HANDS ON DISASTER RESPONSE
PROJECT SUNGAI GERINGGING, CLOSING REPORT
After a successful five and a half months in West Sumatra, Hands On Disaster Response’s Project Sungai Geringging (PSG) has finished. During our period of intervention HODR welcomed 227 volunteers from 29 different countries along with a strong number of volunteers from all around Indonesia. Together we worked to clear the footprint of destroyed homes, taught earthquake safety in schools, built transitional shelters, taught English, built footpaths to community water systems, and worked to help communities collect rainwater – a variety of programs designed to help our neighbours recover from the earthquakes which struck on 30 September and 1 October, 2009. The following is a recap of the work completed over the last weeks of PSG and a few words of thanks.
Transitional Shelters
The wooden frame for the final shelter was built in record time. It took an all-hands push during the final days to complete the rendering, but shelter number 10 was finished in record time. On April 2nd, when Ibu Suma and her family moved in they turned a HODR t-shelter into their home.
HODR is proud to have provided a dignified t-shelter for its beneficiaries throughout Project Sungai Geringging. Targeting the most vulnerable, a total of ten transitional shelters were built in our host community of Tanjung Alai. Utilizing locally milled lumber and complimenting the frame with earthquake-resistant construction techniques, the shelters provide dry safe space for families as they begin the next step to recovery and rebuilding. Throughout the community people can be found building additions, finishing their floors, moving furniture and hanging pictures in these shelters. In more than one family home a proud place was set up to display photos of the volunteers who worked on their new home.
100+ Sites
During the course of PSG we completed salvage/cleanup on 102 houses and deconstruction work on 89 houses. We celebrated the milestone 100th house, the deconstruction and salvage of Ibu Elfida’s home, in the last week of March. At the start of PSG it was clear we would need specific skills to safely and effectively deconstruct partially and totally damaged buildings by hand. The mantra for the volunteer crews was ‘safety and salvage,’ safety being paramount for the volunteers and salvage (of reusable materials) for the beneficiaries. The deconstruction phase (“safe-ing”) of a house was followed by teams of volunteers separating salvageable material from rubble. The materials we helped salvage amounted to the equivalent of thousands of dollars per house.
Back to School
The Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) earthquake-safety training program in schools started in January in response to the behaviour of children witnessed during a strong aftershock. It has now been delivered to more than 25 schools across the district. HODR volunteers also added a first aid component to the DRR training and ten schools benefited from this educational process as well.
The Cultural Experience
A major part of volunteering with HODR is the unique way in which you’re able to connect with the community. Certainly in Indonesia this has been no different, and we have been taken under the wing of many local people and officials. The Minangkabau culture on this part of the island, pre-dating but heavily influenced by Islam, provided a prominent and engaging cultural backdrop.
HODR worked closely with local and regional leaders over the course of our project. It was with their ongoing support that we were able to help the people of Padang Pariaman. With this backdrop, it was a privilege to be invited into the home of the Bupati (Regent) of Padang Pariaman district for a celebration held in our honour. We were provided with a festival of traditional food and dancing, a short moving play interpreting the moment of the earthquake, and certificates of appreciation. Everyone was also presented with a traditional horsehair hat and invited to take part in the more modern Indonesian tradition- Karaoke!
Terima Kasih!
At the end of every HODR project we host a special event for our local community, to thank the many people whom we have helped and have helped us along the way. Over one hundred people came to celebrate the completion of Project Sungai Geringging on our final Saturday, with local food and music and of course lots of children to entertain!
One of the last events to take place is the distribution of our remaining household equipment and numerous tools we collect during the project. Our focus was to contribute to the families who we had not been able to help with other programs during PSG.
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I would like to thank the 227 volunteers who have given their time and energy throughout the project. Your efforts along with the generous donations from the HODR Family allowed us to help the people of Padang Pariaman recover from the earthquakes.
In part, the transitional shelter project success came from individual volunteers who stepped up to the many challenges and roles, dedicating their energy to perfecting each task and passing on their skills to incoming volunteers. The pride and energy that went into making each shelter a home has been a touching part of the project for many of the volunteers involved.
