Sunday, May 17, 2020

WOMAN OF ASMAT

WOMAN OF ASMAT
(The Picture of Life’s  Dimension)
CHAPTER 2
Being Healthy, Pregnant, and Practicing Family Planning
For Asmat Woman



 



Asmat people believe that those exist on the earth in the very first time were some things which consist of many materials such as trees and animals. For Asmat people, those thing which exists in the first time were trees including ucu --banyan tree-- and pas –some kind of wood called by local people ’ironwood-- Both kinds of the trees considered as the physical appearance of two ‘old mama’ which are called Ucukamoraot, the banyan tree’s spirit and Paskamaraot, the’ironwood’ spirit. Because those mamas were born by the mother earth, then woman of Asmat considered as sacred creatures called ‘cesar or teser’3). With the cultural background, Asmat people view woman as eram, white magic drawing fertility and power. This point of view opposed to the argument of that woman are life resources for men and children. Therefore, the men who have a good understanding of the cultural view of Asmat would have been raising their wife’s, or commonly, woman’s position. Woman also have the strength of, in Asmat’s language –bu ambop—

Besides of being considered as eram, woman also are called cem aman juri, meaning that women are the dogs that will always guard their master and intercept against enemy attacking their master. In other words, women are warders ar shields for men in blocking the enemies or breaking the challenged. In Asmat’s mythology, dogs are considered as a kind of animal carrying the flames foe man or kokoputs. Kokoputs is the form of the elder’s spirit who gives warmth and life to the human race. It resembles women, who give warmth, caring attention, and life for the family.

Moreover, Asmat’s traditional view gives credit to women as beyor and ir beyor. Beyor is parrot, and ir is white cockatoo. Those birds are the symbol of an elder’s existence. So in Asmaat’s carving, there is also a pattern of cockatoo’s beak and the bird’s fur is used as some kind of crown in the local party. Asmat’s tradition finally put women in apposition of taar, red wild lily which is beautiful. The wild lily appears as the personification of the elder,s spirit which, in Asmat women are not only considered physically beautiful,  but also spiritually beautiful, just like taar. The Asmat’s traditional symbolization shows how women act as the most important life principle of Asmat people, which represents balance, the balance between the relationship of human, human – nature, and of human – the ancient spirit.

The  Asmat’s cultural view, according to the statement, is very of nobility. Such a view immediately raises women to the top of honour. If the noble view is not only a myth that spreads accidentally over a generation, then the women’s position in the structure of the tradition would be greatly noble. It is an assurance that Asmat women’s life has been without crushing turbulence. However, what has actually happened to those women?

Mothers cry when they are telling stories about their violent husbands in family life. They're some of the wives, tortured to death, burned, beaten by axe or roar, fastened and given no foods, forbidden of going out of the house without the husband’s guard. There is even a midwife of the village who has to give her salary to the husband monthly is she does not, then she will be beaten to feel pain.

Asmat women are like ‘burdened horses’, said the women. The life’s complication carried by the women is to munch hard. Anatomical structure of women which is equipped with uterus makes possible for fertile women who have married, to be pregnant, giving suck, and taking care of the children. That women’s part could not be replaced with any parts of men, such fact cannot be avoided. Instead of that, women still have to make fish-catcher, make mats, make noken, catch fish, and catch shrimp in net, cami ci –collect sago alone, uwur ken –collect sago together with the men and help them cut trees to make canoes.

In the tribal parties, women have to duty to support and encourage the husbands and also guarantee all of the feeding needs. In politic issues, women make the effect of giving power to the men in empowering the traditional position in the village. The kinship structure in Asmat society refers to matrilineal – mother’s lining reference. If a village gives many women to another village’s men to marry, then the marriage will weaken the woman’s village.

On the there is view saying that, if a village gives their women to another village’s men to marry, then the women’s village will be stronger? Matrilineal causes the children of the sisters to be more important than their own children. Women who were born from a warlord, which were called ces akan, will get a quite significant position, especially, if they have good leading behaviour.

Women’s social participation and the view of it show that women’s existence is not about to be underestimated. However, Asmat women are still ‘burdened horse’, no matter how great their participation is,  fortunately, at times, they could ever run away from that complication, though the less complicated exit is only death. Mother’s health is the next rising problem after the ‘burdened horse’ thing. That problem is soon followed by another serious problem for children’s health. The mother’s and children’s health is a major complication which is not easy to solve. In this case, health does not come alone. Directly or indirectly, health is closely related to the tribal tradition, life’s philosophy, fact, and history.

