A rest from reconstruction: Harvest time in the rice fields

October and November 2006 have been rather quiet in Bicak and Ngunut. Firstly, the month of Ramadan – an important time for the Muslim community – has slowed things down a bit.

During Ramadan most people fast from sunup to sundown – yes, no food or drink until the sun goes down. Understandably, hard physical labour is really out of the question, especially when it’s so hot outside, with the equatorial sun beating down on you.

In Indonesia, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan is called Hari Raya Idul Fitri or Lebaran. It is a special and festive day, children wear new clothes, and delicious food is cooked and shared among friends and neighbours. It is a time of forgiveness, a time for family and friends to get together and foster a strong sense of community.

This year, in Bicak and Ngunut, straight on the heels of Hari Raya, was harvest time. Even though average farm sizes are tiny (around 0.2 ha), agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors in rural Java. Many people, even if they are not landowners call themselves farmers; their farming skills are available for hire. Almost everyone in Bicak and Ngunut are out in the fields harvesting.

Unfortunately I don’t have photos of harvest time in Bicak and Ngunut. Here are a few photos from Sekarals, to give you some idea of what harvesting rice in Java looks like.

Regards
Sari, Manager Subur Gemi Nastiti

Note books for the High School kids

Upon their return to Holand, our two Dutch volunteers Rachel and Dan left a supply of note books to be distributed to the students of the local junior and senior High School (SMP and SMA). Rachel and Dan had already given the primary school kids (SD) a supply of milk, so they felt that it was the turn of the high school kids to get some help.

Here are some photos of the distribution day in Ngunut and Bicak.

Regards

Sari, Manager Subur Gemi Nastiti

Busy as can be, waiting for their turn.

Happy faces.

Mia and Warti are giving the books to the kids.

The boys proudly display their new note books with Superman on the cover.

Kids gather around the car to collect their note books.

Clean water for drinking and cooking

Working with the community to ensure reasonable access to clean water is now our priority. The prolonged dry season has severely reduced Ngunut’s access to clean water. Many of the wells – a vital water source for the community – have dried up, the ones that haven’t have yellowish water.

Wisnu, a volunteer from SGN in Sekaralas, recently helped me do a quality audit of the wells in Ngunut. We found 15 with very low quality water.

We are helping the community make small portable water filters, using a layer of clean bricks, clean sand, followed by a layer of the brown matting-like outer skin of coconuts (your front door mat is probably made of this stuff), and finally a layer of charcoal. Once filtered the water is boiled before drinking.

Once clean and clear, the water is collected into new blue plastic drums – the community have been using small tin buckets to store their houshold water, which was quite inadequate for the purpose. This is why we purchased a number of blue drums and have so far managed to distribute them to around 20 households.

We provide a small subsidy to deepen the wells that have completely dried up. The community provide the labour and some of the materials.

Sari, Manager Subur Gemi Nastiti

Distributing water-filter kits and drums.

To the right is a bucket of yellowish unfiltered water from a Ngunut well, and in the front bucket is the clean and clear filtered water.

Wells, bathrooms and toilets

More people are asking for help to fix their wells, bathrooms and toilets. As funds are limited, we are only repairing those which are seriously damaged and are used by many households.

While people with wells have always shared them with their neighbours, toilets are a different matter. For the toilet, poorer households used the river, but since the earthquake, the more well-to-do households have offered their toilets to their poorer neighbours, making them public facilities.

So far, we’ve helped repair twelve wells, bathrooms and toilets. The community chipped in with labour and any left over bricks and timber, and we provided the cement. Our combined efforts proved a very cost effective way to rebuild the physical infrastructure, but also, importantly the community spirit.

Regards

Sari, Manager Subur Gemi Nastiti

Bu Ngatiyem in the green skirt, is the owner of the land in which this public facility is being repaired.

Pak Kino's well and bathroom.

So long Mbah Mitro, my old friend

I got to know Mbah Mitro well during the gedeg distribution phase of our reconstruction effort. As a local, he knew exactly what the earthquake had done to his community, and he was eager to contribute towards the reconstruction of his community. As we worked along side each other, we became good friends. I was impressed by his good nature, calm and methodical approach to everything he did. We laughed a lot.

Now that we are no longer in the emergency phase, I am spending a week in Sekarals and a week in the Klaten region. Upon my return to Klaten, I am told by Mbah Mitro's neighbours that while I was away, he was rushed to hospital because he was having trouble breathing and was complaining about a terrible pain in his chest.

They tell me that he was in hospital for a week, but was now home again. When he left for hospital, his house still had tarp for the walls and roof, so his children with the help of his neighbours decided that they would work hard to put the gedeg and tiles on his house so that when he returned it would be all done.

I went to visit him, and as I walked in the house, I was greeted with such sadness and sorrow on the faces of his kin, that I thought, "oh no, he has passed away!" I tentatively approached his bed and was elated to see him quietly resting. His breathing was laboured, but he was still with us. He’d lost a lot of weight, making his slight frame look even slighter. We chatted like old times, cracked a few jokes and laughed. He was tired; he had been kept awake all night with the sharp pain that every intake of breath brought.

His family told me that according to the doctors at the hospital, Mbah Mitro was suffering from severe stress and trauma from the earthquake. For such a capable, calm and friendly man, this is sad news indeed. There was nothing I could do but continue to offer my friendship and hope that he will be well again.

Before leaving, I was able to leave a small contribution to go towards paying for his medicines. Out in the front yard, I was greeted by his daughter “you have made my father laugh for the first time since he fell ill; it is a wonderful thing what you have done!” she said as she shook my hand.

A week later, upon my return to Klaten, I was told that Mbah Mitro had passed away. His neighbours tell me that the day after my visit, he became very ill again, and so his family had taken him back to hospital. He died the following day.

Mbah Mitro had one night in his new house with the new walls and roof. After more than five months under a tarp... just one night! .

So long Mbah Mitro. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to work closely with you. I hope that you are now in a peaceful place.

Below are photos of Mbah Mitro's family and his house. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of Mbah Mitro himself.

Regards
Sari

A roof over our heads

The much anticipated wet season has not arrived. It is now 10 December 2006, and still we have no rain.

As you have been reading here, people have been working hard repairing homes and village infrastructure like the drainage and wells. It is good to see that the government is offering funds for reconstruction, and the neighbouring region of greater Yogyakarta are now waiting for round two of the funding. However, the more remote villages and tiny hamlets around Klaten, which includes Bicak and Ngunut, are still waiting to receive round one of the official reconstruction assistance.

The people of Bicak and Ngunut tell me that the first round of reconstruction funding promised is around 4.4 million Rupiah per household, which is around 650 Australian dollars. However, as it turns out, households will actually receive less than that amount. This is because the authorities had under estimated the number of houses needing serious repairs, so the Bicak and Ngunut community have agreed to pool the funding and ensure that every household receives a portion of the official reconstruction budget.

Lucky that people are resourceful! While we eagerly await the official reconstruction funds to reach the Bicak and Ngunut community, with your assistance, we began work to put a roof over every home.

Regards

Sari, Manager Subur Gemi Nastiti

Budi's house.

Hino's family home, complete with new roof.

This neat little home, with the new tiles on the roof belongs to Ibu Sumirah.

Mbah Karso's house just before the new roof was installed.

A new roof on Mbah Marto's house

The Ngunut water project

Hello again, it has been sometime since my last update. We have now moved on from walls, the gedeg distribution went well, and families are now in their homes, out of their emergency shacks.

In preparation for the rainy season, which we hope will come soon (it's been a long dry season), we are now busy repairing bathrooms, toilets and drains. Beginning with Ngunut, we noted ten of the most severely damaged and in desperate need of repair.

We found that the combined impact of the earthquake and the unseasonably long dry season had had a terrible effect on water quality. Many of the wells now produced poor quality yellowish water. It was a priority to fix these wells as the water is used for bathing and cooking. We set out to clean and deepen them so that in times of the big dry such as it is now, they don’t dry out. To improve water quality we also investigated ways to settle the sediment and strain the debris.

Our sincere thanks to our friends in England, Australia, Holland and Sekarals.

Regards

Sari, Manager Subur Gemi Nastiti

A public well and bathroom in Ngunut.

Digging for a new septic tank.

Srijono's bathroom, after the repairs.

Sunar's toilet, like new again.

Atut's adventures in Bicak

On Friday 18 August 2006, I accompanied my wonderful teacher, Ms Sari to the region of Klaten, in particular to the village of Bicak. I was keen to see the situation in the earthquake region; but I was not quite prepared to see so many damaged houses.

I was only there for 3 days. A really short time, but I tried to be as useful as I could. I noticed that although life can be tricky, the people in Bicak still had time for music.

The Klaten region is really pretty, there are lots and lots of hills. I made lots of friends around Bicak, I really liked that. I heard lots of stories about the day of the earthquake.

From what I could tell, many of the people around the Klaten region make a living from bricks, ceramic vases and guitars. I met lots of people who make a living making these things. It was interesting watching them.

I also met two foreigners. They were from Holland. I met Mbak Monique, Mas Dan and Mbak Rachel. All three were just lovely. They were all there because they wanted to help the people in Klaten. And they gave me cool presents - a bag and a pair of sandals!

While I was there they were preparing for a show in the grounds of the primary school (SD Brangkal 2), there were going to be games, prizes and everything! My teacher Ms Sari, organised it all. People were organised into three groups, little ones, teenagers and a group of oldies! The prizes were good too, there were sleeping mats, cooking oil, rice, clothes and lots more… I really wanted to join in, but it was almost time for me to go home.

My friends and I were very sad that it was already time for us to part, but we bravely exchanged heartfelt goodbyes.

Lek Mi and I went home to Sekaralas together on the Bus (I felt very sorry for the buskers who came to the bus every time it stopped). Lek Mi's full name is Suparmi, but I call her Lek or little aunty because she’s younger than my parents, and Mi is the short version of her name.

Once I got home, it hit me how exhausted I was, all I wanted to do was sleep. I thought about my new friends and imagined what it was like when the earthquake hit, which made me feel scared for them.

So here ends my story. Until next time… Here are some photos of my trip.

Here I am with my new friends from Bicak

Here I am with my new friend Kurniawati. Soon after the earthquake hit, I wrote a letter to the children of Bicak, and Kurniawati answered my letter, so we are now good friends.

Here I am with the two Dutch volunteers Dan and Rachel, and Lek Mi, who is also from Sekaralas. Lek Mi works with SGN with my teacher Ms Sari.

Here I am watching the clever guitar makers hard at work.