Welcome to the village of Bebekan!

The village of Bebekan belongs to the village community of Gilangharjo,in the district of Pandak, department of Bantul, Special Province ofYogyakarta. It is located 30 km south of Yogyakarta's city center.

Itshouses arebuilt at the foot of a small hill in the shape of an island surroundedby an ocean of green rice fields. The village is divided in two areas(or RT) and it has a population of 400 inhabitants. All the villagersare agricultural laborers without land, except for certain workers, bothmale and female, and rickshaw drivers. There is only one civil servantin the village, namely a teacher. Out of the hundred houses which werestanding in the village before the earthquake of May 27, 2006, ninety fivehave collapsed partly or totally. Some were old, some were new, but noneof the constructions met elementary antiseismic standards. Two peopledied in the earthquake and several dozens were wounded. The three dayswhich followed the earthquake were the most trying. The promisedassistance never materialized: no food, no tents, no blankets. Whatallowed them to survive was the coconuts, bananas and other fruitsgrowing on the grounds of Bebekan, truly a blessing. The aftershocks aswell as the fear of a tsunami kept haunting the nights of the people ofBebekan. The total destruction of the electric installations as well asheavy and relentless nighttime downpours made the darkness even blacker.

God knows who showed us the way to this village. We were driven bythe amazing energy of the “gotong royong” (communitycollaboration). So we decided to raise Bebekan out of its ruins, to nurture the hopes and sustain the efforts to rebuild notonly a house to shelter the body, but also a house to pacify and brightenthe heart.