Every pregnant mother has the tendency of being in dangerous pregnancy. In the state of pregnancy, giving birth, and giving birth, and supposed to work heavily for the sake of their selves and their babies. Therefore, in socially uncivilized community, women should be at home that they can take care of their pregnancy. Meanwhile, men go hunting animals in a group called band. That men’s ability in hunting to make living for their family is physical, that they are used to working hard, the thing that women cannot do, had grown superiority. At the same time, women, dealing with the risk to face when pregnancy, giving birth, and giving suck, are considered to be pitiful creatures. The psychological bond and the moral responsibility that are about to face, almost in solitude, are very heavy burdens.

History goes to the more civilized society, women do not simply be responsible for the reproduction, but more than that. The opportunity to obtain the higher education level and proper jobs available at the later time, make women could possibly make a living after the reproduction. The equivalence of right between men and women has been stiffly serious problem which, for years, many sides are struggling for, in many ways. The expression of that women are weak should considerably by reformed.

But history goes very slow in Asmat area. Some complicated factors, such as centralized development, living environment preventing the society from a a healthy life, limited infrastructure, forest-centred dependence as a strategy of preserving life, stopped bottom-up planning, and graft-collusion-nepotism cause the equivalence of men-women to be stuck. In hundred years after Kartini’s struggling on emancipation, Asmat women are still ‘burdened horses’, and living signs to break this circumstance seem to be vague.

Asmat women, who are the poorest party troubled by this life, do not fully understand where the misery comes from. The parents especially, have they ever talked about, that the most beautiful moments in life are when they are already together with the men they chose last very briefly. After the men paid them with sago and the traditional marriages happen in puberty time, that dazzling life was over then. The passionate moments when the couple were dying to live together, slowly fade away. Asmat girls are naturally beautiful, with no make-up and expensive accessories, particularly in party time when they adorn their selves with awer and full colour make up on face. The beauty charms and excites. But all charms are gone soon after the wedding makes the women carry all burdens in life, especially to fulfil the needs of consumption.

Permanent job is not something owned by the husband as the head of household, they could not afford to give their wives some money to purchase some daily foods. For that reason, every wife should work hard collecting sago and fishing so that the needs to eat every day are completed. They also have to row boats to look for firewood and slice them with their outmost so that the smoke of the hearth blows. They cannot run away from those, for it may mean that husband’s party would count on their muscle to hit. Women’s body is not equipped with strong muscles, that is why they will never win as they have to face their husbands punching each other. In this particular case, women only have two choices, making all efforts to feed the family or beaten every day, and they choose the first one.

Hard-working is obligatory for the wives to complete even when they are pregnant. Resting time after birth never exists. After the babies born, the mothers should go back to work so that all feeding needs do not trouble the families. The husband's lack of understanding about the family planning program –KB—on mother’s and children’s health, affects the time gap of the birth is hard to control. In a short time after birth, another pregnancy follows. An Asmat fertile women would give 5 to 10 birds and the half of the children die in the early growing time caused by some kinds od disease, especially respiratory disease, malaria, diarrhoea, and dysentery. It happens once that a husband kicked hid pregnant wife’s stomach, so that the baby inside was born-dead, unfortunately, her placenta was left inside. Meanwhile, the pregnant mothers who are treated unfairly by their husbands, then they would not survive together with the babies born or they would be dead together with the babies. So far, death is always considered dealing with the spirit’s interaction or with the people’s “bikin obat” black magic or voodoo. All kinds of illness, bad nutrition, and unhealthy living pattern are the last to be considered as the causes of his death. That, results in the difficulty of getting the disease rid away. The sufferers or their family tend to believe traditional methods or psychics with carrying a chicken. Women and children suffer from the more complicated risks, because of such beliefs.

After getting married, the young ladies looking beautiful and attractively fresh, in a  little while, get changed soon into old mama with black teeth caused by the mixture for chewing betel. Mother’s bad health and wrong medication affects negatively to their physical beauty. It is usual that a couple looks old, it does not matter if the husbands will look for other young ladies to make them new wives or mistresses who will live together with the old wives. The women’s misery lasts continually then, as if there is no end of it.


