Yosz Blog

 How do persons with disabilities deal with disasters? Persons with disabilities are considered vulnerable and many of them have to deal with challenges when disaster occurs, especially when they want to continue living towards independence during the post-disaster recovery period. This challenge is exacerbated by the view of the society who often underestimate the capabilities of persons with disabilities. This leaves them with limited opportunities to fill strategic positions in policy making at the local level.

Erti Suhastri, is a 36-year-old community leader, mother, and person with disability from Ciputri Village. Aware of the challenges experienced by persons with disabilities, Erti is committed to fight for equality and to increase awareness on the importance of inclusiveness. Erti is an example of a person with disabilities who becomes a leader in the village. He was chosen as the coordinator of the evacuation camp in Ciputri Village in Pacet sub-district of Cianjur District. She continues to provide information services and distribute aid amid her limitations.

Erti was born with a physical disability, yet it does not stop her from contributing to her community. Elected as the coordinator of the evacuation post in Ciputri, Erti demonstrates her ability to manage the evacuation post. She and her team manage the evacuation post through provision of information services to the local community and the coordination of aid distribution in the area. Occasionally she experienced access difficulties because she had to walk farther afield to get and distribute aid. Erti brings great enthusiasm to the role, and in the midst of post-disaster,the  she seeks help and support for her neighbors living in the location where she and her family had fled.

Erti mentioned that initially, accessing assistance from the government for people with disabilities was a long process and quite difficult, but is now becoming easier. She hopes the government will prioritize persons with disability and provide more support in the future.

Ciputri Village is one of the villages in Cianjur District with around 120 persons with disabilities. Sadly though, many families choose not to include family members with disabilities on their family card due to embarrassment and social stigma. There is still discrimination towards persons with disabilities, especially in rural villages. Many community members do not understand the importance of increasing capacity, accessibility, and inclusion for people with disabilities.

As one of the villages where the YAKKUM Emergency Unit conducts humanitarian interventions, Ciputri Village has become a focus area for aid distribution and mapping of the most at-risk groups, including the older people and persons with disability. Erti as head of the evacuation center contributes to conducting assessments and distributing assistance to persons with disabilities in her village. Erti has become the focal person that connected YEU volunteers with beneficiaries. Erti herself has a desire to educate people in her village about disabilities so they can overcome their challenges and be empowered. Erti is also working towards breaking the stigma associated with disability and encouraging persons with disability to become more independent.

Story of Mak Ara who stay in a communal tent in Talaga Village - It was a sunny afternoon on Thursday, 1 December 2022, when the YEU response team visited a communal tent in Talaga Village in Cugenang sub-district. The team conducted an assessment to identify the condition, need and the gaps experienced by at-risk communities, either in the communal tent or in the household tent. An elderly lady was seen walking around the tent and invited them to come inside her tent, to see the condition inside a communal tent.

She is affectionately called Mak Ara by her family and neighbors. She is an 80 year old person who survived the devastated earthquake (5.6 magnitude) that hit Cianjur District on 21 November 2022. On the severity of the disaster, it has affected more than 15 sub-districts, with 331 death casualties and 11 persons are still missing, as per report on Tuesday (02/12). The total number of displaced populations is 114,683 people, including the affected community in Mak Ara’s village.

As they entered the communal tent, Mak Ara was seen together with her daughter whom she called Ai. Mak Ara recalled that when the earthquake struck the area, she was on the terrace of her house. As the earth rocked, she tried to stand up and to save herself. However, the strong earthquake made her fall and the ruins suddenly hit her arm. Fortunately, she was soon rescued and received medical treatment. Because of her frail condition combined with her old age, she has to go to regular medical treatment and will go to the nearest health facility, accompanied by Ai.

