Corona Widows Uplifting

Chapter 1. Prologue

After only three years serving as a general practitioner at a hospital in Gorontalo City, Jesia Amsyani finally got a transfer at her own request to work elsewhere. This time, he had to work in a more challenging and certainly very devoted atmosphere.

Positioned as the head of the Puskesmas in a remote village, in a mountainous area where even cars cannot pass, it is very difficult for motorbikes to pass because they have to go through rocky and potholed roads. The terrain is indeed very difficult. There is a river that must be crossed with a wooden bridge that looks fragile. The telecommunication and electricity networks in this village cannot even be enjoyed adequately in this village called Suri Tani.

And although it is rarely visited by government officials, this village, which often experiences flooding when it rains, is a village that supports the largest food needs, such as rice and various types of horticultural crops and fruit.

Unfortunately, in this village there are not a few people from outside who do illegal logging. They transported the forest logs through rivers that emptied into other villages, then smuggled them to a number of outside areas using trucks that had been prepared on land. Surprisingly, the residents of Suri Tani Village, who are almost one hundred percent engaged in agriculture, do not dare to speak up, let alone reprimand the perpetrators of illegal logging to stop illegal logging in the forest.

Initially, Doctor Jesia, who had just served as the Head of the Puskesmas in the village, did not want to bother with the illegal logging activities. He is only determined and tries to provide the best service for the villagers through the Puskesmas he leads. Moreover, Salman Bino, as the Head of Suri Tani Village, did not react at all, and seemed not to care about the actions of the illegal logging actors that had been going on in his village for years.

Doctor Jesia started thinking about finding a way to stop illegal deforestation. Namely, when many people receive complaints of health problems from residents who suffer from diseases related to forest ecological damage, such as Dengue Fever, Malaria, Elefantiasis (Elephant Foot), Schistosomiasis, HIV/AIDS. There are even residents in the village who have contracted the corona virus.

Doctor Jesia's first effort was to conduct socialization by providing understanding to residents about the importance of protecting the environment, including forests. He explained that the relationship between human health and tropical forests has a very close and inseparable relationship because it is influenced by various factors, including diet, poverty, climate change, and land use activities.

As a general practitioner, Jesia is well aware that tropical forests affect human health, both those living inside and outside the forest. Therefore, every resident who takes the time to check their health at Puskesmas, doctor Jesia always provides understanding and invites them to have a great awareness of the existence of the forest. Because of how important the forest as a provider of food, medicine and even fuel for millions of people.

Not only residents, doctor Jesia also often visits the residence of the Suri Tani Village Head, Salman Bino. Not to ask why illegal logging in this village is so liberal, but he's just trying to invite everyone to work together to fight illegal logging. Because the impact is very fatal for the environment and also for the health of living things, especially humans.

“If deforestation can really be done wisely, it will be very capable of bringing improvements and benefits to human life. For example, cutting down trees in the forest into productive fields or gardens. However, if deforestation is carried out in a wild and reckless manner, besides causing environmental problems, it will certainly cause the loss of natural food and trigger the spread of disease. Diseases originating from outside the forest area can enter the forest because they are brought by outsiders, so they have a serious impact on people's lives, especially people around the forest.”

Doctor Jesia's words made Salman Bino silent and nodded with a smile, but with empty eyes he looked at Doctor Jesia. And whenever doctor Jesia came to him, the village head, who was about 50 years old, was always accompanied by his wife, who was clearly cruel. There is no idea, let alone a solution, that Salman Bino can come up with other than just being able to say, " Yes, yes, yes, we will condition that."

Not only dissatisfied, Salman Bino's answer of course, also confused him. So that provoked Jesia's mind to pursue various assumptions about the figure of Salman Bino, who seemed very indifferent to illegal logging activities in his village.

"What does Salman have to do with that...? Ah, never mind!" Doctor Jesia stopped the thoughts that were starting to appear in her mind.