***


It  has not been long that the second millennium extends, when word finishing massively celebrating with all kinds of attraction that can be watched on television as a marvellous broadcasting, here on a muddy island whose mobility is so much dependent to ship’s arrival, so that its arrival would be welcomed happily and busily, as if it is a national guest, and when the ship gets on the dogs has always been the cause of the area’s isolation, while a long queue of passengers could not possibly be served by the Merpati’s –one of the aviation company in Indonesia—schedule which is badly determined by the weather, something has happened.

A middle-aged woman, who lives in the village of Syuru which is the closest Asmat village to the district's office, suddenly bleeds with some sharp pain around the uterus, she never knows what happens until a relative brings her to the local health centre to get some medication. That woman has shaved her hair entirely to show grieve of her parent death4). The dry skin or her face starts and her sturdy body is wrapped whatever-it-is-cloth. She is trying still to survive by the last remnants of her.

The head of KIA –a department in the local health centre dealing with the health of women and their children—takes her to the dealing with the health of women and their children—takes her to the VK –bearing room—to receive the next treatment. The blood is flowing out infiltrating through a few pieces of clothes where she lies on. Finally, there comes a baby to be who is only four months old. The very young age of pregnancy, without preparation and plan, causes the baby to be born in very poor condition with no movement, which is supposed to be the sign of life. That woman goes very surprise. She has lost a fetus without knowing before about the pregnancy. As the other Asmat women, that women should work hard to make a living for her entire family. For four months, she experienced late menstruation, however, the abnormality of the monthly cycle seems to be forgotten because of her living burden. In the very late moment, she finally realizes that she, unfortunately, loses an innocent baby.

The fetus has formed a human that looks like a little doll completely equipped with a head, legs, arm, and full body. That little doll lies on the bunch of clothes bespattered with blood. The poor little baby, who has no power, does not receive any kind of responsibility from the parents who are really responsible. Is there any wish of the baby to be born as a human before the right time?

The head midwife should do some curate to clean the placenta torn with only flash-lighting. There is no proper electrical spotlight to help the midwife do her job well in providing health for mothers and children, so that the best impossible lighting is only maintained from the flashlight. Meanwhile, the husband does not appear at all. Without any advice from the head midwife, the poor woman must immediately have gone back home to do her routines. Therefore, advice must be given. Rest is very important for the pregnant women who have an abortion. Whatever the situation is, she deserves to get the appropriate health security. That woman has had ten pregnancies; eight of those are succeeded normally, two pregnancies have been aborted, and four born babies died after the birth. The eleventh fetus, which has not been nine months old, is aborted and unknown. There is not even one teardrop. No teardrop. But, is there any mother who is willing to lose her child? Abortion is surely painful.

The woman has two days to rest in order to recover from the abortion, and then she has to go back to her daily routines. Her life must go on, so she has to make all of her efforts to work. The mother’s and the children’s health is not more important than eating. Until now, Asmat women do not have many choices to decrease birth, for the sake of mother’s and children’s health, is not yet rooted in living. If the understanding of how significant to have not been necessary. Likewise, previous death does not have to happen. Advice about the necessity of having a family plan should again be given to avoid the possible abortion. There would be women who would make the choice, whether they would accept it as a solution or not. After such concerning cycles, birth by birth, death by death, and abortion by abortion, pregnancy can be dangerous for the mother’s and the children’s health someday.

Two weeks before the case above, an Asmat woman has given birth to a premature baby of eight months. Hard-working, bad nutrition, and dense bearing gap were the factors causing the premature birth following malaria which was a trigger of that. The baby’s father who is an employee of a local health centre, has never encouraged his wife to have the family planning program after the seventh birth. The premature baby is the eighth child, born after the three older brothers died. The unreadiness of the mother to have a pregnancy caused her to have no time to go to VK to get some medication. The doctor followed by the head midwife in hurry walked on the torn wooden bridge to give the help for the mother and the child equipped with whatever available.

