Sustaining the `Happy Stage` Post Disaster Social Conflict by the Village Youth

There was a heavy earthquake struck Yogyakarta Special Province, Indonesia, in May 2006. Lots of national and international aid came and resulting of social conflict in the affected area due to perceived distribution injustice. Together with the villagers on the South side of Yogyakarta, we developed a ‘happy stage’. This was a physical and psycho-social stage where the community members may use it to reflect the village social situation after the disaster. In 2007, the first author and her previous team facilitated the villagers to revive an abandoned traditional play to reflect the village situation before, during, after the disaster and the covered social conflict, followed by reconciliation. After 10 years, we evaluate the impact of the stage. Method used in the ongoing study is participatory action research design. In July 2017, we started to visit the village again. We did participatory observation by staying there for a week. We interviewed some community members about the social situation in the village followed by Focus Group Discussions with the seniors and juniors about the usage of the stage. The seniors decided to retain the traditional performance arts and the stage to the youth. We also did an online survey about their needs and their commitment to sustain the ‘happy stage’. We then facilitate the youth to plan ahead as to how to manage and preserve their commitment. Several times we did go to meet the youth and head of the village. We are still going to visit the village and discussing with the youth about the ongoing process of managing and sustaining the stage to reflect their current social situation using traditional performance arts. A complete research results will be discussed during the conference.