One year has been passed since a massive earthquake hit Central Java on May 27, 2006. The Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) subsequently initiated six projects related to temporally housing construction, health care, education and contingency planning to support reconstruction of the area.



Temporary Housing Construction:

At the end of April, 2007, the JRCS completed the Temporary Housing Construction Project, one of the main support projects. The 12,250 temporary houses constructed offer the victims a life with a sense of security.



Health Care:

The reconstruction of nine regional health care centers and two buildings containing offices of the Indonesian Red Cross Society has been launched. Ground-breaking ceremonies for the Jakarta office of the Indonesian Red Cross Society and the regional health care center of Panggan, in the Gunung Kidul District, were held on May 1 and 4, respectively. The participants included the governor, the directors of the District's Health Office and Family Planning Office, the vice president of the Regional Representatives Council and Mihoko Goto, the JRCS project representative. During this ceremony, the governor said that reconstruction of the health care center of Panggan was important since improving the health of the inhabitants was a key to reducing poverty in the region. Ms. Goto said, "Like Indonesia, Japan frequently suffers from natural disasters. We can't help but feel personally concerned for the victims. Our support of this reconstruction is an expression of such a feeling by the people of Japan." Her speech warmed the atmosphere between the participants of both countries. The reconstruction project will be completed at end of October. The JRCS hopes that the regional health care centers, as the governor said, help reduce poverty in the region.

Contingency Planning to Support Reconstruction of the Affected Area:

In one contingency planning project, aimed at the spread of disaster prevention knowledge, the JRCS has supported the distribution of about 200,000 copies of a disaster prevention handbook to residents reconstructing their houses destroyed or damaged by the earthquake. The handbook includes an explanation of techniques for constructing earthquake-resistant structures and information about what to do when a disaster strikes. It has also been distributed to the inhabitants of the regions in which the temporary housing construction project was implemented. One recipient, living in Towangsan, in the Klaten District, said that the many drawings in the handbook helped her to better understand what is needed to make a building earthquake resistant. The staffs and volunteers working at the offices of the Indonesian Red Cross Society distributed the handbook directly to the inhabitants of the stricken areas and to people attending community meetings.

It has been one year since the JRCS started its support projects. In the future, the JRCS is planning to launch projects not only for reconstruction but also for improving the life of people in the stricken areas.