From Volcano to Earthquake
Jini greeted the CRS distribution team in Prambanan with a smile and kind words of thanks. This graciousness was touching, considering the difficult circumstances that brought her to this village in the badly affected district of Klaten.
Jini and Sujadi left their home on Mount Merapi and now are living in a shelter, caring for their family in the aftermath of the earthquake.
Ibu Jini and her husband, Pak Sujadi, don't typically reside in Prambanan. They live in a village on Mount Merapi. But after the shaking stopped on May 27, the couple headed down the volcano to locate Jini's family and check on her childhood home. Streets were chaotic as many feared the arrival of a tsunami, but the determined Jini and Sujadi continued on their motorcycle journey to Prambanan.
But their homecoming was less than comforting. What remained was only rubble. Unable to escape his collapsing house, Jini's father was buried under the debris. Her mother was badly injured and found fighting for her life. In total, four of Jini's family members died as a result of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that killed 5,700 and injured 38,000 others.
While quietly mourning her own loss, Jini is focused on nursing her mother back to health and assisting her sister with her four young children. During the day Jini carries her youngest nephew in a sling, caring for him while he's recovering from acute diarrhea — a sickness Jini attributes to the lack of sanitary conditions available. In the evening and at night, she sleeps on a mat next to her mother in a temporary shelter, noting that such conditions are less than ideal for the elderly.
Although missing her own home, Mount Merapi's recent eruptions have put Jini's village of Srumbung Mageland, just 7 kilometers from the volcano, on high alert. "I'm afraid to go back to Merapi," said Jini, cradling her nephew. For Jini, neither her family's home nor her husband's home is safe. She is caught somewhere between two disasters — the tragedy of the recent earthquake and the volatility of Mount Merapi — and worrying about both situations simultaneously.
Jini is focusing on caring for her mother and her young nieces and nephews.
For the moment, Jini devotes her remaining energy to caring for her mother and her young nieces and nephews. Providing assistance to both children and the elderly is a high priority for many like Jini. In response, CRS is providing emergency shelters, blankets, sarongs and hygiene kits, for both the young and old. The organization aims to provide essential relief items to 35,000 victims and is quickly nearing its goal.
And while the sick and injured are being tended to, the healthy are eager to begin rebuilding. With an estimated 1.5 million people homeless and over 310,000 houses destroyed or severely damaged — three times the number of houses affected by the tsunami in Aceh — this task is enormous. Tools are commonly requested to clear the debris, prompting CRS' distribution of nearly 5,000 clean up tool kits. CRS plans to assist communities with appropriate building tools, materials and technical assistance.
Jini hopes that when she returns to Mount Merapi she will no longer feel torn between two disasters, but will be comforted by the knowledge that her young nieces and nephews will be living in a safe and happy home.
