.

Saya juga ingat, pada suatu sore Lala pernah sangat marah kepada beberapa temannya ketika seorang relawan menanyakan apakah Ia masih punya ayah? Saat itu, seorang anak laki-laki yang berusia dua tahun lebih tua darinya, mendahului menjawab bahwa ayah Lala sudah meninggal di Burma, dibunuh oleh warga mayoritas di sana. Lala kemudian dengan keras menjerit, “No.. no. Baba ada. Baba Burma ada”. Beberapa bulan kemudian, dia menemukan sebuah buku laporan kegiatan kemanusian Lembaga Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) di shelter Blang Adoe. Saat membuka halaman demi halaman, tak dinyana dia melihat foto ayahnya pada selembar foto pengungsi di salah satu kamp di Sittwe, Burma. Ia langsung memperlihatkan foto ayahnya itu pada seorang relawan.

“Sarama.. ini Baba. Lala Baba”. Wajahnya tampak bahagia. Ia tak menyangka bahwa di antara begitu banyak wajah dalam foto itu, ada ayahnya. Sejak saat itu, semua relawan meyakini bahwa ayahnya masih hidup. Teman-temannya juga dilarang untuk menyebarkan informasi bahwa ayah Lala telah lama meninggal di Burma. Karena itu keliru. Ibunya Lala, Dolly juga mengakui jika suaminya masih hidup dan kini menempati sebuah kamp penampuangan di Sittwe.

Wajah pria yang ditunjuk Lala sebagai ayahnya pada buku tersebut juga memiliki kemiripan dengan wajah Lala. Lembaga ACT memang pernah beberapa kali turun ke Sittwe untuk membantu warga Rohingya di sana. ACT juga membangun sebuah kamp penampungan bagi para pengungsi muslim ini. Namun pemerintah setempat tidak mengizinkan ACT dan lembaga NGO lainnya untuk membangun fasilitas hunian yang memadai. Bangunan yang diizinkan hanya sebatas berbahan bambu. Beginilah perlakuan pemerintah Burma terhadap warga etnis Rohingya. Mereka selalu diperlakukan sebagai warga kelas tiga.

Lala ini memang unik. Saat para pengungsi Rohingya baru terdampar di pesisir pantai Seunuddon dan kemudian ditempatkan di areal tempat pendaratan ikan Gampong Kuala Cangkoy, Kecamatan Lapang, Aceh Utara, ibunya dalam kondisi stres berat. Saat itu ibunya juga sedang hamil tiga bulan. Anak-anak pengungsi ketika itu meneriaki Dolly gila. Karena kondisi ibunya seperti itu, Lala seperti dibiarkan tanpa perhatian. Para relawanlah yang selalu menjaga dan merawatnya.

“Kami belum pulang dari lokasi penampungan, sampai kami pastikan Lala sudah tidur dengan nyenyak,” kata Zulkarnaen, salah seorang relawan Aksi Cepat Tanggap yang sudah ikut terlibat sejak tiga hari pengungsi Rohingya ini terdampar di Aceh Utara. Zul salah satu relawan yang mengikuti perkembangan Lala dan Dolly ibunya dari hari ke hari. Sampai hari ini. Ya sampai mereka kini sudah lebih dari tujuh bulan menetap di Aceh. Bahkan Dolly kini sudah melahirkan. Bayinya perempuan. Lala sangat gembira punya adik.

Bersambung ….

Note – ACT adalah sebuah lembaga kemanusiaan global yang bermarkas di Jakarta.

Tulisan ini ditulis pertengahan 2016.

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The two little legs stepped slowly over the sharp pebble in the Rohingya refugee shelter in Gampong Blang Adoe, Kuta Makmur subdistrict, North Aceh. His face looked grimaced when several times holding back pain. One medium-sized bucket filled with water, making the pedestal at his feet getting heavier. The heat of the sun is quite hot, increasing the suffering of this little boy. I stare while looking closely at his black body. Sweat-streaked ears filled his forehead and face. A few minutes I barely moved. In my mind, there was an awe, amazement and sympathy for the girl.

It was only when I realized that he was beginning to be incapable of carrying loads with bare feet, I half ran up to him. Her face smiled beautifully, when I said "Let me bring that." The word mamu means uncle in tongue. White teeth are lined up neatly make this child look cute. I then took over the black bucket from both hands that had been filled with water.

Lalame's name. He occupies the shelter of Block K number 12 with his mother who was pregnant. His father in Burma, also lives in one of the refugee camps in the state of Sittwe. Lala, so her nickname everyday is a diligent child. Almost every time I see him in front of a shelter, he is often doing something to help his mother. Sometimes he hauls water for his mother to wash dishes or take a bath. At another time I saw He collected twigs of wood around the shelter area. The dry wood was brought home for firewood.
Although there are public kitchens that provide rice, fish and vegetables to refugees, many in the shelter choose to cook themselves. The refugees do not seem to taste with the menu served from the soup kitchen, because it does not taste like their own cuisine. The Rohingyas have almost everything very spicy. Semur jengkol with cayenne pepper is a favorite menu in shelter.

I also remember, one afternoon Lala was very angry with some of her friends when a volunteer asked if she still had a father? At that time, a boy two years older than him, preceded answering that Lala's father had died in Burma, killed by the majority citizens there. Lala then loudly screamed, "No .. no. Baba is there. Baba Burma is there ". A few months later, he found a report on the humanitarian activities of the Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) Action Institute at the Blang Adoe shelter. As she opened the pages, she saw her father's photograph on a photo of a refugee in one of the camps in Sittwe, Burma. He immediately showed a picture of his father to a volunteer.

"Sarama .. this is Baba. Lala Baba ". Her face looked happy. He did not think that among so many faces in the photo, there was his father. Since then, all the volunteers believe that his father is still alive. His friends were also forbidden to spread the information that Lala's father had long died in Burma. Because it is wrong. His mother Lala, Dolly also admitted if her husband is still alive and now occupies a camp penampuangan in Sittwe.

The face of the man Lala designated as his father on the book also has a resemblance to Lala's face. The ACT institution has several times taken to Sittwe to help the Rohingyas there. ACT also built a shelter camp for these Muslim refugees. However, the local government does not allow ACT and other NGOs to build adequate shelter facilities. The only permitted buildings are limited to bamboo. This is how the Burmese government treats the Rohingyas. They are always treated as third class citizens.

This lala is unique. When the Rohingya refugees are newly stranded on the coast of Seunuddon and then placed in the landing area of ​​Gampong Kuala Cangkoy fish, Lapang Subdistrict, North Aceh, his mother is in a state of severe stress. At that time her mother was also three months pregnant. The refugee children were yelling at Dolly crazy. Because of her mother's condition like that, Lala is like being left without attention. Volunteers are always looking after and caring for her.

"We have not come home from the shelter, until we make sure Lala is sleeping well," said Zulkarnaen, one of the volunteers of Aksi Cepat Tanggap who has been involved since three days of Rohingya refugees was stranded in Aceh Utara. Zul was one of the volunteers who followed the development of his mother's Lala and Dolly day after day. To this day. Yes until they are now more than seven months settled in Aceh. Even Dolly has given birth now. The baby is a girl. Lala is very happy to have a sister.

to be continued …

Note - ACT is a global humanitarian agency based in Jakarta.

This story writen on midle of 2016.