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After disaster, Jakartans search for ways to help
Jakartans are finding many ways to help the victims of the tsunami that struck Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, and the eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java
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akartans are finding many ways to help the victims of the tsunami that struck Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, and the eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java.
One housewife, Ibu Satrio, 57, has been collecting donations from her neighbors in the Pegangsaan Dua housing complex in East Jakarta ever since the disasters struck.
The European Commission has allocated ¤1.5 million (US$2.08 million) for humanitarian relief, while the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia donated more than $30,000 to the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).
Ibu Satrio, of course, could not collect millions of dollars from her fund-raising efforts, she said, but was happy to collect Rp 4.5 million ($504).
“I decided to help them in any way I could. It’s not much, but hopefully it can help ease the misery of the victims’,” she told The Jakarta Post on Friday. “My neighbors are quite enthusiastic. Some of them gave Rp 20,000, while a few donated Rp 300,000.”
The figures were much smaller when compared to the cost of tickets to David Foster’s sold-out concert on Wednesday night, which were sold for anywhere from Rp 1 million to Rp 25 million.
Companies are also raising funds for disaster victims. Yamaha Motor Indonesia stated on its Facebook page that the company would donate Rp 5,000 for each condolence or encouraging comment posted on its wall.
The Mentawai Students Community in Jakarta opened donation posts at the LPPMB building at the Christian University of Indonesia (UKI) on Jl. Mayjen Sutoyo in East Jakarta and at the Indonesian Bible Institute building on Jl. Salemba Raya in Central Jakarta. The students have spread word how to donate through their BlackBerry phones.
Twitter users have used the micro-blogging web site to coordinate donations of goods such as masks or food.
People who want to donate to relief efforts can transfer money to the bank accounts of many official humanitarian organizations such as the PMI.
The PMI’s bank accounts are: BCA Bank, KCU Thamrin Jakarta, account number 206.300668.8 under the name Kantor Pusat PMI; Mandiri Bank, KCP JKT Krakatau Steel, account number 070-00-0011601-7 under the name Palang Merah Indonesia and BRI Bank, KC Pancoran, Jakarta, account number 0390-01-000030-30-3, under the name Palang Merah Indonesia. (rch)