Vital to every project is the knowledge and experience provided by our local staff. With that in mind, everyone at Project Sungai Geringging would like to say ‘terima kasih banyak’ to staff members Rina, Hamdan, Rosnani and Iwan for working so hard with us throughout the project.
Rina our translator was extremely energetic, she always brought fun to our day. Hamdan, our lively driver and local sourcer-extraordinaire, played an important role in the field. Our housekeeper Rosnani rose to the challenge of feeding and fueling an ever increasing amount of volunteers and worked tirelessly with her son Iwan (Andy, to his closest friends!) to keep at least some of the dust and mud out of our clothes.
I’d like to say a particular thank you to Marc Young and Stefanie Chang, who launched PSG, but were called to Haiti in January to initiate Project Leogane. Project Sungai Geringging has been an unparalleled experience thanks to the efforts of these two people. Following their departure, the support and encouragement of volunteers Nate Harrold, TC Kida and Jess Van Ness, along with my other personal heroes, helped guide this project to a successful and dynamic close.
Every person who has connected with Project Sungai Geringging, whether as a volunteer, a staff member, a donor, or a supporter back at home deserves a huge thank you from myself and everyone at Hands On Disaster Response.
Henri Fawcett
HODR Project Coordinator
Project Sungai Geringging
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For all updates from the project, please visit our Project Page.
Please give us millions of dollars so we can keep helping families in need. Okay, I guess we understand if you can’t give millions. But we do hope you’ll do all you can in this season of giving to help us provide safe space and shelter to Kasmabati & Wan, and other families like theirs. Your gift makes a direct impact.
We started with it on Day 1 and we’re still busy with it – deconstruction of rural homes. During the earthquake homes shook violently and walls buckled, often leaving the roof intact. Although the affected population of Padang Pariaman is proactively working to reclaim their ruined homes, many are so severely damaged that it is beyond the community’s ability to deal with the unstable structure. So the homes sit as a haunting reminder, precariously waiting to fall. The HODR hard hat team analyzes the structure, creates a safe working environment, re-claims salvageable materials, then in a controlled fashion brings the roof to the ground. Once the overhead hazard has been eliminated, volunteers busily remove the corrugated metal (aka zinc/galvanized iron/GI), disassemble the wooden trusses, and separate usable brick/stone from mortar. To date we have assisted in the safe deconstruction of 21 homes and 1 elementary school.
The driving force behind what we are doing is not only the elimination of unsafe structures but also the salvage of rebuilding materials. Doors, windows, ventilation block, wood, and zinc are all high value items in this area and everything we salvage translates directly to a cost saving when rebuilding. We have seen families utilizing their salvaged materials almost as quickly as we create it, turning the recycled pieces into temporary shelters and kitchens. The local household income for our area is equal to about US$70.00 per month, and our brick salvage efforts alone equates to about 2 months wages!
One of the highest compliments to our organization is to have a volunteer repeat their service at another project. We are proud of our programs and the work our return volunteers enable us to do (38% of volunteers on this project). Project Sungai Geringging is breaking some new ground on our international front with a high percentage of 1st time volunteers (62% of volunteers on this project). It is an honor to have so many people willing to fly almost around the world to join us on their first HODR experience. Thank you!
Although, schools (particularly primary schools) suffered heavy damages in the earthquake, resources for temporary classrooms were quickly mobilized and many now sport rows of temporary timber/plywood classrooms – a more conducive learning environment than hot canvas tents! However these temporary classrooms are often built right next to a precariously damaged masonry school building. Our deconstruction team worked side by side with local volunteers to “safe” an elementary school in a neighboring korong (neighborhood). The work was complicated and the scale was much bigger than the single-family homes we have been working on. Nonetheless, we brought the huge trusses down and salvaged tin that was quickly used to construct new temporary classrooms. Now, a new 3-classroom school building is under construction on the very site we helped demolish and clear.
HODR is always looking for opportunities to help communities in need and for ways to engage our volunteers in meaningful programs, often in partnership with other organizations. One week ago, we started working with IBU Foundation, an Indonesian NGO at work in Agam (the district just north of us) where they are building an IDP (internally-displaced persons) camp. These families lost their entire community in earthquake-induced landslides, and now they’re working with IBU to build shelters, water systems, and latrines in their new home.