Two
months after the devastating earthquake, which struck the ancient
Indonesian city of Yogyakarta on 27 May, the island of Java
continues to be rocked by seismic activity.
On 17 July, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast
of southern Java causing a tsunami wave, which killed 637 people
and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. That tremor
was followed by other quakes near the islands of Sulawesi and
Bali.
The Indonesian Red Cross, known locally as PMI, responded immediately
following the Java tsunami, providing medical assistance, food,
drinking water and emergency shelter to thousands of people
in southern Java.
Meanwhile, about 200 kilometers away in Yogyakarta, PMI says
the race is now on to build sturdier shelters for the survivors
of that disaster, which left 5,800 people dead and an estimated
1.17 million homeless.
The distribution of tents and tarpaulins by the Indonesian Red
Cross, with the support of the International Federation, along
with other aid agencies, is expected to meet most of the survivors’
immediate shelter needs by August.
But PMI worries that these types of makeshift shelters won’t
hold up under the coming monsoon rains, which are only a matter
of weeks away. What’s more, the wet conditions are likely
to increase the risk of illness among survivors, including respiratory
disease, malaria and dengue fever, which are endemic to the
region.
In response to the threat, the local Red Cross is working to
ensure that families are well prepared to cope with the challenges
of the monsoon by supporting a community purchasing initiative
to be carried out through a traditional neighbourhood self-help
system called “gotong royong”.
The idea is simple: vulnerable communities are asked to identify
their most critical needs, including building materials and
tools, and in turn, PMI provides them with the financial and
technical assistance needed to start rebuilding.
This innovative pilot project, which is supported by the International
Federation and volunteers from local universities, aims to direct
help to those who need it most – people still living in
tents and tarpaulins and those still sleeping under the stars.
The university volunteers will also provide support and advice
on how to make a safe shelter and clear rubble away safely.
The goal is to help get 17,000 families under safe cover –
for example, by constructing a safe and dry room from the remains
of a destroyed home – before the rains hit in September.
“For the students and lecturers, this is part of the education
process,” says Dr Slamet Sarwono, President of Atma Jaya
University. “Here, we have a chance to exercise the right
side of the brain to learn empathy and ethics.”
In mid-July, teams of volunteer undergraduates trained by PMI
carried out in-depth assessments of the needs of vulnerable
communities in the sub-district of Dlingo and Gantiwarno in
the quake-ravaged area of Klaten. In total, they will cover
23 communities in the coming weeks.
One of the 120 student volunteers taking part in the initiative
is Mbak Novi, who comes from Bantul – one of the towns
hardest hit by the tremor.
“My brother passed away in the earthquake, so I myself
was affected by it,” she says.
Mbak will be one of the volunteers camping out in the villages
around Yogyakarta, collecting information on how many families
are in need of support to strengthen or reinforce their current
emergency shelters before the monsoon.
Once this “mapping process” is complete, communities
will chose a person to represent them financially and money
will be paid directly into a community bank account. Financial
reporting will be assisted by the university students and local
PMI volunteers.
Those resources will then be divided up by the communities themselves
to help the most vulnerable families. Financial transparency
will also be ensured via notice boards, detailing how much money
has gone into which accounts and how many shelters have been
improved.
This type of early recovery programme is also culturally consistent
with local customs and coping mechanisms, which rely on neighbours
and friends to help each other out.
“The process is empowering and allows communities to take
the lead in deciding what resources they need for themselves,”
says Bill Marsden, the International Federation’s early
recovery advisor in Java.
“This community-led approach, which sees people purchase
local materials and work together on reconstruction, also helps
survivors come to terms better with their losses,” he
adds.
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Retrieved
from the rubble: a family’s worldly goods in Gantiwarno.
(p14325)
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This
father in Gantiwarno says he wants to make sure his family
will have a safe, dry room to sleep in when the rains
come. (p14324)
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A
tent provided by the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies is pitched on the site where
a family house once stood in Gantiwarno. (p14323)
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University
volunteers are trained in clearing away rubble and safely
constructing shelters by the Indonesian Red Cross. (p14326)
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