PUBLISHED January 4th, 2019 05:00 am
It’s been over three months since Sulawesi was hit by a massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake, one that triggered a cascade of disasters. A deadly tsunami and widespread soil liquefactions buried over two thousand people and displaced thousands more, and even now, people would fall into liquified soil that has yet to settle. And yes, they need all the help they can get.
In October, a group of humanitarians from the Muslim Youth Forum and Back2Basics (a social service that provides basic needs to under privileged families in Singapore) made their way down to the Indonesian island to help.
One of them, Nabilah Isaman, captured the effects of the catastrophe firsthand through her lens, which led to a two-month long photography exhibition titled The Forgotten City.
The showcase, which runs until the end of January in the Kampong Glam district, comes as part of #SaveSulawesi, a campaign that saw several food drives and a spoken word night by poets like Nur Linnawati and Jedidiah. The Back2Basics team is currently hosting private tours of the exhibition, which takes you through two rooms filled with poignant photos of the city of Palu – ground zero.
One image shows a man gazing out into the field after losing his family. “When I met him, he was just looking at the village and reminiscing about what happened”, Nabilah explains. There are also several of kids playing, eating, and just standing.
But the exhibition is less about devastation than it is about hope. Want to rack up karma points for the rest of the year? You can contribute any amount on LaunchGood for medical supplies, food, as well as shelter for survivors. As a guide, $50 can feed a family of five for a month, while $200 will pay for important medical aid, check ups, and trauma healing equipment. Back2Basics is also selling metal straw sets for $15, with proceeds going directly to Gerak Bareng, an Indonesian community group and one of the first responders during the disaster.
The Forgotten City runs from now to 31 January 2019 at 38 Kandahar Street. For a private tour of the exhibition, drop a message on the Back2Basics Facebook page.