In quite a short time, the premature baby had arrived in VK and was carried by the midwife, wrapped in a sheet of a blanket. The unfortunate mother was still lying down in her house because of the birth and the malaria. There was many thing could do to a premature baby, except handing over to the doctor ant the head midwife to receive later medication. The doctor was still bathed in sweat when suggesting to the head midwife to give an injection of vitamin K to stop the bleeding. That poor baby did not react to the injection. He was simply quiet and breathed difficultly because of the incomplete lungs. The weight’s needle headed into the number of 1,4 kg when the baby was put on the weight. This number is under the normal one. The normal weight of a healthy baby just born about 2,5 – 3,5 kg. the incubator light was off. In this district, electricity is only turned on between 18.00 and 24.00 of the local timing, out of the time gap, it is turned off and dark, similar to the common village. The premature baby was supposed to be rayed in incubator to normalize the weight. However, the local electrification state company has not given such security yet. After the blanket had gone dirty, the premature baby was wrapped only in a piece of fabric to cover the baby from cold air. The baby’s father came there a little long after calming the mother down, bringing with three sets of new clothes. The head midwife wore the clothes on the baby well and gave the baby to the father’s guidance. The number of the midwives officially having the duty in the district’s area is only, which is surely not enough to be 24-hours guardians, so that the family members should give a favour directly in that premature birth. The doctor and the midwives simply do not more than supervising until the premature baby could be brought home.

Similar to abortion, premature birth is also an effect of bad mother health, gender problem, hard-working, and the lack of knowledge about the family planning program. That problem always trouble the mother and the children born then. As the conflagration in July 2001 happened, an Asmat woman died after giving the ninth birth in bevak. The living condition in the middle of the jungle is not supportive of a pregnant mother going to give a healthy birth. The placenta is left in the uterus three days after birth, bleeding happens. The initiative to come to a midwife is immediately done when the mother’s condition has gone critical. In the night the conflagration happened. Mrs partus died. An unequivocal hit must be taken by several responsible sides, directly or indirectly, definity God does have the power in life and death of someone. But if the mother continually took her self for examination as of someone. But if the mother continually took her self for examination as the day of birth is determined with the willing to get a midwife’s assistance, the lives must have been preserved. However, Asmat’s circumstance does not provide that kind of possibility.

Asmat’s area is not an appropriate place for a pregnant mother, Mrs. Partus and children’s health. The long-distance between a village to another village and the minimum prosperity. Which negatively affect to mother’s and children's health are the hard to solve complexity. As an addition, the distance between the district’s office and the regency’s is a major problem possible to solve with the white boat sailing route. When the white boat docks for one month and a half, the mobility and all problems that can be solved with the existing boat would be temporarily forgotten.

In August 29th 2001, a baby born with a flaw of not having anus filed to fly by plane to Merauke because the age of the baby was too young to go along on the passenger seat. The pilot could not take any risk. The baby should have been received a doctor’s treatment so that he would not suffer from the flaw, having a normal biological sewage system, so that he would not wast organically through the little hole on the crotch, difficultly. The baby’s family should be patient reluctantly to wait for another contact. Finally, the parents brought the baby to Timika on a wooden boat days later.

Meanwhile, a baby was born in death, as he was born without skin on the stomach, so that the intestines scattered out. He only live for a few hours before the death. There is not enough equipment and expert to run for such case, so the birth has gone fatal. Another baby was born with a flaw of having the feet bent downward, a genetic heritage from the parent. An older brother of the baby, who is nine years old, is flawed like his father too.

The local health centre could only advise the parents to bring their baby to a special doctor in Merauke. However, the effort as advised is a very hard task for the family which has no permanent income. No one knows what happens to the poor baby then.

Pregnancy and birth are natural phenomena for Asmat women after a marriage. They never know when should be pregnant and when should not. Counting how children they have does trouble them. That usually happens when a mother comes to check-up her pregnancy. She  would have counted with fingers when a midwife asks, “How many times did you have been pregnant?” She would think a while, and answered quietly, “it is the ninth, six of them did not succeed”. Another mother said that she was pregnant for the tenth or four tenth times, and four of them did not succeed. It is pathetic that a woman could not answer quickly how many children she has, while reproduction is the hardest process she could ever experience in life.

From the facts above, it is very significant that “nation” or “government” to give some explanation to Asmat people so that they would care for the healthy life of their own. Seminar on the health, building of local health centre and the existence of health expert are needed massively to help the people take care of their family’s health. Such efforts have been pioneered for years but still, women of Asmat are living in patriarchy. This environment means that women have to work hard to make a living for their family, even if the work is really out of their ability’s reach, and the husbands never pay attention to that circumstance.