It has been 12 days since she and her family stayed in the communal tent, because there was no other option for them as their houses were damaged. They have to deal with the uncertainty as to how long they will stay in the communal tent. Their situation is exacerbated by the unpredictable weather conditions, during the day the weather is very hot and at night it is cold because the location of the village is in a hilly area. Sometimes when it rained, the rainwater got into the tent and wet the bed or mattresses which made sleeping difficult. In addition, they have to bear the strong wind. The living condition in the communal tent is hard with fear of disease threats, such as diarrhea, gastritis, and skin diseases.

Observing the situation, YEU team distributed blankets to at-risk persons in the tent, including older persons, persons with disability and people with chronic diseases. Mr. Salim, the camp coordinator in Talaga, helped YEU to distribute the blankets to Mak Ara and her family and other families. They were content with the relief items received as they once shared that they urgently need blankets, mattresses, and medicines.

Mak Ara hopes that their situation will improve soon and that there will be government support to repair the damaged houses and to recover their livelihood. Mak Ara is very grateful for any assistance received from different entities, communities, humanitarian volunteers and humanitarian agencies as they help her through the difficult situation in the communal tent. (Leo Zulfikar/YEU)

Youth Leadership in Cianjur Earthquake Response - During a disaster emergency response, the role of a leader is needed to embrace the community and support each other in difficult situations. This is reflected in one of the affected people in Gasol Village, Pipit Pitriadi (27), who is more familiarly called Pipit. He is a YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU) volunteer and coordinator at one of the evacuation posts in Gasol Village, Cugenang Sub-district, Cianjur District. Gasol Village is one of the most affected villages due to the major earthquake in Cianjur on 21 November 2022. His relatively young age and high spirit of helping make him consistent in helping survivors in his village.

On November 21, 2022, a major earthquake occurred in Cianjur which claimed 334 lives (BNPB data) and caused the village to suffer losses and damages. Gasol Village is one of the villages most affected by the earthquake. Not wanting to stay silent, Pipit decided to take action. While working with the YEU team, he was appointed as a coordinator for the Al-Ikhlas evacuation center for two weeks, and together with the YEU team helped to assess emergency needs in his village.  

In the process of aid distribution and data collection, Pipit was often assisted by young people. According to him, young people are more flexible to work together and move quickly in distribution. The role of young people is very important. Pipit can easily share tasks and exchange ideas with his peers in various volunteer activities. His biggest reason for becoming the coordinator of the evacuation post was his concern and compassion for the residents who had to take refuge in emergency tents.

Being the coordinator of an evacuation post, Pipit faced many challenges such as feeling Stressed. Sometimes people are not well coordinated during distribution. At first, it was hard to manage the distribution, so the old people had to play a role. Sometimes I receive input from other volunteers and then I become more pleased and relaxed. Another challenge is, I was surprised by this activity because I don’t have any experience. But now, I am getting used to it,'' said Pipit during a conversation with the YEU team during a visit to Gasol Village.

Before the disaster in Cianjur District, Pipit worked as an engineer to carry out building maintenance in Jakarta. In November 2021, he was fired from his job due to an accident that broke his hand. Pipit had asked for a work leave permit at his workplace but it was not allowed and then he was discharged. When he returned to Gasol village, he decided to help his mother to work in their fields. His father has died. He is the only hope of his family to make a living. The earthquake damaged some of the houses they lived in. Pipit is grateful that he and his family can still gather together even though in this difficult situation.

Currently, Pipit and his team are starting to invite villagers to clean up and sort the waste in the evacuation centers. Garbage in the evacuation center became a new problem because it had not been picked up by the cleaning officer, so they decided to burn it. Pipit hopes that the government, in its emergency response to the disaster in Cianjur District, will also focus on waste management in evacuation centers and help make the procedure for receiving aid easier and less complicated.  "We often hear promises from the village officers. The head of the village has also conducted an assessment of the community needs at the communal tent, but this has not been realized.”

