Incredible foreign help

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 10/09/2009 11:29 AM | Opinion

Every school child knows that this country is rich and beautiful. Less known to them is the country’s vulnerability to disasters as this has been less emphasized in the classroom. When schoolchildren become adults, this lack of awareness sticks.

This is part of the reason why we tend to be slow in tackling disasters like the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that rocked West Sumatra on Sept. 30 killing more than 1,000 people, destroying thousands of buildings and devastating scores of towns and villages.

It took the President two days before he let foreign help come in. During that time-lapse, victims had been buried under tons of rubbles breathing dusty air in scorching heat and very cold at night.

Relatives of the victims stood helplessly nearby as their loved ones fought fear, hunger and thirst. For them, one second was hell and one minute could make the difference between life and death.

Fortunately, help from the international community soon poured in after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave the green light.

They promptly reinforced our search and rescue teams who had toiled into the night and who had to work without adequate equipment.

Hence, it is comforting for Indonesia and the people of West Sumatra in particular to learn that helping others is still strong valued among the international community.

Instant help has come from virtually every corner of the globe including China, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and others.

And not only from governments but also from groupings like the United Nations, the European Union, ASEAN as well as various local and foreign non-government organizations.

Even an ongoing festival in the city of Ohio in the US decided to raise disaster relief donations for Indonesia.

It was reminiscent of the help we received in the 2004 Aceh tsunami. The Aceh and Nias rehabilitation agency (BRR) recorded this help in a series of books launched recently, wrapping up its four-year work.

One of those books noted that “individuals of every race, religion, culture and political persuasion across each and every continent worldwide, along with governments, the private sector, non-government organizations and other national and international bodies, reacted in an unprecedented show of human concern and compassion.”

Help from more than 15 countries, 50 NGOs and thousands of social workers poured into Aceh after the Boxing-day tsunami. The agency noted that most of the US$7.2 billion pledged was converted into real commitments, an unprecedented achievement in disaster management.

This wave of human compassion is repeating itself in West Sumatra and in Jambi, which was rocked by no less violent an earthquake a day after the one that hit Padang. Apart from reducing the pain on the ground, the work of our foreign friends has helped reinforce our trust in humanity.

For all their generous assistance, it is appropriate for us to say a big thank you. Our thanks will never be enough to repay our indebtedness.

It is best if we could help ourselves more. For this reason we urge the government to streamline its disaster mitigation body to face future disasters, including raising awareness among our people that ours is a disaster prone country.