In bare feet with mud between his toes, Mark Pukim walks back and forth over the bodies of his relatives, who were buried under rubble in Papua New Guinea's remote highlands.
His shoulders buckle beneath the weight of a 20 kilogram bag of rice and sweat glistens on his forehead in the hot midday sun as he walks about 100 metres from one side of the landslide to the other.
He's made this journey dozens of times today.
Mr Pukim is one of the human "taxis" transporting essential supplies destined for the town of Porgera, about 90 minutes away from his village in Enga Province.
On May 28, the side of an enormous mountain gave way, killing more than 160 people in the Mulitaka district and cutting off the only road into Porgera.
For more than two months, the only way to get food, medicine and other supplies to Porgera has been to carry them by foot over the landslide.
Local men, including Mr Pukim, provide this service at a cost.
"We are acting as taxis. We help people travelling in and out of Porgera with their bags," he tells the ABC, his voice straining under the weight on his shoulders.
The fee for one 20kg bag of rice is about $8.
Mr Pukim denies rumours the "taxis" are forcing people who want to cross the landslip to utilise their service and charging them exorbitant fees.
"Those are lies, we don't force them to pay us. They give us the money themselves," he says.
Cut off for months
But there are concerns the ongoing road closure is creating a cost-of-living emergency in Porgera, which is home to about 100,000 people.
"It's a humanitarian crisis," says Kenneth Andrew, who is tasked with coordinating the provincial government's disaster response at Mulitaka.
"People [in Porgera] depend entirely on store food, store goods. And that's a crisis situation with the main supply route cut off for almost two months now."
The added cost of transporting goods across the landslide, and then by bus on either side, has caused the price of food and essential items in Porgera to spike.
Rice – a staple food for people in the town – was more than double the normal cost at its peak since the landslide.
'We go to sleep hungry'
With six children to feed, Betty Angai has been really feeling the pinch.
"There are times we don't have food and we go to sleep hungry," she says.
Working as a cleaner at the recently reopened Porgera Gold Mine, Ms Angai earns just under $200 per fortnight.
It was difficult to make ends meet even before prices went up.
Now, she says, every day is a struggle.
"I buy a rice bag, a noodles carton and a half carton of tinned fish and the money is finished," she says.
"I can only provide breakfast for the children to go to school, but no lunch."
Classrooms empty, teachers leave
Across the district, school attendance has reportedly dropped by more than 60 per cent.
Deputy principal administrator Johannes Oberth said the decline was largely due to the hike in bus fares and food prices.
He says teaching staff have also been impacted, with some leaving the area for jobs in other towns.
"The prices of goods are just too much for [the] budget that we normally have … public servants are finding it very, very difficult to survive," Mr Oberth says.
"It is going to affect our academic excellence."
With final exams coming up, grade 12 student Gilton Bilson is feeling anxious.
He's a diligent student who wants to study economics at university, but he's missed multiple lessons this semester and often comes to school without any food – making it difficult to concentrate.
"I'm really worried about my life, about the exam that is coming," he says.
Reconnecting the town
Residents say the solution is building a bypass road that reconnects Porgera with other major towns and supply centres in the area.
"The government needs to come quickly and assess the situation and then come up with plans," Mr Oberth said.
"Firstly, to get the road opened up quickly so that the prices of goods can come back to normal."
Mr Andrew said it was a priority for the provincial government, with the 5km stretch of road half completed.
"In the next two to three weeks, we should connect and we should make sure light trucks are reaching the other side," he told ABC two weeks ago.
But the road is still not finished and workers have reportedly not been paid, causing halts to construction.
The provincial government has not responded to the ABC's request for comment.
Living in tents
Mr Andrew said his team was also focused on trying to relocate survivors in the landslide area who've been unable to return to their homes.
Many are still living in makeshift tents provided by aid donors.
A care centre set up directly after the disaster has now been deemed unsafe due to the risk of further landslides.
While temporary resettlement options have been offered, many survivors are afraid to move to other areas due to the risk of tribal disputes.
"They're conscious of the existing law and order issues," Mr Andrew said.
"Cultural issues, conflicts … movement of people from their place to other people's places is not really free."
He said the provincial government wanted to eventually turn the Mulitaka area into a proper town, with planned roads, modern houses and a monument to those killed in the landslide.
"The [aid] contributions have been massive. We want to turn that into something [the community] will see into the future," he said.
