SOS organises activities at Jakarta 'dam-burst' camp

In March, heavy rains broke one of Jakarta's largest embankments -Situgintung - creating a disaster which has killed more than a thousand people. Since then, SOS Children has been using its Mobile Library and Playbus to entertain and care for affected children. Roughly 1,100 children benefit each year from the SOS Mobile Library and Playbus. The Mobile Library usually travels to less fortunate schools in the suburb areas of Jakarta to provide a library where children can borrow books, interact with other children, and learn about cleanliness, saving, reading and writing. The Playbus travels and creates a temporary playground wherever it stops. This can be in a park, in the backyard of an apartment block, indoor and outdoor, and in institutions such as social centres, nurseries, schools and orphanages. These places become meeting points for children and parents to play and learn.

The 67 children living with their families at Pancol barracks (temporary accommodation) eagerly wait for the SOS Children's Villages mobile library twice a week. The library fitted in a van and carrying books and games for the kids. "It’s a very nice experience for our children. They have learned new things and are very happy when the SOS mobile library comes here," said Alia, a lady who's among the 19 families staying in the camp. "We don't have anything left in the dam disaster and I'm happy at least our children have a chance to learn," said another woman whose husband died in the disaster.

Apart from engaging children in various activities SOS Children's Villages have been providing food-items and vitamin supplements through local hospital to children.The SOS mobile library has been very useful in serving children in camps in the affected area. "The SOS mobile library has good collection of books. I took comics and story book and read it," said Shana a 12-years-old child. The SOS volunteers introduced many activities for children- origami, story-telling, drawing etc.

The Situgintung dam located on the south-west outskirt of Jakarta burst on March 27 when people were fast asleep. The flash-floods smashed the densely populated Cireundeuh neighbourhood and destroyed over 400 houses and left thousands affected. "We saw construction materials, bricks, cars, trees scattered in the way. Dead bodies were lying on the floor in the Muhammadiyah University, women were crying; it was a horrible scene,” said Mr. Feryanto who led the 12-member team of SOS Children to the affected site soon after the disaster. SOS Children's Villages distributed rice, clothes, and other essential items to the victims.