The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Farmer, visited Yogyakarta and Central Java today and announced details of Australia’s Rp 204 billion earthquake rehabilitation program. This program brings total Australian funding to quake-hit areas to Rp 255 billion. The Ambassador examined progress at two Australian-funded emergency phase projects. He also met with the Governors of Yogyakarta and Central Java Provinces to discuss where Australian assistance could best be used. Australia provided Rp 52 billion for emergency assistance following the earthquake in areas such as emergency medical personnel and supplies, water and sanitation and shelter.

During the visit the Ambassador met with the Chairman of Muhammadiyah, Professor Dr Din Syamsuddin, and toured an Australian-funded Muhammadiyah project in Desa Blawong. Australia provided Muhammadiyah with Rp 6.8 billion for emergency phase assistance. The Ambassador said that Australia has valued partnering with Muhammadiyah on this emergency project and through Muhammadiyah’s hospital in Bantul, which served as a base for Australian doctors during the emergency phase. The Ambassador added that longer-term assistance was now required, and that the additional Rp 204 billion would support provincial governments’ reconstruction efforts, help restore local incomes and get children back to school in the worst affected districts.

“Important emergency and humanitarian work is continuing in Yogyakarta and Central Java, but Australian support is now focused on assistance to support reconstruction efforts, restore people’s incomes and repair and equip schools. We will employ local skilled labour on projects, which will have the dual benefit of re-establishing incomes and benefiting the wider community. Our assistance will also help communities prepare for future emergencies. For example, we will provide training in improved earthquake-resistant construction techniques. We look forward to working with existing partners to restore and rehabilitate buildings and services in the community,” the Ambassador said.

Australian Medics Assisting in Remote Areas of Bantul

A tent clinic staffed by Australian medics has provided welcome medical treatment to earthquake victims in Pundong village, Bantul District, Yogyakarta.  Since opening soon after the quake occurred, medics from the clinic have treated fractures and lacerations, and provided advice on child and maternal health needs and environmental health issues.  They have also dispensed anti -tetanus serum and antibiotics to people needing ongoing treatment for lacerations and infections.  Some patients have been transferred to nearby Ludira Husada Tama hospital for X-rays and operations.

Team member Linda Winn explained that “we established the clinic in that particular area because of the community primary health care needs, and we are supporting the transmission from emergency to early recovery under cooperation with local medical workers”. The clinic’s mobile teams travel to people unable to come to the clinic itself.   “We met some patients who were seriously ill, with dislocated bones, lying on the ground in their makeshift lean-tos,” team leader Dr Rob Edwards said during their visit to Dusun Ketandan Patalan, Desa Jentis, Bantul.

The clinic is a part of a 27-member medical team comprising surgeons, anaesthetists, operating staff, disaster medicine specialists and logisticians, led by a representative of Australia’s international aid agency AusAID. The Australian Government has committed AUD$7.5 million to assist quake victims.

Rebuilding after the Yogya Earthquake
written by Sam Huet, an Australian Volunteer currently working in Malang

Early on the morning of Saturday 27 May 2006, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale struck some 30km south of the historic city of Yogyakarta, in the centre of the main Indonesian island of Java, initially sparking fears of a tsunami, only 18 months after the devastating one in the Indian Ocean. Although this particular event did not happen, the earthquake represented Indonesia’s worst natural disaster since then, with the death toll now standing at almost 5,800, and with the number of homeless estimated at 150,000 (10,000 more than in Aceh after the tsunami of 26 December 2004).

The initial emergency and rescue phase in the affected areas has passed, and the main task ahead is now to provide a roof over the heads of the 150,000 homeless people, who for the most part are living in makeshift tents. The Indonesian government has promised to help, as have various international organisations, but rebuilding houses for all those affected is a huge task that will take many months, possibly years. In the meantime, the victims need temporary housing of a better standard than tarpaulin sheets. This will be especially important once the rainy season starts around October (this can vary slightly from year to year), leaving us with a short window of opportunity during which we can act.

The aim of this information page is to present a project undertaken by Community Development – Yayasan Suara Bakhti (CD-YSB) an Indonesian non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Yogyakarta (supported by a team of volunteers), in one particularly damaged village called Jembangan Pleret, in Bantul regency just south of Yogyakarta. The most important aspect of this project is that it is the people in the affected village themselves who are building their temporary homes. All this project aims to do is to help the villagers by providing know-how (with civil engineers and architects among the volunteers) and material (mostly corrugated iron, for which we are raising funds). CD-YSB will simply accompany and support the building process and will have mostly a consultant role; the actual building will be done in the spirit of gotong royong traditionally found in Javanese villages, and which translates roughly as 'community self-help'.

