Disaster Education and Solar Kits at Bali Evacuation Camps
Updated: Aug 3
In 2017, Bali's highest and most sacred mountain began to erupt. The eruption of Mount Agung, whose name means "Paramount," forced over 100,000 people to leave their homes and stay in evacuation centres to avoid the hazards of further impending eruptions.
A grassroots initiative called Mount Agung Relief (MAR) was formed to respond to evacuee needs, which Alam Santi co-founder Petra Schneider helped to coordinate. This film showcases work supported by MAR, where Alam Santi co-founder Gede Sugiartha distributed MySundaya solar kits combined with disaster risk reduction education to thousands of evacuees.
The response reached well beyond distributing equipment. Alongside the solar kits, the team ran hands-on sessions in evacuation camps and nearby schools, teaching children the early warning signs of volcanic activity and the correct response when an eruption occurs, using books, floor mats and interactive games to keep the material accessible even to very young children. In the camps themselves, briefings for adults covered the same ground: what to watch for, what to do, and how to keep families safe while displaced from home for an uncertain length of time.
In evacuation centres without reliable power, solar kits like these did more than provide light: they kept phones charged for contacting family, powered small televisions for information updates, and gave camp organisers a reliable way to run evening sessions after dark.
This work reflects a broader principle behind Alam Santi's disaster response: practical tools and community education work best together. Clean energy access solves an immediate, physical problem. Disaster risk reduction education solves a longer-term one, building the knowledge that keeps communities safer the next time a crisis hits. Delivered side by side, as they were across the Mount Agung evacuation camps, they reinforce each other rather than competing for attention.