Outside an asbestos-roofed shack in East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), 62-year-old Valeria Panu eats a bowl of plain rice.

“Three times a day I eat [only] rice. I eat corn, sweet potato or vegetables only during harvest seasons. Or fish if I’m fortunate enough to have enough money to buy it,” said Valeria, who survives on money from her children, aside from occasional cocoa harvest revenue that amounts to around Rp 1.25 million (US$88.87) per year.

Nearby, Tobias Akut, 65 years old, lives in a ramshackle bamboo house with an asbestos roof that looks ready to collapse in a mountainous plantation area of East Manggarai. Tobias, his wife and nine children sometimes get handouts of rice from neighbors and family members, otherwise they eat cassava or corn stockpiled from their previous year’s harvest.

“I collect firewood for sale, working on a plantation area owned by someone else. I take care of the land owned by someone in Ranakolong village,” said Tobias, explaining the ways he scrambles to make ends meet.

Thousands of kilometers away from Valeria and Tobias, in Kasang Pudak village, Muarojambi regency, Jambi, 8-year-old Amat, not his real name, was recently taken to Raden Mattaher Hospital in Jambi city, suffering from malnutrition.

At 9 kilograms, Amat’s weight is equivalent to an average healthy one-year-old baby. His bones are clearly visible through his skin. Jambi Health Agency head Samsiran Halim said malnourished children usually also had other illnesses such as tuberculosis, cerebral palsy or congenital disorders such as Down’s syndrome and respiratory problems from birth.

Valeria Panu, 65, carries a plate of rice for her child in Pong Ruan village, East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, on Nov. 8. (JP/Markus Makur)