TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Bloggers join hands in solidarity for disaster victims
Heavy showers on Saturday morning failed to deter more than 1,300 bloggers and other different social networking communities from attending the Pesta Blogger 2010 at the Epicentrum Walk in South Jakarta
Change Size
H
eavy showers on Saturday morning failed to deter more than 1,300 bloggers and other different social networking communities from attending the Pesta Blogger 2010 at the Epicentrum Walk in South Jakarta. This was the fourth year the event has been held.
Somewhat different from past events, this year the event raised concern for the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in the
Mentawai islands, West Sumatra, and the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta.
“We provided a box for visitors who want to donate money for the victims,” event committee chairwoman Irayani Queencyputri said.
“We also have a charity counter for those who want to donate second hand items and recyclable goods for resale,” Irayani said.
Piles of goods, such as broken suitcases, cell phones, empty soda cans, papers and plastic bottles were seen in sacks at a drop counter at the venue parking lot.
Some donations for the Men-tawai disaster victims would be given to the Indonesian Red Cross, Irayani said.
“Other donations will be channeled directly to the Mt. Merapi eruption victims through a blogger community in Yogyakarta,” she told The Jakarta Post.
The latest data shows that as of July this year there are more than 3.3 million blog accounts in Indonesia and more 40 blogger forums and communities where bloggers are connected with one another.
Blogger Iman Sulaiman from Depok, West Java, said after the disasters some bloggers exchanged emails to collect donations.
“We also posted Red Cross account numbers in blogs as information to help people willing to donate,” he said.
Another blogger, Pandu Padmanegara from Bogor, West Java, said that he had contacted the Yogyakarta blogger community to get updates on the latest situation in Mt. Merapi, and also asked for help in determining what types of aid were most greatly needed.
Some bloggers had worked together with local administration officials to dispense the aid and donations, Yogyakarta community blogger Entong said.
Yasmin Foundation representative Asti Adha Perdani lauded the visitors’ enthusiasm to join in support of the victims.
“Within only two hours after opening the charity counter we received a substantial amount of goods from visitors,” Asti said.
The foundation will be in charge of reselling some donated items.
In his opening remarks at the event, National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said that blogs and other social networking communities had played an important role in disseminating information to
the public.
The network has been proven to be useful and effective in such time of disasters, Nuh said. (rch)
