Precious pearl

An Indonesian school, named for the sea’s lustrous jewel, collapses during a massive earthquake but rebuilds on a foundation of Kiwanis compassion

By Jack Brockley

Kites are flying once again over Gunung Sitoli. Yellow and red paper diamonds on handmade frames dip through the sky above earthquake-tumbled buildings, tented refugee camps, and scrambled piles of concrete and rebar rubble. Caught on a breeze, the kites climb with a view of steamrollers repaving roads, masons bricking new walls, fishermen once again hauling in the catch of the day, and children celebrating the reconstruction of the Mutiara Elementary School.

Nias Island, on the western edge of the Indonesian archipelago, took a one-two, south-north punch of disasters with the December 2004 tsunami and a March 2005 earthquake. It was the latter—an 8.7-Richter-scale-busting shiver—that flattened much of Gunung Sitoli.

One of its victims was the Mutiara Elementary School. As the earth bucked beneath the U-shaped building, the first floor disintegrated and the second floor caved in upon it. Because the destruction occurred in the middle of the night, no one was killed or injured in the building. Yet the loss that night of 29 classmates traumatized the children, exacerbated by the sight of their crumpled school and the fright of more than 700 aftershocks.

Some of the girls and boys did not return to school. For those who did, the faculty set up makeshift classrooms in tents and vacant buildings, where the tropical climate’s heat limited lessons to two early-morning hours. The future looked bleak, and teachers worried they would have no children to teach the next year.

One year after the disaster, however, teachers, parents, and students know things are getting better. The evidence, a new Mutiara Elementary School, rises brick-by-brick. The cause for this new beginning is Kiwanis, led by Indonesia’s seven clubs and supported by a Kiwanis International Foundation grant. The new building is designed to accommodate up to 600 students.

This past March, as crews erected posts that would support the second floor, the children and faculty assembled in the neighboring junior high school to honor their new benefactors.

Clutching Kiwanis flags, boys and girls laughed and chattered happily as they scrambled atop sand piles and peaked through scaffolding to inspect the new building before assembling at an adjoining junior high school. Inside, a chalked blackboard message announced the event’s theme: “Terima Kasih Kiwanis.”

“Thank God for Kiwanis’ help,” repeated principal Siruni Yohanna Maria Fau in ceremonies that featured adult speeches and the children’s poetry, dances, and songs.

“With Kiwanis’s help, we have a new hope for our children who will have a place to study again,” Fau said. “We appreciate not only the money and material you have donated, but your love and concern means a lot to us.”

Contributions by Kiwanians and clubs worldwide enabled the Kiwanis International Foundation to present a US$300,000 grant to Kiwanis Indonesia for tsunami and earthquake disaster relief.