At the same time, the facilities provided by the “nation” to heal the society are also limited. The equipment in the local health centre is incomplete, incubator does not work maximally when the electricity is off, moreover, the issues related to the human resources. The local midwives always complain because the salary has been received late. The local doctors are also unoccupied all time, because of other obligation the level of district, regency, and province. With no doctors existence, people go reluctant to go for medication. There is also a threat of the thought that medics have failed to give medical bits of help, which is also cannot be put aside. It seems that ‘nation’ should more wisely react to the very complicated health problems in this area.


***


An “acceptor’ of the program of family planning from the village of Syuru asked a certificate of KB Lestari – a certificate to appreciate a citizen having the family planning program for a certain period – to the midwife in KIA –a division in the local health centre dealing with the health of mothers and children—because she has been actively participating as an ‘acceptor’ for about five years. The certificate was not immediately received by her, the officer on the family planning program should propose it to the office of BKKBN –the department dealing with the issues on the family’s prosperity including reproduction—Merauke regency. After a certain time, the ‘acceptor’ came again to the KIA to check-up her fifth pregnancy, and ask, “Am I still available to accept the certificate of KB Lestari?”

The question was answered when a sheet of a certificate, with the signature of The Demographical State Minister and The Head of BKKBN and the Governor of Irian Jaya, is on her hand. With the certificate, the acceptor could be an example for the fertile young couple in her area. After giving a birth, the acceptor used the program again consuming Exluton pill which affects the user without interrupting the smoothness of the mother’s milk.

The acceptor in the story above is one of 823 PUS –fertile aged couples, in the Asmat area, which have had the program to ménage the time gap of the birth. The number of PUS in Agats district is 1144. The number of the acceptor is 163 in August 2001 using the birth control methods of MOW –women’s medical operation by cutting the sperm way, permanent—IUD –Intra Uterine Device—used by putting it in the uterus, pills, injection and condoms. In Asmat tribal community, the KB acceptors tend to be in small number though socialization of it has spread over there since 1980.

Most of the acceptors in Agats are outsiders. From 321 PUSs, about 50% of the number or 148 PUS are the acceptors who need to manage their pregnancy or who want no children anymore. They hope, as thinning out pregnancy and limiting children’s number, that they would be more prosperous. So far, the PUS in Asmat society have not had enough excitement to run the program of family planning, the participation just start beginning. There is an authorized mother in agats, she refuses to run the family planning program after two failure in using injection and Phils. The mother has given birth ten times with no problems at all.

Every behaviour must contain risks, including as someone decided to run the family planning program, then she should be tolerant to such possibilities. The program methods which are usually done are injection and pills. How about other methods? Vasectomy and Tubectomy are not possible in Agats because of the limited medical service. Implant method is not preferred because it requires a small operation which is considered ‘scary’ by Asmat women. IUD is not also preferred because of stories told about the methods, such as IUD’s failure which affects pregnancy. At the time of partus, the particular acceptor would be infected because of the sticky IUD. Another kind of story rises among them that the baby born with the IUD stuck on the head. Condom, even is familiar, husbands are not positively active to this KB device. Basically, injection and pill are the contraceptives which are already familiar among Asmat women and so far, only fifteen women using those. Although, those kinds of contraception affect badly to the menstruation cycle and cause light bleeding, headache, sickness, and overweight. As an addition, pills often end with failure because acceptors, at times, forget to consume them before sleeping.

There comes a perception, in Asmat society, that the family planning program is a government’s which benefits the officers. If in the duty area their many acceptors participating in the program, then the target is fulfilled and the officers responsible in the program will get point of credit to gain promotion of the higher level in their carrier. The perception makes the society feel like being victims. When the acceptors are required to pay the medical bill for KB, the acceptors refuse. Contraception are provided by the government for Asmat people, without any cost.

***
3) The statement was spoken by Carola Biakai, the head of the Gender’s Efficiency Akat Cepes, in the workshop on women’s efficiency held on May 18th – 21st, 2000 
4) There is habitual action done by the local women of Papua when the closer relative dies. They show their sorrow through mutilation, of a light kind or extreme kind of mutilation, such as shaving their head bald or even cutting their tip of the fingers by a knife or a dagger.


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