By Shenny Fierdha

BALI, Indonesia

Refugees fleeing the threat of Bali’s erupting Mount Agung remain in evacuation camps, packed with hundreds of local residents plus their meagre belongings spread over the cold, hard floors.

For many, the comfort of safety and being together with family is small solace in trying times. With Mt. Agung billowing in the background, Wayan Pundo, 36, welcomed a new addition to his family amid the uncertainty of living at the Desa Sibetan shelter in Karangasem.

His wife, Wayan Wentan, 27, gave birth to a baby girl at the busy evacuation center about a month ago, not long after they were urged to leave their home.

“We evacuated close to her due date. A week after we settled in, she complained of stomach cramps,” Pundo recalls.

He quickly alerted the volunteers at the shelter who escorted Wentan to a nearby hospital, where she proceeded to have a natural birth.

“The baby was born weighing 2.7 kilograms. We only spent a day at the hospital and went back to the camp the next day,” Pundo said.

They named their second daughter Kadek Tantri Wulandari -- ‘Tantri’ taken from the first village they were evacuated to, Banjar Mantri.

Pundo said he will reveal the meaning behind her name when the baby is old enough to understand.

Health concerns among evacuees

To make ends meet while he is cut off from his home and livelihood, Pundo has been taking up odd jobs in several construction sites near the evacuation center. Wentan brings in some cash by weaving small banana-leaf baskets and selling them for the religious to use as offering trays.

Pundo says their joint earnings have kept the family afloat. Although they, along with thousands of other families, have left their homes for close to two months, Pundo is happy to be here.

“My whole family is here with me. What is important is that we are all safe,” he says, gratefully.

Health problems persist in the Desa Sibetan shelters and across the others. Baby Tantri, for example, has not received her scheduled vaccine shot.

Commissioner Ni Luh Suwardini from the Bali police suggested the family go to the nearest community health clinic and request for a health worker to vaccinate the baby.

Besides the mandatory shot, Suwardini also worries about what impact the volcanic ash will have on the baby and other young shelter residents.

“I feel bad for the baby. This evacuation center is sometimes enveloped in ash, although it is not too thick,” she says, while brushing off dust from some leaves.