Lombok After the Earthquake
Aysiah Odist comes from Lombok in Indonesia, an island that experiences regular earthquakes. This week, as part of the Lecture and Talks Programme, she came into school to speak to students and staff.
She has been travelling around Europe, talking about her work. Aysiah runs the Bank Sampah (Rubbish Bank) organisation. This is an initiative that supports local communities and teaches them how to recycle waste to create ecological products. It enables generating some income in poor villages.
She told them that originally, she was just planning to continue her work in waste management. But following the Lombok earthquake in August, she decided to build a post-trauma care centre for children.
The earthquake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale. It killed over 400 people and injured another 1,300. It also damaged 67,000 houses and 600 schools. Currently, Aysiah’s organisation is distributing water, clothes and pharmaceuticals to those affected by the earthquake.
ECP students agreed that Aysiah is a very inspirational woman and they were pleased to have had the opportunity to hear her interesting story.
Albert Einstein said: “Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” As part of this year’s Theme of the Year, we want to focus on the Natural World, which suffers more and more from the rapid pace of modern development. We will be looking at various environmental problems and are keen to explore the fascinating world around us.