Managing the Volunteer Spirit of Balinese Residents

The spirit of voluntary cooperation flourishes in the daily lives of Balinese people. This serves as an important foundation for promoting disaster risk management and improving people’s resilience to disasters.

Dewi Reny Anggraeni, the Head of Human Resource Development of the Bali Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Forum (FPRB), explained that in contrast to other regions in Indonesia, Bali has ‘administrative (Dinas) villages’ that focus on government administration and ‘customary villages’ that focus on religious and cultural affairs. The jurisdiction of customary villages and administrative villages intersect; thus, most of the residents of administrative villages are generally also residents of customary villages. Therefore, efforts to improve resilience in Bali must begin by promoting joint approaches across administrative and customary villages.  In this context, mutual cooperation and volunteerism are valuable assets.

According to Dewi, in customary villages, community volunteerism has become a part of daily life, from organising traditional ceremonies to helping people affected by disasters. ‘Specifically related to disasters, we can see an example when Mount Agung erupted in 2017. At the evacuation site, the residents had many good initiatives, and they shared them with each other. Because people were displaced for months, they collectively rented land for gardening to plant vegetables and helped each other in organising various ceremonies, including weddings’, she said.

The Bendesa (Village Head) of Dukuh customary village in Karangasem District, I Nyoman Menget Mardiasa, agrees. So far, the living arrangements in customary villages have involved people in various religious and social activities. Their lives depend on cooperation; therefore, helping each other becomes a necessity, including when facing disasters.

In addition, customary villages have their own rules related to disasters in Awig-Awig, which has the highest level of rules in customary villages. Dukuh customary village, located within the Disaster-Prone Area (KRB) III of Mount Agung, also has a number of disaster-related rules, which contain orders and restrictions to help anticipate and avoid the impact of disasters. This is also supported by customary sanctions for residents who are not compliant with the joint provisions.

However, Nyoman notes that, so far, there are still many gaps in handling disasters in Dukuh customary village. When Mount Agung erupted in 2017, residents were confused when asked by the government to evacuate. Panicked residents saved their own families and livestock, creating congestion on the evacuation route. In addition, due to the lack of preparation, they were forced to sell their cattle at half of the market price. ‘In a panic situation, this spirit of mutual assistance still existed, but because there was no coordination, residents fled individually’, he said.

Sharing Roles

According to Dewi, experiences such as this have served as valuable lessons. The spirit of volunteerism needs to be managed so that its energy can be channelled where required. ‘Who-does-what needs to be regulated. In an emergency, who will help to evacuate the livestock, who will help the elderly, and so on’, she said.

Efforts to manage this volunteer energy and role allocation are currently carried out in conjunction with the establishment of Disaster Resilient Villages (Destana) for administrative Villages and Disaster Resilient customary villages for customary villages. FPRB Bali, in collaboration with the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) at the provincial and district levels, is trying to promote this with the support of the SIAP SIAGA Program.

Dewi added that in customary villages, such arrangements and role allocation are included in the pararem or additional rules of Awig-Awig related to disasters. The formulation of this disaster-related pararem was initiated in Temukus customary village, Dukuh customary village and Komala customary village.

According to the Secretary (Penyarikan) of Dukuh Customary Village, Komang Sutana, through the facilitation from FPRB Bali and BPBD Karangasem, now Dukuh customary village has a disaster-related pararem. This pararem becomes a reference to take steps both in emergency conditions and before a disaster occurs.

To operationalise the pararem, Dukuh customary village also has a Disaster Management Working Group (Pokja). Division of roles in the Working Group has also been assigned. For example, when a disaster hits, there are people who will be responsible for logistics, evacuation of residents and livestock, and for the management of traditional ceremonies that need to be carried out in response to a disaster. Women’s groups are also involved in this Working Group.

The Spirit of Administrative Villages

While customary villages begin their steps to become resilient by developing pararem, administrative villages are shifting to become Destana by making efforts to meet various indicators of the Village Resilience Assessment (PKD). This is a self-assessment instrument developed by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and used by villages and urban villages (kelurahan) to measure the level of resilience of each village/urban village. The results of the PKD can be a reference for villages/urban villages in formulating strategies and policies to become resilient villages/urban villages.

Made Separsa, Perbekel (Head of Administrative Village) of Gobleg, Banjar Sub-District, Buleleng District, said that by completing the PKD, he and other village staff now better understand what indicators need to be met so that his village can be better prepared to face disasters. This preparedness does not only entail dealing with emergencies when they arrive, but also preparation through capacity building – especially for village staff and residents active as disaster volunteers – disaster mitigation activities, budget allocation to support disaster management activities, and the issuance of policies at the village level.

Located in a hilly area, landslides are one of the main disaster threats for Gobleg Village, but there is also the risk of fire, drought, tornado, and earthquake. Therefore, besides encouraging residents to always be alert and help each other, Separsa, together with village staff and members of the Community Protection Unit (Satlinmas), responds to all types of disasters affecting the village. The combination of preparedness and active volunteerism is key to Gobleg Village’s growing resilience.

However, as the village head, Separsa is well aware that disaster management efforts require support from many parties.  Therefore, he welcomes the efforts of the Bali and Buleleng Provincial BPBD, with the support of the SIAP SIAGA Program, which promotes administrative villages in Bali, to complete the Village Resilience Assessment (or PKD) too.