Earthquake in Yogyakarta

2006 May 29 and June 6

Wife and husband team Farsijana and Bernie Risakotta recount the horrors and aftershocks of the ‘killer quake’ that struck Yogyakarta early Saturday morning, 27 May 2006, no doubt still haunted by the nightmare of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed more than 168,000 lives in Indonesia alone. Bernie and Farsijana wasted no time in helping people pick up the pieces and begin rebuilding lives. Their letters are a priceless gift of inspiration and challenge of what it really means to be in the service of the people, an invaluable perspective from the margins.

29 May 2006

Dear Friends,

It is Monday, 5 AM. I’ve just been watching the lava running down the sides of Mt. Merapi, just north of Yogyakarta. A massive 6.2 earthquake opened the swelling peak, allowing the lava to flow. The earthquake struck just south of us, at 5:55 AM on Saturday. Farsijana was out running and I was drinking coffee on the second floor of our home. The whole world was shaking, as if a giant picked up a baby and shook us as hard as it could. Most things were thrown from our walls and our floor to ceiling bookcases toppled. I made it out to the street where all our neighbors were gathered. Farsijana said she heard a deep groaning noise from the earth and the earthquake seemed to go on and on for 20 minutes. Time is distorted. Many people were in a state of panic. Soon there were motorcycles passing with their riders screaming, “The water is coming! The water is coming! Tsunami!” I tried to reassure our neighbors that a tsunami could not reach Yogya, 40 km. from the South coast of Java. In Aceh the tsunami reached only a few km inland. Farsijana sent our neighbor to ask for official information. He came back with a report that the water had already reached the edge of Yogya. Still, we convinced our neighbors not to join the mass exodus of people fleeing towards the volcano. Out of the frying pan into the fire. It’s hard to get information with no electricity or telephones. It’s hard even to think straight when the earth is no longer firm beneath your feet.

I went inside to read a book. But after a couple minutes I knew I could not escape that way. At 8 AM I left on my motorcycle to find out the real situation. Fortunately I had a full gas tank. I rode around the city, seeing many collapsed buildings, wounded people and a few corpses. However the tight social structures of the Javanese were also apparent. Most people were in groups, caring for each other. I headed south to see if our friends in a village on the coast were still alive. The further south, the worse the damage. As I neared the coast, a farmer said the village was totally destroyed and our bungalow on the cliffs had collapsed. To my amazement, our house was undamaged, guarded by a family of monkeys. A huge boulder blocked the road to the village, but I squeezed by on my motorcycle. Amazingly, the coastal village was still standing. Our good friend Tumijo’s new house, just built after 10 years of saving and hard work, was severely damaged, but no one died. I left them my meager supplies of water, bread and emergency lantern. Everyone was outside, trying to find shade from the hot sun. Everyone wanted to talk to me. The houses were not safe. Aftershocks continued and a rumor claimed that another big quake was coming. I returned safely to our house, exhausted, at about 2 PM, with bad sunburn from 6 hours on the bike.

Sunday morning we attended the 6:30 worship at our church and were reminded to give thanks in the midst of tragedy. At home, with the help of two friends, we cooked from 8:30 AM till 2:30 PM, wrapping up over 100 meals of rice, vegetables and eggs. The food was seasoned with our sweat in the hot kitchen. I finally found an open gas station and after a long line, filled our tank. The main road to the South was clogged with emergency vehicles and people trying to bring help. The rain began to fall. As we sat in the traffic, looking into the faces of many people with injuries, I wondered if we were mistaken in joining this mad throng. Our destination was a remote village with a home for children with disabilities that we heard was in bad shape and needed help. We finally reached them. They were so happy to receive the food, water and medicines we brought. All the houses in the village had collapsed. 15 people died and many are injured. They had no food. The rain poured down as they huddled under plastic sheets next to the ruins of their homes. As a parting hunch, I gave them my favorite umbrella. They were delighted. It was the only umbrella in the village.

