[5-30-06]

Bernie and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta live in Yogyakarta, Central Java, just 10 miles or so miles north of the Bantul, the town most severely affected by the earthquake that struck early on Saturday morning, local time.

We share this report, with Bernie’s kind permission, as a way of helping others gain some sense of what that kind of disaster means "on the ground," and how some people of faith are responding. Bernie is professor of ethics and social sciences at Duta Wacana Christian University in Yogyakarta, and Farsijana is senior researcher for Duta Wacana's Center for Research and Social Service.

His letter has also been posted, complete with photos, on the PC(USA) website.

Dear Family and Friends,

It is Monday, 5 AM. I've just been watching the fiery lava running down Mt. Merapi, north of Yogyakarta. A massive 6.2 earthquake opened the swelling peak, allowing the lava to flow. The earthquake struck at 5:55 AM on Saturday. Farsijana was out running and I was drinking coffee upstairs. 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 had a cold coming on and was exhausted from a week-long seminar, so 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. 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. 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.

Designate the gift for the Yogyakarta Earthquake. Thanks to all of you who called or sent e-mails. We are so grateful for your loving thoughts and prayers. Indeed we count on them.

God's Peace be with you,

Bernie and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta

Money will go for medical care, food and shelter    [5-30-06]

by Evan Silverstein, Presbyterian News Service    You can also read the article on the PC(USA) web site >>

LOUISVILLE - Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has sent $113,500 to help meet the immediate needs of earthquake survivors in Indonesia as international aid began arriving in the quake-battered island-nation on Tuesday.

The PDA funding, from One Great Hour of Sharing and designated disaster funds, is being channeled through three faith-based partner agencies in Indonesia, according to Susan Ryan, PDA's coordinator.

Ryan said $50,000 has been forwarded to the disaster-response arm of the Council of Churches of Indonesia, which is called Yayasan Tanggul Benchana Indonesia or YTBI. The money will help provide food and shelter to quake survivors.

Another $50,000 has been sent to the emergency unit of the Christian Foundation for Public Health, which is called the Yakkum Emergency Unit or YEU. That money will be used to provide medical assistance to survivors.

PDA has also sent $13,500 to the Indonesian office of Church World Service (CWS), the disaster-relief agency of the National Council of Churches. The money will be used to fund the shipment of supplies to the earthquake zone from CWS's warehouse in Medan, Indonesia.

"As this disaster hit, I remembered the faces of those Indonesians who came recently to the United States to help with the Hurricane Katrina response," Ryan said, referring to a visit to the Gulf Coast in March by survivors of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. "Now these same wonderful colleagues have lost family and houses and are weary as they respond to another immense tragedy in their country. Their faithfulness and energy are amazing. They need our prayers and ongoing support."

Like PDA, the three relief agencies are members of Action by Churches Together International (ACT), a Geneva-based international alliance of churches and relief agencies, which is coordinating its relief effort with ACT's office in Medan.

She said PDA's money was sent to support an initial $2.5 million emergency appeal issued by ACT.

A 6.3-magnitude quake, which struck close to the former Javanese royal capital of Yogyakarta last weekend, has so far killed 5,427 people, seriously wounded 6,504 and left 100,000 homeless, according to the country's Social Affairs Ministry. Another 2,081 suffered minor injuries.

The quake destroyed 19,535 homes and severely damaged another 13,624, the ministry said.

Ryan said Presbyterian Mission Co-Workers Bernie and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta, who are living in hard-hit Yogyakarta, Indonesia, are unharmed and have started to send reports to PDA from the impacted area.

Ryan said YEU has been assisting primarily with medical care. On Saturday (May 27), YEU began providing medical services and assessments through mobile clinics in impacted areas.  The mobile clinics are staffed by six medical teams each made up of doctors, nurses, support staff and community development specialists, who are assisting in organizing YEU's disaster response. The mobile-clinic teams reported that 80 to 98 percent of the houses across 10 villages in which they have visited were damaged, with hundreds of people injured or killed.

Ryan said the teams reported that there is inadequate shelter to protect survivors from rain, a lack of first-aid kits and medicine, no adequate latrines or other sanitation facilities, and a desperate need for food and other items.  In each village, the teams treated between 30 to 150 patients, she said. The teams also distributed hygiene kits supplied by CWS and baby kits from YTBI.

Meanwhile, CWS has distributed mineral water, instant noodles and biscuits to 500 households in four sub-districts in Bantul district: Kretek, Parangtritis, Tambang Dipuro and Pundong. The CWS emergency team is currently assessing six other sub-districts in Bantul district.

A shipment of 40 family-size tents, 1,125 hygiene kits and 270 blankets arrived Tuesday (May 30) in Solo, Indonesia, from CWS's warehouse in Medan, the first shipment of some 13 tons of supplies that CWS plans to send to affected areas in Yogyakarta.

Contributions for Indonesian earthquake relief may be sent through normal mission-giving channels by designating gifts for the following account: Indonesia response #DR000146. Gifts by credit card can be made by callingPresbyTel at (800)872-3283, or online at the PDA Web site. Checks payable to the PC(USA) can be mailed to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Central Receiving, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY, 40202.