Mennonite
Central
Committee

On site: Entire villages destroyed, declared graves

October 9, 2009

Editor’s Note: Dan and Jeanne Jantzi, MCC representatives in Indonesia, reflect on the needs of the people MCC will support through its Asia Disasters campaign. They witnessed some of the earthquake damage during a visit to Padang and the village of Guci (Goo-chi), Oct. 6-8. They focused especially on places where MCC’s partner, Mennonite Diakonial Service, has already begun to work. Here are some of their reflections, in their own words, as they formulate a response plan.

The destruction in the district of Sicincin, where the village of Guci is located, is so great that it’s hard to believe there could be areas where the situation is worse. Yet this morning in Padang, we saw aerial footage from 20 kilometers further north where landslides on the heavily forested hills have buried whole villages. The property where family homes once stood has crashed and slipped away so there is no land on which to rebuild.

Yesterday, as we stood in the school yard of the ruined elementary school in Guci, the children cheered to see relief helicopters flying overhead to these isolated areas. From the reports we are hearing, the area is accessible only by a three-hour trek on foot. All relief supplies must be sent in by helicopter.

Immediately after the Oct. 1 earthquake, Padang appeared to be the area most affected by the tremor. The many collapsed government buildings, stores and hotels in the city provided dramatic footage. A week later, another story is developing as relief organizations are getting to the more isolated locations.

Yesterday, the Indonesian government decided to name the landslide areas as mass graves since it is almost impossible to dig out the bodies. The Indonesian Muslim Ulamas Council (MUI) issued a fatwa (a ruling) assuring the 90 percent Muslim population that this is an acceptable burial option in this situation.