Interview by Jeff Hammand
with Dolfi
Tentena, Central Sulawesi, November 21, 2001
Conducted in English

Dolfi: My name is Dolfi Monding, I live in the village of Tanamawau, county of Tojo. On May 2000, the Moslem people attack us, and then we leave our village and came to Tentena and became refugees there. We cannot live more in our village because the Moslem people will kill us. And in the middle of September 2001, this year, the Moslem people burnt all our houses, and our church, our school there. And we can not go back home again, because everyday they watch, if they see us there, they will kill us. So now we still live in Tentena in a small hut. And we live in there with a very, very difficult place. We live now in a hut, you know, because it's a very bad place I think, and it's not a decent place to live in. And many of the refugees now just do for living, farming, plant the corn, rice, the product is not enough I think, and we sometimes we cannot eat fish, because in here it's very expensive of a fish, and also we want to go to buy clothes and our other needs, we don't have enough money, because we don't have more ... what's that? A job. We just hope for the government and the others help us. But the government is only give not enough, the rice and the other needs are very, very a little amount, and it's not enough for us.

J: In the past, what is your occupation? What is your profession?

Dolfi: Ok, before I became refugee in small town in Tentena, I'm an English instructor. I teach English at the town of Poso, and then everything, they already, our classroom, and our furniture and tools, all our tools for a practicing English, have already gone. They burnt everything. And then, now, for me, I came to Tentena also, and I give the training for the English conversation for the students, help the citizen. And lot of the refugees also follow this program. And I got little salary for that.

J: And in Poso, did you have a nice home in Poso?

Dolfi: At Poso, .... I can say that, a nice home.

J: Is your home still there, or has it been burnt down?

Dolfi: I think everything has gone, burnt.

J: So, do you find living conditions in the refugee camp here is very hard?

Dolfi: Pardon?

J: How do you find living conditions in the refugee camp here in Tentena....

Dolfi: Oh, yes, we live in the very difficult place.

J: So it's difficult?

Dolfi: Yeah, we feel that, ... difficult. And we meet, we don't know for the future, how many years more we will live like this.

J: So you find that the food is not enough, are there many problems with disease and maybe showers, bathing?

Dolfi: Yeah, for the bathing we just go to the river because beside our place, or refugees, there is a river there, but sometimes the river is not clean, because the rain come, and the river is not good for bathing, or take the water. And the water also is not clean. And sometimes many refugees got stomach ache, and the other diseases is come from that water. And also the toilet. And lot of refugees now have the sickness, disease, we don't know what is that but we don't have enough money to go to the hospital to buy medicine for them. I can see that helper from all the churches in the world can help us in here. Beside for the food and our accommodation, our ...what is that... the security also, because until now the Moslem people still just press us. And we hope all the members, the Christian churches in the world can help us, help the refugees here. So we can together find the happiness in Christ.

J: We have heard that the laskar jihad want to make a December a bloody month. They plan to attack and to destroy. Does this make the refugees scared?

Dolfi: Yes, we think, we can say that we afraid about that issues, lots of thousands of jihad, they are already at Poso now, and still waiting the command on December want to attack us and want to destroy also Tentena. So, about that we just... what is that, pray to God and hope God also will help us. Because jihad is not more the power than God we think. But also we still start preparing ourself to face that issue, may be if it will happened or not, we don't know, we just pray to God to help us also.

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