Bungtje Breathes Some Stories

Three disasters hit Indonesia in a span of weeks.

Flashflood on October 4th almost erased Wasior in the West Papua. 169 people died, 105 were seriously wounded, 118 people were reported missing. 9,016 others became refugees.

21 days after the flashflood, earthquakes and tsunami hit Mentawai Islands. National Board for Disaster Management published, until 10.00 AM local time today, 449 died. 96 people are missing. And 14,983 people have to be refugees.

Last but not least, Mount Merapi stepped in and took a part as well. It started to erupt on Tuesday (26/10), leaving 37 people died, and forcing 53,048 people to move out of their homes.

We can spend our energy blaming the government, who know that they’re governing a disaster-prone country, but always act so slow and forget to do proper mitigation. We can curse the mass media, especially those two so-called news television, which seems more than happy to exploit the sadness and to cause the public to be panic.

But the more important thing is that we ourselves have to act to ease the pain. NOW.

Personally, I think your aid should be prioritized for the victims of Mentawai, then Wasior, and Merapi.

Because Merapi victims, situated pretty near from the capital city Jakarta, is much more accessible than the ones in Mentawai and wasior. While Mentawai is more difficult to access, meaning the distribution of your aid might cost more since we have to spend extra money for the shipment via boats and helicopters.

You can help by sending daily needs, medicine, or your money. Make sure that you’re helping through accountable aid organisations.

I recommend these:
Aksi Cepat Tanggap
Dompet Dhuafa
Palang Merah Indonesia

Don’t forget to monitor your donations. Raise your voice to Indonesian government to grow up and prepare better for the next disasters in the future.

Indonesia’s location on the edges of the Pacific, Eurasian, and Australian tectonic plates makes it the site of numerous volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. More maladies are sure to come. We cannot avoid disasters, but we definitely can minimize the casualties.

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the image of Wasior is copied from http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/kesra/2010/10/14/brk,20101014-284636,id.html

Mentawai Islands’ picture is from http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/kesra/2010/10/31/brk,20101031-288428,id.html

the Jogja image is from http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=444302251315&set=a.444302156315.242978.79572061315&pid=5940053&id=79572061315

this is an edited, translated version of this page.