When we finally got home, we found puddles of water all over the house. Most of our clay roof tiles were displaced by the earthquake and no longer keep out the rain. Still we are so thankful. Our neighborhood was spared serious damage. None of our friends were seriously hurt. But not far from us, thousands have died and many more are without homes. Our village is now mobilizing food and supplies for other areas. Christian and Muslim students are seeking donations of rice and supplies for villages that have not been reached. Today we hope to take food to Prambanan, the famous, thousand-year-old temple site, where Farsijana’s relatives live and many buildings collapsed.

If you would like to help, please send a donation to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Go to: https://www.pcusa.org/give/online/...DR000003.

Designate the gift for the Yogyakarta Earthquake. If you want to send a non-tax-deductible donation for immediate food supplies for victims, please send checks, For Deposit Only, made out to Bernard Adeney-Risakotta, Account number, 040011515315, at Citibank, Shattuck and University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705. Please send me an e-mail at bernfarindosat.net.id detailing how much you sent on what date. We will make sure it goes for immediate relief of earthquake victims. Thanks to all our friends who called or sent e-mails. We are so grateful for your loving thoughts and prayers.

Warm regards,

Bernie and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta

6 June 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

It is midnight and Bernie is asleep. I was just awakened by another aftershock that shook our house, so I decided to write to you. Since the killer earthquake of May 27, 2006, there are several aftershocks every day, just to keep us on our toes. The vibrations seem to stay in the building. A victim we visited said the aftershocks still sound bombs.

One of our members of the Indonesian Women’s Coalition, Ibu Wanti, is from the devastated district of Bantul (Ibu means Mother, or Ms.). When the earthquake happened her house collapsed. She escaped, but her neighbor, Ibu Ngatiyah and her two children were buried in the ruins of their house. They were sleeping when the earthquake struck. Thick white dust, like smoke, covered the view as the house went down. Ibu Ngatiyah’s husband could not do anything. He writhed on the ground in front of the house, crying like a baby. Just few minutes after the earthquake, Ibu Wanti heard a small voice crying, “Help….Help!” She climbed onto the ruins through the dense, white smoke and saw a small hand waving from the rubble. This woman, without any fear, started to dig through the debris that covered the hand. It was the hand of Tuti, the daughter of Ibu Ngatiyah. She found all three of them. Tuti and her brother were protected by wood and suffered only minor injuries. But their mother was covered with blood. Blood flowed from her ears and mouth.

Blood soaked the clothes of Ibu Wanti as she carried her friend out in her arms. But she was still alive. A Muslim neighbor urged her to say a prayer. She replied, “I’m sorry. I do not know any Muslim prayers. I am a Christian!” The neighbor answered, “It doesn’t matter! Just pray!” So she whispered into the bloody ear, praying that God would save her and be close to her. Ibu Wanti quickly found a car that took them to the closest clinic. But Ibu Ngatiyah died at the clinic. God had other plans for her: she was called by her Maker. Ibu Wanti became a dear aunt for her friend’s children and is like a mother for all the other refugees.

When we visited the ancient temple town of Prambanan, we found that many of the old houses in my family’s village had collapsed. At the time of the earthquake, my grandmother was walking after her sunrise Muslim prayers. When she felt the earth moving, she just sat down. A family member was screaming, searching for her. He found her just sitting on the ground. He told her that her ancestral home was destroyed. She didn’t react, only smiled. She said “Biarin (Let it go). Biarin! Grandmother watched her house come tumbling down and gave it to God. Her wise words reflected her experience of God’s power in nature. Her wisdom inspired the continued faith of her family in the midst of their suffering.

