Two members of IOM’s Banda Aceh-based tsunami reconstruction
team are among the 21 spirited volunteers assisting the
Organization’s emergency response to the devastating 27 May
earthquake on Indonesia’s Java island.

Teuku Maksum, a 28-year-old Acehnese architect employed by
IOM’s construction services unit in Banda Aceh, and security
assistant Vita Damayanti each had their own reasons for travelling
to the earthquake ravaged area. The first was spurred to action by
his desire to assist survivors of natural disasters, while the
latter responded to terrifying images of her home village and
family home reduced to rubble.

“I’ve been volunteering since 2000 and when I heard
about Yogjakarta, it reminded me of Aceh which on the first day
after the tsunami had a small number of casualties that increased
rapidly,” said Maksum, who witnessed the devastation wrought
by the December 2004 tsunami. “Thank God this is not as bad
as the tsunami.”

Within days of the dawn quake he’d cleared off his desk
and notified his supervisor of his plans to head to Yogjakarta.

"Other Indonesians came to help us during the tsunami so I am
helping them now,” he said. “I informed my mother of my
plans and she sealed her approval with a smile. So, I’m here
for the next two weeks.”

Maksum spent his first six days in Yogjakarta helping patients
from Bantul hospital return home. He is now concentrating on what
he does best, architectural design and planning.

“The way houses are constructed here is wrong and the
materials used are of extremely low quality. It is good that some
villagers are starting to rebuild, but if they use the old method,
it’s scary what could happen if there is another
earthquake,” he said.

Over the next few days Maksum, who started working at IOM in
February 2005, will develop a plan to reinforce earthquake-damaged
structures.

“Some homes are not completely damaged so we need to try
and see how they can be reinforced, especially the main pillars.
That’s the first step,” Maksum said.

Maksum began doing volunteer work six years ago when he and some
other architect friends brainstormed on the best way to rebuild
homes damaged by a massive flood in the Lampaseh area of Aceh.

“After the floods subsided, my friends and I formed
‘Architect Help’,’’ he said. “ We
went around assessing the damage and proposed a plan for proper
housing to various donors. They were impressed and helped us obtain
raw materials to start rebuilding. We helped 30 families in
Lampaseh and it felt good. I want to do the same here.”

Twenty-four-year-old Vita Damayanti is spending her annual leave
in Yogjakarta, shuttling between her home in Ganti Warno in Klaten
district and the IOM office in Yogjakarta.

“My sister who stays in Klaten town sent me a text message
at five minutes past six on the morning of the earthquake saying
that Merapi had exploded,” Vita said. “I turned on the
TV and heard that an earthquake had flattened Klaten, not an
explosion.”

She frantically tried to reach her in-laws and family. The first
contact was with her mother who told her about the tremors and of
the ensuing confusion during which some panicked local residents
spread rumours of an impending tsunami.

She received news that her in-laws were okay and then saw their
destroyed home on television. This convinced her to get to Klaten
as quickly as possible.

“When I spoke to my father-in-law that Saturday (27 May),
his voice was shaking and he was distraught. He said his house was
no more,” Vita said. “I comforted him saying that my
husband and I both had jobs so we would rebuild the home for
sure.”

Vita caught a flight to Yogjakarta on 1 June, met up with her
husband Martinus and together they returned to their hometown,
Gesikan village, to help his family put their life back in
order.

Gesikan village was levelled by the earthquake. All 69 families,
mainly rice and vegetable farmers, lost their homes. When the
earthquake struck, some ran into the nearby fields while others
crawled beneath their beds. Neighbours recall how a young child who
prostrated himself in the Muslim position of prayer emerged
unscratched from a home where seven people died.

The only part of the family home left standing is a corner from
which Vita’s mother-in-law Wiwik operates a tiny shop.
Immediately following the earthquake, she stocked up on water,
instant noodles and biscuits and now prepares simple meals for the
many volunteers who have descended on the village, located in one
of the three worst-affected districts.

“I’m just so relieved that my family is fine, so
thankful for that,” said Vita. “When I came home I
brought along a tent that was given to me by a colleague, Shaqir.
My husband put it up and my mother-in-law smiled and said she could
now have a decent night’s rest.”

The neighbours were elated to see smiling Vita, the ever helpful
anak kampong (child of the village) back home after ten months in
Banda Aceh. The ladies are especially thrilled to see the slight
bulge in her tummy signalling a new addition to their village. Vita
is expecting her first child in six months’ time.

In addition to in-house volunteers, vacationing college students
are also helping IOM escort hundreds of discharged patients home
every day.

“Just giving them a helping hand, my shoulder for support
and in some cases carrying men and women into the vehicles just
makes life a little easier for them,” said Gito Nirboyo, a
college student from the Indonesian Institute of Art who was drawn
to IOM at a friend’s suggestion.

“My friend read about the work IOM is doing and now, here
I am in Klaten hospital,” Gito said. “Volunteering is a
natural calling. I volunteered in Aceh after the tsunami and
I’m doing this now.”

Bastian Winarto is taking time off from his usual tour guide
duties to ferry patients from the hospital to their homes.

“It’s quiet on the work side so I’m here,
helping the injured return home, carrying their crutches and
whatever else I can do,” said the robust 23-year-old.

Nineteen volunteers are assisting IOM’s medical returns
programme which helped 1,598 patients and family members return to
their home villages in the nine days following the earthquake.