By, Komang Kurniawan, EBPP Chairman & Team Leader
The recent hurricane-force winds have been the latest natural disaster, after the Ban village earthquake - only 15 months ago - inflicting serious damage to infrastructure and the natural environment in the mountain village of Ban, the work area of EBPP.
Last Monday night, 2nd January, the destructive winds were most severe in Manikaji sub-village, located on the steep Mount Abang slopes, uprooting many large trees and badly damaging the roofs of many homes and temples. The saddest thing for us though was the destruction of our Manikaji School roof, meaning that again all students are not able to have classes here! Many will remember that in October 2021, the building suffered serious damage during the Ban village earthquake, and it was only in February 2022 that students could go back to school - and now their school is closed again due to the hurricane winds!
As I write this, the heavy rains and strong winds persist, so we have to think about solutions for the safety of our students, and where they will study, because the community meeting centre (balai banjar), next to the school, which we could utilise after the earthquake, also suffered serious roof damage - and now we are in the middle of the rainy season!
The strong winds also severely damaged many temporary bamboo A-frame shelters that EBPP built for the community after the October 2021 earthquake.
“My house was destroyed by the earthquake, then I got shelter assistance from EBPP - and now the shelter was destroyed by a windstorm! Again, I no longer have a comfortable place to sleep with my family,” said Pak Wayan, a local resident sadly.
Hopefully, the wind-storm soon passes, so that people can feel safe to stay at home.
To assist with repairs of EBPP’s damaged school roof, we appeal for assistance from generous donors, so that all students can return to school more quickly in a safe and calm manner. Thank you •