And since then, Jesia's doctor began to limit himself to no longer deliberately seeing Salman, let alone inviting him to communicate and exchange ideas, in order to discuss with people from various outside areas who are free to enter and cut wood in Suri Tani Village. Doctor Jesia was annoyed and seemed to be forced to choose silence all day by pretending not to think about the dying conditions that were happening in her work area.

However, Jesia's doctor secretly tried to approach one of the nurses at Puskesmas. Her name is Selmi Yusuf. Doctor Jesia hopes that through Selmi, who is also the head of the youth organization in this village, the problem of illegal logging which has the potential to bring disease outbreaks, including Covid-19, can be slowly resolved.

Selmi is a country girl, about 27 years old. She graduated from the nursing academy and is now helping Jesia's doctor at Puskesmas. Selmi is now an orphan. His father died about eight years ago from malaria. And his mother finally died at the end of March 2020, strongly suspected of being positive for Covid-19. It is still conjecture, because before and after her death, Selmi's mother did not have time to do a Swab Test using the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method, because it was constrained by the very remote condition of the village.

Knowing Selmi's condition, Jesia's doctor also felt that Selmi was the right person to inspire the community together. Namely, to fight the behavior of those involved in illegal logging activities. And Jesia's doctor could not stay silent, let alone allow the destruction of the forest in this village. Because, apart from being able to bring havoc and disaster, illegal logging is also certain to only invite the emergence of many diseases.

Therefore, Doctor Jesia also hopes that after working on Puskesmas, every time he doesn't go directly to his rented house, but must stop by Selmi's house to discuss and work together to find ways so that the residents of Suri Tani Village are protected from various diseases that arise due to illegal logging. And countless weeks later, Jesia's doctor finally carried out his plan.

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Selmi, who had just been combing her niece's hair in the room, was suddenly startled by the sound of someone greeting them with a knock behind the front door of the house. He followed his nephew into the living room. But Selmi did not immediately open the door. She first looked at the window. Selmi was even more surprised when she saw that the guest on the terrace of her house was her boss, doctor Jesia Amsyani.

While rushing to open the door, Selmi wondered what made Jesia's doctor want to come to her house. But before getting an answer to his prediction, Jesia's doctor greeted him first.

"Hey, Selmi. You might be surprised, but don't be like Corona, okay!" said doctor Jesia with a big smile.

"Ah... Doc, you can. Have a seat, ma'am!" Selmi returned the greeting with a smile while holding her niece, but the little girl's cheeks were immediately grabbed and pinched sweetly by Jesia.

That afternoon, smoke rose from the kitchen of the house at the end of one of the country roads. Beside it is a clear swamp overgrown with kale, and in the front yard there are a number of flowers whose petals have bloomed. On the walls of the living room there are also a number of photo frames that are neatly arranged. It is very visible if the health and cleanliness of the house is very well maintained.

Doctor Jesia cast her eyes around the house. Doctor Jesia's gaze seemed to be filled with many questions. Seeing that, Selmi then seemed to wet her lips with her tongue and started to speak first.

He also revealed his story to the doctor Jesia. That in this house is the house left by his parents. Selmi lives accompanied by Warno, Selmi's older brother. Warno brought his wife and two 5-year-old children, and a 7-year-old girl to this small semi-permanent house. The goal is to keep sharing and looking after each other in the midst of difficult conditions during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

After hearing Selmi's story, Jesia's doctor then suddenly stepped into one of the walls of the living room, where a number of photos were neatly and neatly displayed in a wooden frame. However, before Jesia could ask about the figure in the photo, Warno and his wife, Yanti, greeted them from the terrace when they entered the house door. The two of them had just arrived from the post office in a neighboring village to collect the pension of their late mother Selmi, who had been an elementary school teacher all her life.

As usual, whenever Selmi's friends came to visit, Warno and Yanti just greeted her by placing their palms on their chests, then smiling while bowing slightly as a sign of respect. After that, they immediately said goodbye to the kitchen so as not to interfere with Selmi's conversation with her guests. But this time, Selmi stopped Warno and Yanti from rushing to the kitchen.

"Sis Warno, Sis Yanti. This is the doctor Jesia that Selmi told me yesterday, the head of the Puskesmas in our village."