Another important aspect of this project is that most of the material used to build the temporary homes will be recycled from the damaged/destroyed houses. That is also why each family will remain independent in the design and building of their own temporary home: each family will have different needs and requirements, and they will be able to draw on varying amounts of resources (some families will therefore need more help than others). Evaluating the situation of every family will of course be done through the existing village organisations and authorities.

As an example, we have already carried out an evalutation, with professional help, of the amount of money needed to build one such temporary house. Bearing in mind that most of the material would be recycled from a destroyed building, 'filling the gap' to complete the house by providing mostly corrugated iron and nails (which is what the villagers have told us they need most) would cost approximately 70 euros. The initial aim is to provide 60 temporary homes in Jembagan Pleret, meaning a total cost of approximately 4200 euros; any extra funds left over after this objective is reached would of course be directed to surrounding villages that are facing a very similar situation.

CD-YSB is a well-established local NGO, founded in 1998. Over the years, it has used its core business as a language school to reach out to rural areas and marginal social groups within the community to provide educational support, including language training. Following the 27 May earthquake, CD-YSB has been particularly active in helping children in the affected areas who have lost their school buildings. CD-YSB have offered their support for the Jembangan Pleret temporary housing project, and their status as an official NGO in Indonesia means they can channel funds in an easy and transparent way.

Financial support to this project can be given through telegraphic bank transfers, with the following details:

Community Development – Yayasan Suara Bakti (CD-YSB)
Jalan Rajawali Gang Nuri 6
Demangan Baru
55281 DI YOGYAKARTA
INDONESIA

Bank account: Agus Soehardjono
A/C: 003-015-2232
PT Bank Negara Indonesia
Jalan Adisucipto 37, Yogyakarta
Switch code: BNINIDJAYGA

Comment: “Jembangan Reconstruction”
Contact details:
CD-YSB
email: cdsuba@indosat.net.id

Gregorius Haryana: + 62 (0)274 7495 895 (telephone)
+ 62 (0)274 889 320 (telephone / fax)
Andromedha: + 62 (0)274 7192 025 (telephone)
+ 62 (0)81 80408 5299 (handphone)

Further information can be found at www.pemad.or.id, under the heading “Community Development – YSB”.

Australia signs agreements worth over Rp 15 billion with Muhammadiyah for Yogyakarta relief and disaster preparedness activities.

Recently the Australian Government, through its overseas aid agency, AusAID, signed two new agreements with Muhammadiyah totaling over Rp 15 billion. The funding will support Muhammadiyah to build temporary medical clinics, child care centers, primary schools and village meeting centers in Yogyakarta as part of relief efforts there. A second activity will support a schools-based program to enhance disaster awareness and preparedness amongst children.  

 “We are pleased to extend our collaboration with Muhammadiyah, one of Indonesia’s largest community-based organizations, to help those affected by the recent earthquake in Yogyakarta and Central Java. Muhammadiyah will receive Rp 7 billion as part of Australia’s Rp 52.5 billion relief package to provide comprehensive, community-based assistance in seven villages in Yogyakarta province,” said Philippa Power, acting Australian Minister Counsellor for Development Cooperation.

“We are developing a strong working partnership with Muhammadiyah in a range of areas, including disaster response. Already, Australian medical teams have been working side-by-side with doctors and nurses in the Muhammadiyah hospital in Yogyakarta to treat victims of the earthquake.”

Village medical clinics have also been set up, with Australia providing medical support to local doctors treating patients. Temporary child care centers will be established to provide a safe place for children to play and to free up adults to help with rehabilitation efforts. Temporary primary schools will be provided and village meeting centers will be built to enable communities to gather and discuss future planning.

“We are also collaborating with Muhammadiyah to improve disaster preparedness in vulnerable communities,” said Ms Power. Australia will provide over Rp 8 billion to support training programs in Muhammadiyah schools located in disaster-prone areas. “The aim is to teach children about disasters and how they can prepare themselves and their communities, thereby minimizing the impact of earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters”, said Ms Power. “Australia sees the importance both of helping relief efforts after a disaster has occurred as well as the importance of helping communities prepare before a disaster strikes.”


