- from : Institut Fracais d’ Indonesie
Abstract:
May 27, 2006 at dawn, in fifty-two seconds, three hundred thousand houses collapsed in Yogyakarta, Bantul and Klaten, killing six thousand people. That morning, as a poet and writer living in these region for 20 years, I stopped writing. Amid the ruins, the most beautiful verses look like a parasitic vine that creeps and hinders community outreach. I recycled my writing skills into ” financial reports” sent to supportive friends to account of the good use of the money they donated for months to rebuild all aspects of the life of the 500 inhabitants of Bebekan. Inspired by the energy of “gotong royong” (community-help) and by a micro economic system based on improvisation on a daily basis to adjust to the wishes of the villagers, a community centre was founded just one year after the disaster. This community centre aimed to promote cooperation between culture and agriculture, education and micro-economics, environment and local wisdom. It was named “Giri Gino Guno” which means “hill of great value and benefit”. I would like here to share the many challenges I’ve faced throughout this extraordinary human adventure, and the down-to earth guidelines I’ve learned from the people of Bebekan. Let me therefore quote the 20th “episode” of my accounts sent to supportive friends from all over the world.