So many disasters that this country has gone through, all stored in memory that is poured in various media. Most of us always underestimate the origin of place names, customary rules and sanctions, as well as folklore. But, Do you know, These are all very, very precious inheritances from our ancestors. Yaaa, all this is knowledge, knowledge about disasters and is very valuable.
The legacy of local knowledge about disasters in Indonesia is numerous and regionally specific. Therefore, This knowledge can be used as a suitable disaster mitigation strategy. This statement was made by Lien Sururoh in the Ignite State Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 in Bali, Indonesia (26/05/2022).
Lien is a researcher at the Indonesian Scale Foundation as well as a content writer for this website (disasterchannel.co), he performed with Santi Ariska, Community Development division at Yayasan Skala Indonesia as well as social media specialist disasterchannel.co.
Japanese garden, Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center became a loud witness of these two women voicing local knowledge about the disaster. The rain that day seemed to be a form of support from the earth for what they voiced.
Lien begins his story about local knowledge in Central Sulawesi by describing the earthquake, tsunami and liquefaction that occurred 28 September 2018. So much damage, loss and thousands of people have to breathe their last, because we are all unable to respond to the existing disaster threat. This incident made us learn a lot, change our minds and undertake disaster risk reduction.
One of the efforts to reduce disaster risk is to document local knowledge and collective memories of the community about disasters. it's been a few years, Skala Foundation and disasterchanel.co collaborate with local residents to expand knowledge about disasters at the local level. There is a lot of local knowledge about disasters in various forms and media. One example is the knowledge of hazards reflected by place names.
There is a village on the west coast of Donggala named Tompe. Tompe Village is an area close to the earthquake's epicenter, the name Tompe itself means blown away. That name seems to come true during an earthquake 2018 occur, this area was completely blown away by the tsunami. Besides that, there is also the place name Tagari Londjo, now known as Balaroa. Londjo itself can be interpreted as sinking in the mud. Shortly after the earthquake occurred, Balaroa area undergoes massive liquefaction.
Final, lien said with a disappointed expression:
“From all the local knowledge found, it turns out that there is a lot that has the potential to be developed into DRR. Unfortunately, knowledge about hazards, represented in the names of places, has not been taken into consideration for development plans”.
“From all the local knowledge found, it turns out that there is a lot of potential to be developed into a PRB. Sadly, knowledge of danger, represented in place names have not been considered for development plans”.
Next, Santi shared local knowledge about the disaster in Banten. Santi said that the Baduy people have local knowledge about active faults through the story "Urat Gunung Kendeng". The story tells that the island of Java is like a human body that has a head, lungs and legs. His head is on Mount Honje, West End. His lungs are in the Kendeng Mountains, and its legs extend to Madura and Bali. This body is tied with veins or veins as "connecting cords". When something happens in one part, it will affect other parts. The tectonic plates are moving here, tsunami over there, everything is connected.
The Baduy community also has its own preparedness efforts. They have their own version of the disaster preparedness bag and always carry a triad with them on every trip, that is salt, sour and aking rice. Salt is used as a disinfectant, acid as a source of vitamin C, and rice can be eaten in an emergency.
For the Baduy people, protecting natural resources is a basic principle of life. For example the saying, "Don't melt mountains, lebak ulah diruksak” which roughly translates not to damage the hill, so that people do not carelessly use land for agriculture and housing.
Then, we found a tradition to remember the tsunami that hit the Labuan Region, Banten. In the year of 1883, there was a tsunami in Banten, due to the activity of Mount Krakatoa. Around (slow) 36.000 people die. This event continues to be remembered and preserved in the form of Haul Kalembak. 'Haul' is a commemoration activity 100 the day someone dies, while 'Kalembak' from the origin of the word kalempu waves means to be thrown or dragged by big waves. It can be interpreted that Haul Kalembak is local knowledge to remember the tsunami.
At the end of the conclusion, firmly Santi said:
“Some Local community knowledge has just become a curious folk tale. It has not been given the value it deserves. Its effectiveness for DRR has not been recognized to its maximum potential”.
“Some local knowledge has just become curious folklore. Not rated properly. Its effectiveness for DRR has not been recognized to its full potential”.
In fact, documenting local knowledge about disasters is very important to enrich disaster literacy and it is worth fighting for. (LS)