Volunteers from Semarang and Yogyakarta
Thousands of people volunteered to help in th eyogyakarta region but we are featuring just two examples of how Indonesian young people arose to the fight to help people in trouble - that's what freinds are for!

Members of KGCC #10, English Society Club in Semarang have recently been busy in Yogyakarta with a program called Java Earthquake Care 2006. They invited Wahid Hasyim University and Pondok Pesantren Sunan Kalijaga to join their planned activities. Members were in Dengkeng Village Wedi – Klaten Regency Central Java carrying out activities in 4 separate teams.

The Rescue Team helped the survivors to evacuate bodies and rebuild houses. The Medical Team took care of injured survivors particularly by collecting medicines from nearby hospitals. This often took many hours of patient waiting. The Physiological Team helped survivors suffering amnesia, depression and fear of the would happen next. The Happy Team had many duties including cooking in the public kitchen and playing games with the children. They also were responsible for receiving and checking food donations to make sure they were safe. Security was a problem so this team assisted the Kepala Dukuh and police. Some of the members also enjoyed watching the World Cup with survivors.

‘We went out together in the field to see football from the big screen. You know what, we have to walked miles and miles to get to that place. But it was FUN J Yes, football can make some of the survivors forget their sadness and they can smile or laughed out load when their team won’.

ESC in Semarang also did a live report in English on RRI Pro 2’s FM interactive English programme. Keyko and Buda helped to collect news from the earthquake area for live reports on the English program from RRI Pro 2 FM Semarang. These broadcasts were heard over a wide area of Central Java.

Keyko an dher friends made many new friends too including volunteers from Pesantren Ilmu Qur’an Malang, Pondok Pesantren Ribath – Malang, Pondok Pesantren Nurul Haroman – Malang. They were really curious to know about what KGRE is as we were wearing KGRE T-shirt . We were proud of to wear them. We became centers of attention because we could speak English and we even taught the kids a little English. So thanks for KGE for your support.

Through this disaster we would like to express our gratitude to all the victims of Central Java Earthquake since they taught us how to grateful and how to accept the conditions whether good or bad. We also learnt how to share with others - although all the survivors were in such a terrible condition, they still shared their food with other places which were in even worse condition and often out of reach from the government’s help. Even though they were in difficult situations they still have times to think of others. What wise people!


KGCC #032 
Student English Activity
UMY (SEA-UMY)
written by Daru for KGRE

We are from the Student English Society Club in Yogyakarta. This was an experience for a lifetime An earthquake like this had never happened before and we could not imagine what is waht like. But it happened. It was really scary. The morning 27 May 2006 was a plan to meet with the others club from others English Club in University level.

The earthquake happened in the early morning when many people were still in their sleep. We never realized it before, it would damage all the things in Bantul. We didn't know because many of us live in Kota Yogya. The electricity was off. No telephone for two days. We couldn't contact others. It was chaos.  People lived outside their houses day and night in case another earthquake. All plans was canceled. People were thinking how to save their lives and family. The situation was the same for houses, offices, schools and our campus - all were totally damaged.

Club members lost contact for some days. Some went home for safety. Some become refugees and some became volunteer. Our activities were changed. The club activities stopped for about two weeks after the disaster. We didn't think how to focus on running our club but first in helping people. There were some who still run a small discussion on the current issue. Many were interested to discuss how people in Yogya really believe in myths. Some were playing movie with Big Screen on LCD in Bantul to entertain inhabitants, it was run for several time in the moment of World Cup 2006.

Me, Bagus, Rian, Alia, Utax are people who still organize club on that moment, We could re-interconnect all members rapidly, an of course start some new idea to run the club while helping people. Then we helped children to re-build their education through many institutions. One success was our involvement with the members on one day outbound for children, helping them with children's games and English.

The other activities were still intertwined with the public service. Many students in Yogya were searching for finance to help people whose lives were suffering. We also joined and organized time to fine money by the side of the road, in malls and crowded places where students could get more money. Not only money but all the things that people could use.

Nowdays student are working as volunteers many of them are taking Social Working (KKN) Kuliah Kerja Lapangan. Our SEA members are working in different places. We still run same agenda to re-enforce the use of English by discussing, traveling and taking competitions, collecting articles, helping people with hundreds of problems of English grammar. We hope people and others English Club in Yogya are having ideas to re-new the activities.

To all victims in Yogya, today is time to start and making life more live, There should no despair, but to start again. For all the people that has getting involve, thank for all support.

AusAID's Key Initiatives in Indonesia for 2006-07