The earthquake inspires people to reflect on themselves as human beings, creations of God. We had moved my family’s most ancient house, built in 1822, from Prambanan to our land on the cliffs, overlooking the south coast of Java. The epicentre of the earthquake was only 5 kilometers from the new location of the house. When Bernie went to look at our cliff house, he fully expected it to be destroyed. As he rode around the fallen rocks on the way to the house, all he could think of was, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” To his amazement, the house was undamaged. A miracle. My Muslim family in Prambanan believe that the ancestors led us to move the house so that it would be preserved. Those of us who experienced the terrible shaking of the earth but found our lives preserved and our houses undamaged, are also led to reflect on what it means to be among “the lucky ones.” We are not better than the thousands who died or lost everything. But now we have received another opportunity to continue our lives. This gift is for a purpose: it is to help our sisters and brothers in their suffering. We are called to bring comfort to the victims. Bernie and I had requested leave for the month of June in order to read, write and rest. Perhaps God prepared this freedom for us to serve our neighbors during this critical time in our society.

Our house became a house of women. Bernie was sick with acute Bronchitis and retreated upstairs where he handled all our correspondence and raised funds for our efforts. As the leader of the Indonesian Women’s Coalition (KPI) for our District, I called on our entire network to help with the relief efforts. All day long the smell of delicious food wafted through the house as many women shared in cooking for the earthquake victims. During the first week we delivered cooked meals, drinking water, fresh fruit and vegetables, tents, rice, baby formula, sugar, tea, oil, toiletries, women’s sanitary supplies, and medicine to 22 different places in four districts (Bantul, City of Yogya, Gunung Kidul, and Sleman/Prambanan), where victims had not been reached and the damage was most severe.

Our strategy is first to serve the neighborhoods of members of KPI who are direct victims of the quake. Then we find out about all their families, friends, and colleagues who can give us specific information about what is needed in other areas. All day long, women used our telephone to contact people and set up visits. KPI is an inter-religious, nation-wide organization, born out of the new freedoms after the collapse of the Soeharto regime. Our house is full of Muslim and Christian women. We all pray together for our unity in serving people during this critical period. Every day, after cooking and wrapping 100 nutritious meals and buying all the other supplies, I drive a group of women to the target area. We come like family members, longing to visit our loved ones. Bringing a cooked meal is part of Indonesian tradition. We share our own cooking with those we love. We examine their real situation and contact other networks, like the government, Habitat for Humanity, or other organizations that can address their special requests. The role of women after the earthquake is very important. We employ a different approach to suffering. One day an Ulama welcomed us at his mosque and expressed his joy that we brought “women’s sanitary supplies.” He said the male relief workers did not remember the needs of their girls and women.

After a week of this work at the grass roots, I was invited to join a leadership group, led by the Sultan, to plan a joint strategy for relief and restoration that preserves Yogyakarta’s precious reputation as a center of peace in Indonesia. It is important that Muslim and Christian local residents can work together, creating an environment of tolerance and cooperation for the good of the victims. Unfortunately political and religious groups have seized on this tragedy to promote their own causes in a time of chaos. As they distribute aid, they plant their flags and try to discredit other groups. In this situation, we as women stand for the unity and dignity of all people. We strictly reject segregation or appeals to religion and ideology as criteria for human service. As in many parts of the world, fundamentalism has been growing in Indonesia. We as Christian and Muslim sisters and brothers are witnesses that God cares for all, and all are called to live in peace and justice without discrimination.

I write this letter so that you will know some of the challenges we face. Thank you for your care for us as we struggle to be faithful during a difficult time. We could not do it without your prayers and support. We are so grateful for those who sent gifts. Every dollar is precious and enables us to reach out to others. You are our partners in empowering the victims so that they have hope and can rebuild their lives in peace. On behalf of the women of KPI: Thank you.

With love from the field,

Farsijana and Bernie

The Centre of Study on Informatics Technology and Social Transformation

Faculty of Engineering

Duta Wacana Christian University

Jl. Dr. Wahidin S. No 5-25

Yogyakarta 55224, INDONESIA

Telp. +62274563929, Ext. 151

Fax. +62274513235