Mbah Rejo Dimulyo had lost his wife and his home in one fell swoop.

The 78-year old resident of Yogyakarta was left distraught after the earthquake that hit this Indonesian city on 27th of May 2006, leaving around 1.5 million people homeless.

It was just like any other Saturday morning in Dusun Karet, Desa Pleret, south of Yogyakarta when Dimulyo's wife, Mbah Paijah was walking to the back of her house to collect some woods for her stove. As she was walking on the path beside her house, the quake, which registered 5.9 on the Richter scale, struck the island of Java, bringing down a white cement wall, severely injuring the 64-year old Mbah Paijan.

The quake left their mentally challenged daughter Siti buried up to her chest in the ruins of their house. Mbah Rejo Dimulyo was panicking, he screamed for help, but people were busy saving their own families. After almost an hour, finally some of his neighbours came to help Siti and to take Mbah Paijah to the hospital.

Mbah Paijah was hospitalised for three days before she passed away.

While he was still mourning on the death of his wife, Dimulyo had to come back to his scattered home, which could no longer be used as a shelter for his family. Help came in the form of an emergency tent, where Dimulyo and his family had to live for all of four months.

Muslim Aid has helped to built temporary shelters for earthquake victims in Yogyakarta, and Mbah Rejo Dimulyo's family is one of them. Now, Dimulyo has retired from his job as a farmer, and he is living in a bamboo temporary shelter with his daughters, Siti and Muntiasih, who are both in their twenties.

He is thankful to Muslim Aid for helping his family.

"I am too old now, I can't even provide money for my family as I don't have a job, let alone building a house", says Mbah Rejo Dimulyo.

So far Muslim Aid has helped build 391 temporary shelters, 20 permanent houses and rebuilt an orphanage.

"Together with the people of Yogyakarta, the government and the other supporting agencies, we are determined to help build a better Yogyakarta," says Akhyari Hananto, Coordinator of Muslim Aid Yogyakarta.

The family of Mbah Rejo Dimulyo is now being supported by Muntiasih's husband, who works as a carpenter.

"It's not much, just enough to buy rice and we can eat it with salt", he says.

But it is much better than the life he had right after the earthquake.

(ENDS)