Indonesia's deadly landslide

Sheila Liaugmina
December 14, 2014
Reproduced with Permission
Sheila Report

How much of the world is aware this happened?

With so much else going on everywhere, in the US and globally, and so many news stories to get to and post here, all piling up, I came across this . And want to point it out.

A landslide destroyed a remote village in Indonesia, killing at least 17 people, an official said on Saturday, as rescuers used their bare hands and sticks to search through the mud for scores of missing in the absence of heavy-lifting equipment.

This is yet another story of people out of sight and mind, suffering terribly, with other people rushing forward to rescue and help as many and as much as they can, and I want to take a moment to direct attention to it and ask for prayers for all the people in dire need of them, and aid and support of any relief organizations you trust and regularly support. Or have been thinking of supporting. Because the need is great.

Hundreds have been evacuated from around Jemblung village in the Banjarnegara regency of central Java, about 280 miles from the capital, Jakarta, where media pictures showed a flood of orange mud and water cascading down a wooded mountainside after Friday's disaster.

Mudslides are common in Indonesia during the monsoon season, which usually runs from October until April.

Think about that. The monsoon season lasts for half the year. That means living on the edge of danger or extinction half of your yearly life. And in a remote place to begin with, so largely cut off from swift access to emergency help.

Large swathes of forest land, power lines and houses were buried. Hampering the rescue effort was a lack of a telephone signal and earth-moving equipment in the isolated, rural area.

"There was a roaring sound like thunder," Imam, who lives in a neighboring village, told television.

Television. The lack of any identifying network or station or anything professional news reporting usually requires shows the urgency and swiftness of this rudimentary report. Though it is published on a network news site, its source was a small local Indonesian outlet. Thankfully, they got this out. The people there are fending for themselves. They're living in this remote place, completely off our radar, when suddenly their lives were thrown into panic with the "roaring sound like thunder". Knowing now what came next, one shudders to think of experiencing this.

"Then I saw trees were flying and then the landslides. People here also panicked and fled."

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said 17 people had been killed, 15 rescued, 91 were missing and 423 people from the surrounding areas had been taken to temporary shelters. He said there was a history of similar disasters in the area.

Of all the disasters and crises in the world right now, this may not rise to the level of awareness even NBC gave it in this brief account. But it's a community of individuals and families and local merchants, businesses, services, people, so very far away from most of us, who were visited with disaster and need help.

I can't sign on to Facebook these days without seeing accounts of crises, large scale and personal, people either in danger or in the aftermath of loss, and they're reaching out for help.

For those of you who leap to such occasions to pray, please do for these Indonesians along with all others in need. For anyone who will give in this season of faith, hope and charity, please give to relief organizations.

And for everyone, let's try to live by the Golden Rule, at the very least. My parents often reminded me of its fundamental role at the center of how they were raised. Do for others what you would hope they would do for you.

Especially when most of the world doesn't even know you're there, and in dire need.

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