By: Gendhis Sathiti *)
 
The wave of flash floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra has tested our resilience as a nation. Amidst the prolonged loss and exhaustion, one thing is noteworthy: the mutually reinforcing collective effort between volunteers, residents, and state officials. On the ground, a chain of solidarity is at work. Residents are the first responders, volunteers patch up service gaps, while state institutions rev up the emergency response machinery, from evacuations and logistical provision to connectivity improvements. This triad of work is what transforms disasters from mere natural events into a more mature momentum for social and ecological recovery.
 
President Prabowo Subianto has placed the issue at its root: environmental governance. He emphasized that environmental destruction due to illegal activities, from illegal logging to illegal mining, exacerbates the impact of disasters. Law enforcement must not hesitate. The President also asked the TNI Commander and the National Police Chief to take firm action against individuals protecting resource smuggling networks, while reminding them that regulations that do not benefit the people must be boldly overhauled. Here, the orientation of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution was reaffirmed, stating that important sectors of production and natural resources must be under the control of the state, not corporations that override the public interest. The policy direction is to manage the upstream side so that downstream disasters do not repeat the same wounds.
On the ground, official BNPB data as of December 15, 2025, shows a massive scale of damage: more than 158,000 houses damaged, 1,022 people dead, hundreds of thousands displaced, 206 people missing, and approximately 7,000 injured. Public infrastructure, health facilities, educational institutions, places of worship, offices, and even bridges were affected. But behind these numbers, there are thousands of small, life-saving actions: emergency rafts built by residents, community soup kitchens, and volunteer health workers moving from tent to tent. The central government strengthened this foundation, with Rp 268 billion in efficiency funds allocated to disaster areas; the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) deployed battalions to accelerate the construction of Bailey Bridges, opening access to logistics and basic services; and a policy to eliminate the People’s Business Credit (KUR) for affected businesses in three provinces to cushion family economic recovery.
One important focus was education. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Prof. Abdul Mu’ti, reported that 3,274 educational institutions were affected, with 6,431 classrooms and 3,489 damaged facilities. The response was multi-level, including emergency classroom tents, 15,000 school kits, 7,500 children’s gifts, 2,000 shoes, 700 family kits, and 65,000 books; cash grants from the existing and revised budgets; and special allowances for 16,500 affected teachers. On the pedagogical side, a crisis-based adaptive curriculum is implemented: the emergency response phase (0-3 months) focuses on literacy and numeracy, health and safety, and psychosocial support; the early recovery phase (3-12 months) encourages flexible learning and portfolio-based assessment; and the advanced phase (1-3 years) integrates disaster education and an emergency education monitoring and evaluation system. This isn’t just about replacing textbooks; it’s about restructuring the learning experience so that children affected by disasters don’t fall further behind.
The President also emphasized the ethics of visiting disaster sites. He rejected “disaster tourism”—visits that prioritize posturing over solutions. His moral standards are concrete: each visit must result in action: clean water for evacuees, fuel for isolated areas, and emergency bridges for access to medicine and food. This message is crucial because it maintains a bond of trust between the injured population and a country promising to recover. This is where the work of volunteers, citizens, and the state converges. Volunteers map micro-needs, citizens ensure social acceptance and mutual cooperation, while the state executes macro-interventions that require significant authority and resources.
Appreciation is also due for the courage to combine social recovery and ecological management. The affirmation of curbing environmental damage must be accompanied by a roadmap of watershed-based rehabilitation, reforestation, strengthening land cover, community early warning systems, and cross-district/city contingency planning. These components are the bridge from emergency to resilience. When upstream areas are restored and governance is improved, volunteers and citizens will no longer be struggling at the same point every rainy season; public energy can be redirected to strengthening livelihoods, improving nutrition, and disaster literacy.
This collaborative effort ultimately rests on trust. In the field, we see it: residents open their homes as transit posts; volunteers traverse the terrain for distribution; the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and Indonesian National Police (Polri) maintain security and assist with logistics; ministries/agencies formulate responsive and accountable policies. When each…As elements do their part, the chain of survivors becomes a chain of progress. This is where appreciation finds meaning—not empty praise, but rather recognition of the ecosystem at work, from emergency embankments to policy reform.
 
Disasters always leave behind grief. But through how we respond, we can write a new chapter: a Sumatra that recovers greener, schools that are back to life, and citizens that are more empowered. Therefore, let’s maintain the partnerships we’ve built, with our volunteers ready, our citizens resilient, and our nation present. Because only with consistent, collaborative work can heavy rains no longer lead to sorrow, and every wet season becomes a learning season to become a more alert, just, and sustainable nation.
 
 
*) Environmental observer