Bali hits slump like U.S. after Sept. 11
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Bali bombings didn't take as many lives as the 9/11 attacks in New York, and the buildings targeted were not world landmarks. But for the island of Bali, the aftermath was much the same.
The following organizations are collecting money to help the bombing victims: • World Vision, an international charitable organization, is working with medical and local authorities in Bali to provide support to the victims, including money for families and other essential services. Donations are accepted at the World Vision Australia site. • The American Red Cross is accepting donations designated "Bali Bomb Relief." They may be sent to: American Red Cross • The Bali Hati Project is a nonprofit foundation registered in the United States and Sweden and recommended by an expatriate organization in Bali. The foundation has set up a relief fund for injured Balinese and their families. Checks should be made to The Bali Hati Foundation, designated "Relief Fund," and mailed to: Max Llyod Donations will be forwarded to the National Heritage Foundation and wired directly to the Bali Hati Foundation in Bali. Inquiries about the Bali Hati Project may be made to: Bali Hati Project E-mail: balihati@dps.mega.net.id
Tortured expressions marked the faces of relatives searching for news of the missing after the Oct. 12 terror attack. Ground Zero was littered with photographs, flowers and ink-smeared notes. The newspapers carried a growing list of the dead. With time, they were accompanied by photos and stories of deserted tourist destinations, empty streets and growing legions of the unemployed.
How to help Bali victims
International Response Fund
PO Box 37243
Washington, DC 20013
(800) 435-7669
Bali Hati Foundation 401 El Caminito
Carmel Valley, CA 93924
P.O. Box 142
Ubud, Bali
Indonesia 80571
Fax: (62-361) 974672
Tel: (62-361) 977-576 or 977-578
Bali is an island in Indonesia, not part of one of the wealthiest, strongest nations in the world. The economic devastation is more likely to linger, according to those who live or work there. The care available to injured Balinese is a far cry from that offered in the United States.
Dyan D'emidio, who owns Necessories Boutique in Pa'ia on Maui, travels to Bali three or four times a year on business.
"The thing with Bali is that it is solely, solely dependent on tourism," she said. "Now that no one is flying in, there is nothing for them."
More than 350,000 jobs were lost in the first 2 1/2 weeks after the attacks, according to English-language newspapers in Indonesia.
D'emidio said she had stopped by a local hotel the following morning and learned they had logged 300 cancellations in the first hours after the bombings.
"No more guests," a Balinese taxi driver told The Jakarta Post. "No more rice on the table."
Hotel occupancy fell from 70 percent on Oct. 12 to 38 percent on Oct. 18, according to the Bali Tourism Office. Foreign tourists left in droves, and most Western nations issued advisories warning against travel to the area.
D'emidio was there during the attacks. She and many others — expatriate business men and women and their Balinese neighbors — found themselves drifting toward the hospital the next day.
"It was absolute chaos," D'emidio said. "There were no supplies, there was nothing. We wouldn't be prepared for something like that here in Maui, either, but in Bali they weren't even close."
D'emidio and her friend, Canadian businesswoman Annie Faye, found themselves on the makeshift burn ward.
"There were no fans or air conditioners," D'emidio said. "It was 100 degrees outside. The air was very polluted and the windows were open. All those open wounds, and dust and dirt just flying in."
"One of the jobs was to fan people," she said. "Just stand there next to them and fan them."
Bruce Lagareta, whose Manoa Marketplace business East of Java frequently takes him to Bali, said some of his friends there wrote long e-mail accounts of volunteer work in the morgue. He told similar stories of making do with limited resources.
Many of the more than 180 people killed and 300 injured were foreigners, and about 200 were Balinese. The foreigners were flown home for burial or extended medical care. The Balinese — mostly Hindu with a spattering of Muslim and Christians — were left to deal with the sweltering burn ward and tables empty of rice.
Some foreign business owners are trying to hold on, Faye said, but the failing economy is adding pressures they hadn't anticipated as panicked creditors demand immediate cash payments. Others were forced to close their doors, sometimes forking over handfuls of cash to feed their employees a little while longer.
D'emidio said Bali needs trained medical professionals to assist in hospitals and clinics. She, Lagareta and Faye said foreign visitors would have to return before Bali's economic ills can be cured.
