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View all search resultsWhile my family and I are dry and comfortable at home, I nevertheless feel the pain of my people who are cold, hungry, thirsty, worried, dirty, suffering from a lack of sleep and, most of all, âhow to answer the call of natureâ
hile my family and I are dry and comfortable at home, I nevertheless feel the pain of my people who are cold, hungry, thirsty, worried, dirty, suffering from a lack of sleep and, most of all, 'how to answer the call of nature'.
Even if one is in his own flooded home, the chances are that his comfort room is equally flooded, making him a cold and miserable citizen as well.
I am happy to learn that the people who have to be in rescue shelters are provided with the necessary needs: food, bottled drinking water, warm clothing, mattresses, tents, medical supplies and, last but not least, the comfortable cubicles where people are seen queuing with worried faces.
At home while we are dry and comfortable (compared to the miserable brothers and sisters mentioned above) we are totally enjoying ourselves in thinking about how to be able to help significantly.
Our Dutch brothers would have been equally wet if they were not smart enough to save themselves from the sea, which is much higher than their land. I was dry and happy when I visited Rotterdam and Amsterdam; in fact I was able to find, among other things, my favorite dish, 'Rawon complete'.
Learning from the Dutch, why don't we make houses in our flood prone areas from floating cement constructions so that, when rain and floods come, we just let the houses float accordingly?
An anchorage system is indeed necessary to let the houses just go up and down when the floods come.
The key is the cement used in the floating houses; it could be best to use an aerated cement/fine sand mixture.
Similarly, the bricks should be made of hollow-designed aerated cement constructions to be light yet sturdy.
All other construction materials used in the house should be of light materials, such as roofing, doors and windows.
Furniture and all other household conveniences would be appropriate if made of light aluminum.
Cell phones are a must in this floating house as landlines would be either impractical or difficult to install.
Motorcycle boats, designed by students of vocational high schools (SMK) should be used for transportation to enable normal life activities.
Moeljono Adikoesoemo
Jakarta
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