It takes a village<\/p>\n
They say that the worst tragedy brings out the best in people.<\/p>\n
We saw this happen in New York City in the aftermath of the
\nSept. 11 terror attacks, and we witnessed it here again in
\nJakarta this past week, following the worst flood disaster ever
\nto hit the capital city of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Just like New Yorkers in September, many Jakartans came out in
\nfull force this past week, mostly acting in their own volition,
\nto lend a helping hand to flood victims.<\/p>\n
What we saw was not a mere outpouring of sympathy, but a show
\nof strong solidarity among residents.<\/p>\n
This spontaneous response in the face of such a large scale
\ndisaster -- affecting no less than 300,000 people -- has been
\nnothing but impressive. It also dispelled the notion of Jakarta
\nas a cruel and heartless city populated by largely self-centered
\npeople.<\/p>\n
It turned metropolitan Jakarta into one huge kampung, or
\nvillage, where people were brought together to deal with a common
\ncrisis -- one in which the more fortunate helped those of lesser
\nmeans.<\/p>\n
Many Rukun Tetangga (neighborhood units) or \"RTs,\" proved
\npivotal in quickly mobilizing people within their communities to
\nhelp flood victims.<\/p>\n
We heard stories of amazing compassion -- from housewives
\norganizing public kitchens to cook nasi bungkus (rice parcels),
\nto young volunteers helping to move women, children and the
\nelderly to dry areas.<\/p>\n
Because they lived in the vicinity, these people were the
\nfirst to act, long before the others arrived.<\/p>\n
We also heard of local radio stations playing a very important
\nrole in the community.<\/p>\n
These stations were not simply updating news of floods by the
\nsecond but, more importantly, they were mobilizing assistance and
\nvolunteers through their on-air announcements. Being more \"local\"
\nthan TV channels and most newspapers, the radio stations were
\nmost effective in bringing the community together.<\/p>\n
And then there was the wide assortment of volunteer
\norganizations -- universities, schools, women's and rafters'
\ngroups -- who literally plunged into the waters to rescue victims
\nand to distribute food and other forms of relief among the needy.<\/p>\n
All these actions combined to bring out a poignantly true
\nsense of community in this city of nine million people.<\/p>\n
Those that stepped forward to help did much to ease the
\nsuffering and pain of the flood victims, who needed all the
\nassistance they could get in difficult moments.<\/p>\n
They also compensated for all the frustration many people felt
\nat the slow response of the local administrations -- from City
\nHall all the way down to the kelurahan (subdistrict offices).<\/p>\n
We have heard of complaints from flood victims that
\nadministration assistance was either late, or simply not
\nforthcoming.<\/p>\n
There were even reports of officials hampering the efforts to
\naid the affected communities, such as their insistence that all
\nhelp be coordinated through their offices.<\/p>\n
The worst tragedy, unfortunately, also brought the worst out
\nin some people -- the opportunists and profiteers among us.<\/p>\n
We heard outrageous stories of hoodlums extorting money from
\nflood victims, or even preventing relief supplies from reaching
\ntheir destination. There were also stories of officers from state
\nelectricity firm PLN asking for as much as Rp 300,000 from flood
\nvictims, before restoring power to their homes.<\/p>\n
But stories of extortion and government incompetence should
\nnot belittle the fact that most residents of Jakarta responded in
\na way that they would be expected to in a small, tightly knit
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
This brought great comfort: now we know that we can always
\nrely on our neighbors, and our communities, to come through for
\nus whenever something terrible like this happens.<\/p>\n
Let's hope that these acts of sympathy and solidarity
\ncontinue.<\/p>\n
For most flood victims, the ordeal is far from over, even
\nafter the flood waters have receded from their homes. They must
\nclean up -- and, in some cases, even rebuild their homes from
\nscratch. Others must confront the various diseases and, of
\ncourse, the stress that come with flood disasters.<\/p>\n
Some people's lives have been shattered completely.<\/p>\n
These flood victims still need all the help they can get.<\/p>\n
Initial assistance allowed them to survive the cold and wet
\ndays and nights, either on their rooftops or temporary shelters.<\/p>\n
Now they need assistance in the daunting task of rebuilding
\ntheir homes.<\/p>\n
With the central government and the Jakarta administration
\nboth hard pressed for money, flood victims can expect very little
\nin terms of official assistance.<\/p>\n
Now, the community must again come to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Judging by last week's incredible response, we have every
\nreason to believe that the residents of this big village called
\nJakarta will once more rise to the occasion.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/it-takes-a-village-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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