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Indonesia Earthquake Victims Use Discarded Election Banners For Shelter
Nivell Rayda | September 09, 2009

A child who survived Wednesday A child who survived Wednesday's earthquake plays outside a makeshift tent made from a banner of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at a refugee camp in Sukanagara, West Java. (Photo: Dadang Tri, Reuters)
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Garut, West Java. With the election season over, victims of the Indonesian earthquake in West Java are finding new ways to utilize obsolete campaign banners, using them to build tents and protect their homes.

Residents in Garut’s Cisompet subdistrict salvaged the banners soon after the election was over and used them to cover their barns or protect rice grain. But after last week’s 7.3 magnitude earthquake, residents starting using the discarded banners to build tents.

Still barely noticed by the local media and donors, the subdistrict has almost 10,000 quake refugees. In the village of Sukanagara alone, more than 500 homes were badly damaged some were completely destroyed, leaving close to 2,000 people homeless.

With very little assistance from the provincial government, residents are starting to experience fevers and diarrhea.

“The local government only visited us once last Wednesday,” village chief Wawan Setiawan told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday. “Since then we have only received 25 kilograms of poor quality rice, which we had to distribute to all 2,000 victims.”

Wawan is a victim in his own right, with his home and the village office among those buildings heavily damaged by the quake. Since the disaster, he has been living with the other victims and has had to undertake his administration work in the tents.

The quake also destroyed the local health clinic. Nandang, a local doctor, haas had to examine patients in a tent with minimal health equipment.

“Everything got destroyed. Except for this and some other equipment,” he said, showing his stethoscope and blood pressure monitoring device.

The village, however, has received some much needed relief from non-government groups, such the Al-Azhar Foundation, which donated tents, and Save the Children, a charity group who have tried to support the nutrition of child victims.

“We found the village by chance, because we want to help those not already aided by other organizations,” said Al-Azhar coordinator Agus Nafi. “We got here a day after the quake and we have stayed here since.”

A week since the quake jolted and devastated the region, volunteers in Sukanagara village have started the much needed process of emotional repair for the victims, particularly children.

“These children are traumatized and if not treated properly, this might result in acute depression or phobias later in life,” said Iman Surahman of Dompet Dhuafa, a charity group.

“We have to uplift them using games and storytelling, and at the same time discourage them from believing the misconception that quakes are the wrath of God or the work of mystical and evil creatures.”