Readers' contribution :
Fundraising Activities for JAVA Earthquake

Nugroho Ganjar (GSAPS MBA)

Author(left)

Saturday, May 27th, 2006 was a nightmare for Indonesians living on Java Island. A magnitude 6.3 quake struck Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces before dawn. It killed at least 6,234 people, injured 30,000 more, destroyed 140,000 homes and left 780,000 people homeless. Refugees are now living in makeshift shelters to protect themselves from downpours and the hot sun. Medical aid, shelters, blankets, clean water, and other logistics are urgently needed. Further help for reconstruction, which will start in the near future, will ease their sufferings.

After consulting with the GSAPS office staff, we were advised to go to the Waseda University Hirayama Ikuo Memorial Volunteer Center (WAVOC). It took only a couple of hours to get permission from WAVOC to start fund-rising activities at Waseda University for Java Earthquake victims. The Indonesian Student Association at Waseda University and WAVOC then collaborated to conduct fund-raising activities from May 31st until June 7th, 2006. Both Japanese and Indonesians worked together as volunteers. They collected donations from friends and professors, and placed fund boxes at school offices and stores. A total of 253,059 yen was collected. This entire sum was remitted by WAVOC to the Indonesian Red Cross's “Help Earthquake Disaster in Yogyakarta” bank account in Bank Central Asia, with account number 450.37.7711.1.

We would like to say thank you to WAVOC for coordinating fund-raising activities at Waseda University. We would also like to thank the many people who, with such warm hearts, donated to the victims and supported the fund-rising activities. For more information on the Indonesian Red Cross, please check its website at [http://www.palangmerah.org/default.asp?stat=eng].

Recently, about 40 kilometres North of the quake, Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanos, spewed lava and hot clouds of gas and ash scores of times. Hopefully, it will not add to the number of victims. (Nugroho Ganjar and Inoue Chieko)