It takes a village

They say that the worst tragedy brings out the best in people.

We saw this happen in New York City in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and we witnessed it here again in Jakarta this past week, following the worst flood disaster ever to hit the capital city of Indonesia.

Just like New Yorkers in September, many Jakartans came out in full force this past week, mostly acting in their own volition, to lend a helping hand to flood victims.

What we saw was not a mere outpouring of sympathy, but a show of strong solidarity among residents.

This spontaneous response in the face of such a large scale disaster -- affecting no less than 300,000 people -- has been nothing but impressive. It also dispelled the notion of Jakarta as a cruel and heartless city populated by largely self-centered people.

It turned metropolitan Jakarta into one huge kampung, or village, where people were brought together to deal with a common crisis -- one in which the more fortunate helped those of lesser means.

Many Rukun Tetangga (neighborhood units) or "RTs," proved pivotal in quickly mobilizing people within their communities to help flood victims.

We heard stories of amazing compassion -- from housewives organizing public kitchens to cook nasi bungkus (rice parcels), to young volunteers helping to move women, children and the elderly to dry areas.

Because they lived in the vicinity, these people were the first to act, long before the others arrived.

We also heard of local radio stations playing a very important role in the community.

These stations were not simply updating news of floods by the second but, more importantly, they were mobilizing assistance and volunteers through their on-air announcements. Being more "local" than TV channels and most newspapers, the radio stations were most effective in bringing the community together.

And then there was the wide assortment of volunteer organizations -- universities, schools, women's and rafters' groups -- who literally plunged into the waters to rescue victims and to distribute food and other forms of relief among the needy.

All these actions combined to bring out a poignantly true sense of community in this city of nine million people.

Those that stepped forward to help did much to ease the suffering and pain of the flood victims, who needed all the assistance they could get in difficult moments.

They also compensated for all the frustration many people felt at the slow response of the local administrations -- from City Hall all the way down to the kelurahan (subdistrict offices).

We have heard of complaints from flood victims that administration assistance was either late, or simply not forthcoming.

There were even reports of officials hampering the efforts to aid the affected communities, such as their insistence that all help be coordinated through their offices.

The worst tragedy, unfortunately, also brought the worst out in some people -- the opportunists and profiteers among us.

We heard outrageous stories of hoodlums extorting money from flood victims, or even preventing relief supplies from reaching their destination. There were also stories of officers from state electricity firm PLN asking for as much as Rp 300,000 from flood victims, before restoring power to their homes.

But stories of extortion and government incompetence should not belittle the fact that most residents of Jakarta responded in a way that they would be expected to in a small, tightly knit community.

This brought great comfort: now we know that we can always rely on our neighbors, and our communities, to come through for us whenever something terrible like this happens.

Let's hope that these acts of sympathy and solidarity continue.

For most flood victims, the ordeal is far from over, even after the flood waters have receded from their homes. They must clean up -- and, in some cases, even rebuild their homes from scratch. Others must confront the various diseases and, of course, the stress that come with flood disasters.

Some people's lives have been shattered completely.

These flood victims still need all the help they can get.

Initial assistance allowed them to survive the cold and wet days and nights, either on their rooftops or temporary shelters.

Now they need assistance in the daunting task of rebuilding their homes.

With the central government and the Jakarta administration both hard pressed for money, flood victims can expect very little in terms of official assistance.

Now, the community must again come to the rescue.

Judging by last week's incredible response, we have every reason to believe that the residents of this big village called Jakarta will once more rise to the occasion.