On January 15, 2021, West Sulawesi was rocked by an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale. The centre of the earthquake is in land, which is on the south of Majene Region. The worst affected areas were Majene and Mamuju districts. Buildings including houses in residential areas were destroyed. Total number of deaths is 105, with 6.489 people injured and 92.075 people have to be relocated to a nearby shelters in 3 hamlets outside the disaster perimeter. More than 346 families lost their homes.
TLF has a few alumni from West Sulawesi, so together with TLF students at Rumah TLF, took the initiative to raise funds from their own pocket money. They also reached out to some generous TLF friends who wanted to help. Total Funds collected were 8 million rupiah and directly sent to TLF alumni who volunteered at the earthquake site to be distributed in the form of basic necessities.
Although most of the TLF students come from disadvantaged or vulnerable backgrounds, they cannot just stand by witnessing the suffering of their fellow countrymen. This is the true testament of the 6 values that TLF instilled in our students: integrity, caring, team work, initiative, responsibility and discipline.
Currently, for the upcoming new batch staring in the 3rd week of March, TLF has recruited two youth who are the victims of the West Sulawesi earthquake to study organic farming at The Learning Farm. One young man by the name of Muhammad Sadar. Muhammad Sadar from Tappalang village, Mamuju, West Sulawesi. When the earthquake sticked, Muhammad Sadar and his family were able to escape and he was very grateful, because they could survive the critical period after the earthquake. Another student is a young girl, Patma Widya from Polewali district, the neighboring district of Majene that was also affected by the earthquake. Patma comes from a very poor family yet she volunteered to help the earthquake victim at the shelter. Through this engagement, she was recommended by our alumni to come and study at The Learning Farm.
-Nona Pooroe Utomo / Rathy-