At the end of the conversation with the YEU team with Pipit, he advised young people in Cianjur to work together and help each other. “In difficult situations, selfishness must be suppressed because we are affected by the disaster. For the volunteers at the evacuation center, keep up the enthusiasm, and increase our concern for the affected people. And the most important thing is cohesiveness.” (Yosz/YEU)

 Beberapa saat yang lalu kami membaca tulisan dari Disasterchannel mengenai Toponimi/penamaan satu daerah dan yang membuat kami tertarik adalah tulisan mengenai Duyu dimana penulis mengatakan bahwa Duyu sendiri bermakna longsor. Pelaksanaan Observasi terkait makna dibalik nama ini dilakukan dengan melibatkan tokoh adat desa setempat dan sebagai bentuk dukungan dan arsip sejarah, kami memutuskan untuk mengutip tulisan ini sebagai bahan pembelajran kedepan.

 Penaman Kelurahan Duyu Tidak Lahir dengan sendirinya. Ternyata kearifan lokal masyarakat Kaili yang memberikan nama tempat berdasarkan pada terjadinya peristiwa. Duyu sendiri bermakna longsor”, ucap Ahmad Fauzan Lurah Duyu.

 Tokoh Adat Kelurahan Duyu Ramli Beta Lemba menceritakan, bahwa zaman dahulu, sekotar abad 16 ada sejumlah masyarakat yang meninggali bukit di daerah Duyu. Masyarakat ini sering disebut sebagai orang gunung (sekarang istilahnya lebih familiar dengan sebutan tolare). Terdapat tradisi yang dilakukan oleh masyarakat Duyu kala itu, salah satunya arisan. Pada saat mereka menjalankan tradisi arisan, maka seluruh masyarakat akan saling bergotong-royong dan membantu. Bila salah satu anggota arisan tersebut mengadakan pesta, maka masyarakat lain akan membantu dengan membawa hasil panen berupa jagung, ubi, dan hasil bumi lainnya, bahkan menyisihkan uang mereka untuk membantu siapa saja yang mempunyai hajat.

 Suatu Ketika ada sepasang suami istri yang tidak memiliki anak. Pasangan ini berpikir bahwa bila tidak punya keturunan, maka tidak ada alas an untuk menyelenggarakan pesta. Alhasil tidak aa nada yang memberikan mereka hasil panen maupun uang. Padahal pasangan suami istri ini selalu membantu dan memberikan hasil panen dan juga uang kepada setiap orang yang mengadakan pesta.

 Kemudian pada suatu hari pasangan suami istri ini mengadakan arisan dan memberikan pengumuman bahwa mereka akan mengadakan pesta. Hari di saat pesta diselenggarakan pun tiba. Semua masyarakat membantu pesta tersebut dan membawakan hasil bumi mereka untuk pest aini. Namun tidak disangka bahwa ternyata pest aitu bukanlah pesta perkawinan manusia. Ternyata pasangan suami istri ini menyandingkan dua ekor kucing yang berjajar di altar pernikahan selayaknya pasangan manusia. Semua orang-orang murka, bahkan Tuhan pun murka terhadap perbuatan pasangan suami istri ini.

 “Karena pesta tidak sesuai dengan kepercayaan yang ada, maka Tuhan marah. Harusnya manusia yang dipersandingkan, bukan kucing. Olehkarenanya setelah pesta berlangsung terjadi petir, dating angin dan hujan terus menerus selama beberapa hari, dan kemudian terjadi longsor” kata Ramli.

“Ada bekas longsor yang bisa dilihat, dikatakan Bukit Bulu Kodi itu yang merupakan sisa aliran longsor yang ada di Duyu. Ini juga berdasarkan cerita dari orang tua” kayanya.

  Ancaman bencana selain gempa yang ada di kelurahan ini adalah longsor dan banjir. Sejarah penamaan daerah Duyu memang sangat relevan dengan ancaman bencana yang ada di daerah ini. Banyak sekali bekas aliran-aliran sungai kering yang melintasiKelurahan Duyu. Bila musim hujan tiba, maka sungai-sungai kering tiu akan terisi air bahkan terkadang debir airnya sangat tinggi.

Sumber : https://disasterchannel.co/