Spontaneously, Warno and Yanti were shocked. They did not expect that Jesia's doctor would stop by her house, even though it had thatched walls.

"Sorry, Mrs. Doctor. I thought Mrs. Doctor, Selmi's college friend, was at the Akper. Sorry again, Mrs. Doc. This is what our house looks like, small, half wall and half grass," said Warno as he hurriedly sat in the living room, then asked Yanti to brew a drink.

"I just want coffee. If you have one, ma'am!" said doctor Jesia lejit, trying to make the atmosphere relaxed, while looking at Selmi and Warno's always smiling faces.

Not long after, the drinks were brought by Yanti, then served on an oval-shaped board table wrapped in a green carpet. Then, Yanti immediately sat down to join the four of them, accompanying her husband. Selmi and Yanti looked at each other as if they couldn't wait for Doctor Jesia to reveal the purpose of her coming to the house.

Seeing Selmi and Yanti's antics, Jesia's doctor finally tells them the purpose of visiting their house.

"I am very concerned about the community's disease which is generally caused by forest destruction, namely through illegal logging activities freely without anyone daring to stop it," said doctor Jesia, who began to express his concern for the condition of Suritani Village.

“If this continues, then not only all of us in this village, but at the same time, many people in the timber receiving areas will also be affected. That is a disaster that is not only natural, but will also trigger the emergence of many disease outbreaks. So we and the villagers must be able to stop it before it all perishes and becomes a victim.”

Just when Doctor Jesia wanted to continue his disclosure and description of the conditions in Suri Tani Village, Warno suddenly stood up from his chair and hurriedly closed the doors and windows of his house, even though it was not yet dark. So Jesia's doctor immediately felt that there was a strangeness and mystery that was tightly wrapped.

Warno returned to his seat. And while looking at the face of his sister, Selmi, Warno then lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. Smoke billowed from his mouth and nose, like a painting with a million meanings.

Slowly, Warno began to speak in a low tone. He told the story of the resistance carried out by the residents of Suri Tani Village eight years ago, and Warno admitted to supporting the front line of the residents' resistance movement.

Eight years ago, in Warno's story, the situation and conditions are still similar to what is happening today. Namely, illegal logging activities on an area of ​​thousands of hectares, most of which are teak trees. And every time it is cut down, it is immediately replanted by replanting new teak seedlings.

While correcting his sitting position, Warno took a sip of his drink and then looked at Jesia's doctor. He then continued his story. That movement was in the form of demonstrations which were carried out in succession many times. Residents demand and strongly urge the village head to immediately stop illegal logging activities. The reason is, since the illegal logging of timber trees was allowed, mosquitoes in the forest and other insects eventually moved to residential areas. As a result, at that time, not a few people were suffering from malaria.

“Including our father, whose life could not be saved because the facilities and medicines at Puskesmas were never adequate. It is very difficult to be referred to a hospital located in the capital district. The two available public cars can only carry passengers at the village border, because they cannot pass on the bridge which is only for pedestrians and two-wheeled vehicles. The two passenger cars do not operate every day, only scheduled on Mondays and Thursdays. So our father breathed his last."

Doctors Jesia and Selmi were sad to hear Warno's story. Meanwhile, Yanti also seemed unable to hide her sadness with teary eyes. Holding her youngest child, Yanti took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Selmi was even seen holding her breath several times, as if she was holding back a million burdens, bitterness, horror, and pain that had gathered and fused in the cavity of the spirit, but were torn apart in helplessness.

Warno stood up from his chair again, then took 4-5 steps towards the old wooden cupboard which was located at the end of the boundary between the living room and kitchen. He opened one of the cupboard doors whose glass was cracked and had to be plastered. When trying to open the cupboard door, it seems to be stuck so it makes a rusty hinge sound.

Doctors Jesia, Selmi and Yanti's gazes were all fixed on Warno, who was still standing in front of the cupboard, busy unraveling the layers of paper on the red folder. Until accidentally, suddenly, the folder slipped from his hand, then the papers were scattered on the casting floor. But at the same time, Warno only took a few photos, while the others were left lying on the floor, then stood back up in front of the guest table.

