Report to HQ 28 Feb 2007

His Munificent Excellency the Geand Sultan of Mandungan.

Placement Report - Pat Warren Jogyakarta


An early concern about the potential for double funding was allayed after researching the details of the family re-housing lists, plots allocated for government aid and details of the aid being provided from other sources.

With all the construction work underway throughout the region supplies are an inevitable problem. As a consequence I accepted that for the first two houses, in order to get them started we could use a reduced specification for the reinforcement providing two thirds of the originally planned strength.

These first two ‘vso’ houses remain under construction and must be at least a week away from completion.

House number one is more than twice the size of the approved design but I have not objected, on the basis that it will still be occupied by the nominated individual even though offering additional meeting rooms and that this will be at no additional expense to Spark. The toilet and kitchen feature I am assured will be added to the dwelling once the external scaffolding is removed.

House number two has lacked any work on it this week and the initial couple of hours work on the toilet/kitchen feature following my insistence has not yet been followed up.

I am assured that the further three vso houses are about to be started and that they will be completed by the end of March as planned. This is all part of the efforts to achieve complete village rebuilding and repairs in time for a celebration before the first anniversary of the earthquake but I seriously doubt that this is achievable.

In cautious preparation for any difficulties it would be useful to learn of the probable Spark reaction to substantial but unfinished completion of one or more of the houses and the reaction that could be expected should the wc/dapur feature not be provided.



Development on site of the of the initial study cabin for a Muslim retreat in the hills near Magelang city continues apace if not completely to my specification but the recipients appear very satisfied and I hope to see more of the development before I leave.

On the non-work aspects of life in Jogya, I have become confident, but I hope not over-confident with the use of the motorcycle. My informal interpreter and wife from the initial accommodation appear to be losing their jobs, their flat and possibly their marriage, which has been distressing particularly in watching the local employment practices and an unfamiliar culture.

Otherwise I look forward to my final month’s placement and hopefully to a successful conclusion to my contribution.