Balaroa: From ruin to rebirth in Indonesia

Today marks 4 years since a deadly disaster devastated parts of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. In the days that followed the earthquake and tsunami, Nanang Subana Dirja, Islamic Relief’s head of mission for Indonesia, visited some of the worst-hit areas. Here, he recalls the aftermath of the disaster and the change he has seen in a single community since then.

It took 2 days to travel from Jakarta to Balaroa, a community in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province, within the city of Palu. The journey would normally take under 3 hours, but nothing about that first visit to Balaroa was normal.

On September 28, 2018, an earthquake and tsunami struck Central Sulawesi. The initial disaster led to landslides, flash floods and liquefaction incidents in the weeks and months that followed. More than 4,000 people were killed and communities are still recovering from the physical and mental wounds four years later.

I arrived 3 days after the disaster, to find Balaroa in almost total darkness. After 2 flights and a long car journey, we headed for a hill where many people had gathered to seek the safety of higher ground.

I met a father constructing a makeshift shelter by tying a blanket to some bamboo trees with . The blanket was all he had to protect his wife, 2 children and baby. Many people were making similar shelters.

Working with local authorities, I decided to distribute the aid I had in my car – tarpaulin, some boxes of water, a generator and lamps. When I ignited the generator, the darkness lifted, and people were relieved to at least be able to see better and charge their phones.

Agonising early days

Another truck carrying rice, water, tarpaulins and biscuits for children was sadly looted en route to Balaroa. Such incidents were common in the days following the disaster when so many people found themselves completely desperate.

I witnessed the misery of people at that time – their agony, struggles and the scarcity of aid. Everywhere I looked I saw damaged buildings and people living in the open without suitable shelter.

An Islamic Relief worker surveys a road in Balaroa damaged by the disaster in 2018.

I met a young man crying. He told me his house had been swallowed by the earth during the disaster. His sister broke her leg in the incident and his mother was missing, having been in the house at the time. The man told me how he returned each day to search for his mother’s body while his father had remained standing by the remnants of the house as if frozen.

I can still hear his voice telling me he’d spent the last week looking for food. He said he might have turned to looting had Islamic Relief not given him with water and rice.

Road to recovery

Since that first visit in 2018, I have made at least 5 trips to Balaroa. Each time, I’ve seen more and more progress in efforts to rebuild the community and rehouse its people.

Islamic Relief supported families with cash vouchers, which they used to buy tools, equipment and stock to start and restart businesses put on hold because of the disaster. In 2021, I met women selling chilled milk and running kiosks, and a man operating a motorcycle with the money provided by Islamic Relief.
Later, we supported women to earn a sustainable living through livelihoods projects including a honey cultivation programme that teaches how to produce and market the product. We have started a fish cultivation programme, with flexible tanks that can be easily set up and transported and have a greater risk of surviving earthquakes.

Women package honey cultivated through an Islamic Relief programme in Balaroa in 2022.

Among our most important activities in Balaroa is disaster risk reduction. Indonesia is extremely vulnerable to extreme weather and disasters, and climate change is only making matters worse. As well as helping communities pick up the pieces following disasters, we must help them to prepare themselves for and protect themselves from future incidents.

One of the people I met during my first trip to Balaroa in 2018 is part of this work. Lukman was a youth leader in the community. He oversaw the registering of people who’d become homeless following the disaster and finding space for them in a camp.

When I met him again this year, Lukman was using knowledge he learned from Islamic Relief training to help identify and establish suitable evacuation spots in the community.

Long-term support

On my most recent visit to Balaroa, in June of this year, I saw real progress. Many mothers shared their joy with me as they began to reap the harvest generated through the honey cultivation programme, while participants in the fish cultivation talked enthusiastically about the impact it had had on their lives.

These conversations brought home the positive impact Islamic Relief is having in Balaroa. We have been with the people here since the first days of the disaster and we’re still standing with them 4 years later, helping to build back better futures and strengthen community resilience.

Our efforts have been praised by national and local governments and I am really proud of the change Islamic Relief has helped to affect in this community. I am proud that we were not only among the first to assist people affected by the disaster, but that we have also remained by their sides during their recovery.

Disasters like the one in Central Sulawesi can change lives in an instant. But their negatives effects are felt by communities for years. Some never recover. With the continued, long-lasting support of Islamic Relief, Balaroa has been able to rebuild, and local people have flourished. Please help us continue this vital work. Donate now.