The Earthquake: Starting Point

After the earthquake devastated thousands of houses and public facilities in Yogyakarta and Central Java, Indonesia, on May 27, 2006, and the death toll reached 6000, the teachers at Realia felt the urge to do something (anything at all!) to help the victims. At first, we worked as individuals, some volunteered at the hospital and some delivered basic needs to numerous villages, but then we realised that perhaps we could do more if we teamed up. Realia being a language school, it was only natural that our main concern should be the field of education. Thus we established "REALIA untuk SEKOLAH" as a relief programme to help recover elementary education in post-quake Yogyakarta. No matter how trivial our contribution is, we aim to aid child victims of the earthquake, through schools in particular.

Our first move was to conduct a survey regarding the condition of elementary schools in Bantul, guided by the data provided by OCHA, UNICEF, and the Ministry of Education. The survey showed that there were many schools desperately in need of help; far more than what our limited budget could cope with. Accordingly, we must focus our relief programme upon a number of schools only. Yet we plan on making it a continuous programme.