"These are photos of the demonstration eight years ago. This is the first day, this is the second and also the third day," said Warno, while showing the photos on the table to Doctor Jesia.

The photos were deliberately not displayed on the wall with frames, because according to Warno, they could be taken anywhere to be shown to anyone who felt it was important to know about the demonstration.

“The fourth day of demonstrations, which were planned to be held again the next day, failed. This is because the field coordinator and all orators, including myself, were picked up by a number of police after sunset. We were all interrogated at the police station and were not allowed to go home 3 times in 24 hours, because we were accused of being provocateurs and allegedly trying to harass the holders of the rights to Industrial Plantation Forests (IFP or HTI). However, after investigation, the government never issued a HTI permit. My question is, who gives freedom to illegal loggers?” Warno said as he returned to the front of the cupboard to pick up the scattered papers on the floor.

Warno's question again made Jesia's doctor even more suspicious of someone as the culprit. Doctor Jesia continued to look at the photos in her hands, and shook her head.

"Then how was the result of the demonstration, Warno?" asked the doctor Jesia, holding out his hand to return the photos to Warno.

“Silenced, as if nothing had happened, as if there was no problem with illegal logging in this village. And once there were several students from Suri Tani Village who studied at universities outside the region, once again bringing them up with the village head. But there is no result, among students who question it, after graduating suddenly wearing formal clothes and working in the village office."

Warno also admitted that he was surprised by the news of the demonstration until it was known by residents in several neighboring villages. Even during the interrogation, there were a number of journalists who had time to confirm the authorities and the village head. However, until now, not a single sentence has appeared in the mass media regarding the pressure or demands of the residents of Suri Tani Village. Worse yet, those who were involved in demonstrations at that time with their families often experienced difficulties when they had to process documents at the village office.

“That is also the reason Selmi, my sister, and all residents in this village must think and consider carefully if they have to bring up and ask about illegal logging again. So we apologize if, at this time, we can't act against them. Because the force to be faced in this matter is far greater than one can imagine."

Hearing Warno's explanation and confession, Jesia's joint muscles felt weak. But he tried to hide the pessimism that was starting to gnaw at his mind by pointing his index finger in front of Warno, Selmi and Yanti while saying, “No, no, no. Don't be afraid, God exists. We have to be stronger and not give up."

At the same time, Jesia's doctor got up and asked to say goodbye. But he didn't forget to take a sip of coffee in the cold cup on the table. And Selmi couldn't say anything, other than she could only nod her head.

Arriving at his rented house that night, Jesia's doctor felt increasingly overwhelmed with high anxiety. Moreover, the attitude of the village head, Salman Bino, who looked strange and indifferent to the very concerning conditions in Suri Tani Village, made it clearer for Jesia's doctor to see the threat of danger and disaster in front of his eyes. Meanwhile, to dispel this catastrophe, Doctor Jesia certainly really needs friends who can help fight and stop the freedom of the perpetrators of illegal logging.

Doctor Jesia really felt alone without being accompanied by anyone. His mind was blank, but his heart continued to express his determination and prayer that God would soon bring someone who could accompany him to fight against the criminals who destroyed the earth.

"But, I don't know who it is, God?!" whispered the heart of doctor Jesia, who was sitting hunched over, as her hands tugged at her shoulder-length hair.

That night, doctor Jesia's eyes were very difficult to close. All the stories that Warno told this afternoon made his heart beat fast, his optimism was really at war with the shadow of pessimism. He went to open the window and took a breath, then looked up at the sky. Up there, there were a number of stars flanking the pale moon, as pale as Doctor Jesia's face.

Then, suddenly she imagined the face of Syarif Sabrino, her husband who recently passed away, about two months ago with a positive verdict of Corona Virus Disease-2019 (Covid-19). He felt a very painful sadness like a thorn stuck in the pores of his heart. In such a mental condition, Jesia's doctor drifted away by reminiscing about the early journey of being together with her husband during her life, until fate brought her to this remote village.