Leaving Semarang coast, frontline of environmental breakdown: Day 45 of my no-fly trip Italy-PNG

Описание: Kristi lives in a shack near a bridge on the coast of Semarang, in northern Java, Indonesia. That “near” is a world of difference.
“Every time it rains, my house gets flooded. It would be much better if I could build my house under the bridge, like my neighbors.” In reality, her neighbor pays the local “gangster” twice as much as she does. Here, too, the law and supply and demand reign supreme. This makes me realize that the gap in the lives of low-income people is huge (calling them “poor” seems disrespectful). It doesn't take much to make a difference when needs exceed means.

In her home, Krist has the luxury of a television, made possible by some kind of connection to the power grid. She has just returned to this area, near her birthplace, after traveling across the country as a street singer. Now she has set up a massage center in her small home. When a client arrives, there is just enough space to roll out a mattress on the floor. The floods are incessant. Sometimes the water reaches her neck. Yet Kristi never stops smiling during our conversation. I ask her if she knows why the floods are so intense. She replies that it is simply the way it is. She has no idea that this is not a natural phenomenon, but is entirely due to human activity: the subsidence of the ground due to the overexploitation of aquifers and the rise in sea level caused by global warming, which in turn is caused by our excessive consumption of fossil fuels. It is clear to me that the first manifestation of inequality is a lack of knowledge about the root causes of climate change.
I leave the area with mixed feelings of sadness, because I know that in the short to medium term, the situation for these people can only get worse. Perhaps even in the long term. But I am also moved by their kindness and strength in the face of adversity.