Supporter: Tanty Pranawisanty

Rendra (at back) plays with his two friends and a rusty old bicycle in the village of Suranti, where Mercy Corps delivered hygiene kits to earthquake-affected families. Photo: Tanty Pranawisanty/Mercy Corps

I was busy overseeing the distribution of hygiene kits for 167 earthquake-affected households in Surantiah village when I was suddenly attracted by the sound of laughter from outside the hall where we were handing out supplies.

Three little children shared the joy and laughter of riding a rusty, dusty bicycle around. From their appearance, I guess they are around six or seven years old. I offered them candies that I always bring whenever I go to the field and, without hesitation, they took some with smiles on their faces. Soon after, I had a few wonderful moments taking their pictures as they rode the bike and laughing out loud when I showed them the previews on my digital camera.

When I asked what were they doing there, one of them — a boy named Rendra — said that they were there waiting for his mother, Ibu Yanti, who is a member of the Disaster Preparedness Team in this village. Mercy Corps — through a partnership with a local organization, Kogami —has formed these teams in each sub-district and trained them for disaster preparedness. Ibu Yanti was in charge of arranging this distribution for her village.

The two girls playing with Rendra were also waiting for their mothers, who were in line to get hygiene kits. They are all neighbours in Surantiah and they all had the same story for me. Their houses and school were badly damaged by the quake. At the moment, they are out of school and still have no idea when they will be back to study and see the rest of their schoolmates.

But one thing's for sure: they really understand what has happened and, sadly, what might happen in the future when another disaster strikes. They have learned from Rendra’s mother and other Disaster Preparedness Team members what should they do if an earthquake happens again.

But today, they all seemed very happy playing with their rusty bike, the only belonging left from the earthquake. Deep inside, I do wish that they will always have happy moments like I saw today — and I hope their school will be rebuilt soon.

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I never imagined that I would be interviewed by an international news TV station. But there I was, on a live report from the field, with Al Jazeera asking me to tell the world what I seeing. They asked me about the rapid needs assessments that Mercy Corps conducted within 48 hours after the massive earthquake hit Padang, West Sumatra.

I must admit that I was bit nervous and less confident — in part because I'd missed my morning shower due to the lack of water all over Padang. But I went to meet Al Jazeera’s crews, who were ready and standing by in front of the fatally-damaged Ambacang Hotel, where hundreds of hotel guests were trapped under the collapsed building and buried alive there.

I was very surprised to know that I would be interviewed by Veronica Pedrosa, the reporter that I often saw on TV, updating news from all over the world. It made me feel quite edgy.

After having a minute for self calming, I started to realize that this was a big chance for me to let the world know what was going on in this place. The cry for help from the survivors who had lost their family members, the view of the children who were sleeping under the tent in an open areas, and the family members who tried to search for things in the ruins — all those things suddenly gave me my confidence back.

And that morning, live from the field, I was finally able to spread the message to the world that there are thousands of survivors who need immediate help. They need clean water and food. They need hygiene kits. They need recovery kits to clean up debris. And most of all, they need to have the world know about what happened to them.

It was only a ten-minute interview, but I hope the world got my message.

Soon afterward, I received phone calls and text messages from my Mercy Corps colleges who happened to be watching that live report. I also got a sweet phone call from my kids, who were also watching me on TV. All those supportive messages and responses made me smile.

I felt so fine the rest of that day and very grateful about my life. That afternoon, while enjoying my cup of hot black coffee, I remembered the famous quote from Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in this world.” I smiled to myself for choosing the right life path and being member of Mercy Corps' big family. It's the best decision I have ever made.

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Rescue crews search Padang's collapsed buildings for survivors. Photo: courtesy of herdy, wordpress

I feel like my heart stopped for seconds when I watched the news on TV that afternoon. Once again, Padang had been shaken by a massive earthquake. And this time it was really destructive.

I married someone from Padang, so that has made me very attached to the beauty of this city, the rich Minang culture, the hills and the Padang food that you can even find on certain street corners in New York City.

That afternoon last week, I was not only shocked to watch the horrible sight on TV, but also couldn't hold back my tears. I heard my husband whispering and talking to himself. “Oh no, that used to be my playground. And it’s very close to my childhood home,” he said as scenes of a ruined old school building appeared on TV — a place where spent his childhood playing with friends.

We couldn't sleep at all that night, as we were busy trying to call my in-laws to make sure everyone had survived. The landline phones around Padang were cut off and we didn't hear anything at all until the following day. The news was that everyone was all right, but their house now had many cracks on the wall. Thank God it was only that.

Then on Friday, the second day after the earthquake, I arrived in Padang as part of Mercy Corps Indonesia's emergency response team. My heart was beating fast as I passed by the ruined buildings all over the city. I saw only two excavators working among the hundreds of buildings that had collapsed. I imagined those who were trapped under the ruined buildings. It was really worse than I thought.

I had another mission for this trip beside joining the emergency response team: making sure that I got information on my husband’s childhood friends, whether they survived or not. Because some of his old buddies still live in the same neighborhood, the ruined area we saw on TV. On Sunday evening, I finally found out all this information and happily told my husband that his childhood buddies all survived.

I know I will be stay in this city longer than my initial assignment dates, considering the needs of survivors and all the work that needs to be done. But with all the emotions I have for this city, I will be glad to stay even longer.

The fact that Padang and the rest of West Sumatra is prone to disaster, I started to believe that this might not be my last visit to Padang for this purpose. There might be more disasters — whether smaller or bigger — in this beautiful place, but only God knows when. And until then, what can I do is keep hoping that Minang Kabau — the name that Padang people use to describe their homeland — stands still and remains beautiful. Insyah Allah.

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