The Haze

With the dry season well upon us and lasting a long time, the haze has set in. This is annual occurrence here in Indonesia, as land and jungle is burned for planting. In the not so distant past it was mostly famers who used this method to clear small areas of land but in more recent years with the money to be made with palm oil tree plantations and other cash crops, large portions of land are being cleared and burned each year. For several years now this has caused numerous problems with the air quality both here in Indonesia but also in neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore. For the most part those who use this illegal method have not been punished and it is just something we all have to deal with. Partially, because while it is the local people starting the fires they are under intense pressure to clear the land by the owners, many of which live in big cities on other islands and even other countries.

This year though the dry season has lasted longer and the haze has reached extremely high levels, affecting the health of many. Here in Indonesia kids don't get snow days but instead smoke days off from school. There have been several reports of people, especially children, dying because the smoke causes an asthma attack or pneumonia. Our hospital here has seen a large increased in lung infections and asthma. Airports are also closed for much of the day, causing problems. Plus of course this only increases the rate of deforestation.

Here are a few pictures to illustrate what is happening:

Air Quality (or lack thereof!) in our nearby city of Pontianak. Anything above 350 is considered dangerous. Other cities in Indonesia are even higher. In comparison for those in the Northwest, on this same scale your air quality this summer at the peak of your forest fires was mostly between 150-350. 

The view from my house on a normal day

The view from my house on a smokey day. You can barely see across the soccer field. 

But at least we know how to poke fun at ourselves too. This comic has been making its way around social media lately. You are looking at the flags for Indonesia (right), Malaysia & Singapore (left). Indonesia recently celebrated its 70th birthday and apparently they all got together to celebrate...

Please join us in praying for rain, for those responsible to be held accountable, and for the health of all affected by the haze.

For those interested, you can read more here:
A good basic article on what is happening here.
And an article on the arrest of some of the executives here: