Staying Strong Amid Disasters

In areas with frequent disasters, women have come up with the idea of a smarter, healthier and more environmentally friendly life. Through such a life, they hope disaster will not strike again.

Women are not weak creatures. Amid disasters, they come up with solutions. Natural caregivers, they play a role in providing food and taking care of the environment.

Heavy rain has continued to fall in Andir, Bandung regency, since the end of February, triggering floods. In March, the floods reached a depth of 240 centimeters, inundating 4,000 houses and affecting 14,222 residents. Many of them have to evacuate or find temporary shelter. Others choose to stay on the second floors of their houses.

Evi Rohimah, 40, a resident of RT 001 RW 013 neighborhood in Andir, is among those who have chosen to stay. She took all the goods from her small shop upstairs along with a bed and wardrobe.

“I feel I have the responsibility to provide things for the residents who choose to stay,” she said on Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, she went down the emergency ladder and took a boat with her husband to a command post some 200 meters from their house.

At the command post Evy has run the public kitchen for the past two years. She cooks food donated by local residents and the public for 30 people.

Around 10 other women have joined the work. While the men take residents back and forth for their daily activities, the women prepare the seasoning, cook food and arrange it in packs for those affected by the floods. “We want to relieve their burden,” Evy said.

Although it looks simple, they play a big role. They help old people or those unable to find food. “The public kitchen used to be around 5 kilometers from here, at the Baleendah district office. Now, it is much closer,” she said.

After two years, the RT 001 public kitchen has been entrusted with cooking for 100 people each day for the RW 103 neighborhood. The women volunteers have increased to 20. “Each day, the number of women increases. The flooding strengthens their unity,” Evy said.

Tasih, 39, a resident of RT 002 RW 013 in Andir, one of the cooks, feels the solidarity. Now, she cares for others during flooding.

Tasih acknowledged that she used to be busy evacuating and finding temporary shelter. “Rather than staying at the shelter, it is much better to work at the public kitchen. I feel proud of being able to help others,” she said.

KOMPAS/SAMUEL OKTORA

Fifie Efendie, founder of the Bersinar Garbage Bank, is pictured in Dayeuhkolot, Bandung regency, West Java, on Jan. 23.

Garbage

The trigger for the flooding is the same. Aside from the heavy rainfall, piles of garbage that clog the drainage also cause floods. Such a situation persuaded Fifie Efendie, 53, to try to make a change. She introduced the economic value of garbage and pushed for entrepreneurship among the residents.

Four years ago, she established the Bersinar Garbage Bank (BSB) in Dayeuhkolot, Bandung regency. It was located near the flooded area in Dayeuhkolot, by the Citarum River.

Now, BSB membership stands at 7,000 people. Priced at Rp 1,500-Rp 2,000 per kilogram of sorted garbage, the total value of the BSB savings is now Rp 200 million.

To increase the economic welfare of the residents, Fifie initiated the sidewalk mall, which provides clothes for resale. Several items of women’s clothes were hung up. Some clothes for boys were piled neatly. These sell for Rp 5,000-Rp 15,000 per piece. “These are not used clothes. These are from the garment factory,” she said.

Many people are interested in those clothes. Since January 2018, around 500 pieces have been sold. Not all of the clothes were bought using cash. Some were bought using vouchers from collecting garbage.

Fifie’s efforts have borne fruit. In one month, they can collect 1 ton of garbage on average. While pushing for more utilization of garbage, she has prepared for the opening of a school and health clinic with the support of garbage management.

“There are universities and state-owned companies that are interested in cooperation. The goal is to stop the garbage causing floods but also to increase people’s welfare,” she said.

Like Fifie, similar efforts to increase people’s welfare have also been carried out by Susi Sugiarti, 41, in Bandung city. Since 2011, she has promoted ideal sanitation around the RW 001 neighborhood in Rancanumpang subdistrict.

Healthy and clean life

Rancanumpang is about 12 kilometers from downtown Bandung, near the Cinambo River a tributary of the Citarum River. Human feces disposed of into the Cinambo River, Susi said, potentially contaminated the livelihoods of the people living on the banks of the Citarum River.

Susi said the promotion varied, starting from reminding people about healthy living through loudspeakers at mosques to urging people to build toilets in their houses.

Susi said because of a lack of knowledge, people disposed of feces into the river. There was even a fixed schedule, children in the morning, women at daytime and men at night. Concerned about this situation, she started to take action.

Initially, it was not easy for Susi to campaign for a healthy life. Some of the residents opposed the idea but she did not give up. In order to give an example, she built a septic tankat her house. After spreading publicity, residents became aware and built septic tanks at their houses.

“In 2015, Bandung Health Agency declared Rancanumpang free from open defecation. That status led to Rancanumpang winning the best subdistrict in Bandung city in the same year,” she said.

Now, everything runs well but Susi does not want to stop. She continues the campaign for sanitation awareness from an early age through the early year education (PAUD) in the RW 001 neighborhood of Rancanumpang. PAUD was set up eight years ago. It continues to promote the importance of septic tanks and of not disposing of garbage recklessly.

“If it is introduced from an early age, the importance of healthy lifestyles will be easily understood. Let this be remembered,” Susi said.

Through deft hands, strong will and high determination, women in disaster-hit areas can prove voluntary work does not recognize differences. When anything is done with love, the decision to help others is much smarter when they live in disaster-hit areas.