ACT Alliance Indonesia Members: Preparing Communities to Respond Better to Disasters – Indonesia

The ACT Alliance supported communities affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in September 2018 through its members in Indonesia. Two years later, we went back to the people we helped to see how they had recovered.

The 7.5-magnitude earthquake in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia had dire consequences, as it also triggered tsunamis that struck the regional capital, Palu. More than 4,300 people were killed, more than 200,000 were displaced and nearly 70,000 homes were destroyed. Numerous shops and other small businesses as well as the family farms’ irrigation systems were destroyed, causing countless families to lose their income.

Members of the ACT Alliance, Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU), the Indonesian Christian Association for Health Services (ICAHS / PELKESI) and the World Church Service (CWS), together with their coordinating partners, respond through the ACT Appeal, targeting 100,000 vulnerable people affected by the earthquake and tsunami . The three organizations supported the Sigi region in Central Sulawesi, which witnessed one of the largest casualties due to mud flows and liquefaction after the earthquake. Several aftershocks destroyed more buildings and homes, causing more people to be displaced.

More independence for people with disabilities

One ACT Alliance-supported person in the Sigi area is Sudirman (pictured above at right), a man who has lived in Ngatabaru his entire life and is paralyzed from the waist down. He can inspire you with stories of his adventures as a tourist driver before his illness made it impossible for him to drive again six years ago. After that, it was difficult for Sudirman to move around his house – even going to the toilet alone was an ordeal. He needed a guard all the time.

Sudirman’s home was damaged by the earthquake and he and his family were forced to live in a part of it that is relatively safe for them. YEU organized workers to help them build a new home specially designed for people with disabilities. Help Sudirman and his wife oversee the work and choose the materials to be used. With support from YEU, they can also learn new skills and earn some income while it used to be difficult to find work. His new home allowed Suderman to move better, making him more independent. On YEU training courses, he and his family learned more about how to manage his health issues. The house was completed in April 2019 and has been living there ever since. “I can now do things on my own without needing someone to take care of me all day, as I can move around the house without assistance. My family also knows how they can better support me while also enjoying their own life,” he says.

Emphasis on infrastructure as well as psychological aspects

Disasters often leave people in shock as they have to deal with their losses and recover from the fear they were exposed to. YEU has trained schools and communities in psychosocial care and support while ensuring a safe space and a protected environment at the same time to develop, learn, play and build resilience.

The CWS provided water tanks and potable water during the first days after the disaster in Sigi as they worked as well as the government to repair pipelines and improve water supplies in the villages. The organization also supported local communities to set up water management committees so that people could manage the water system themselves when the project ended. “We now have enough clean water, without having to worry about where to get it. Better yet, we manage the water system ourselves, so we know that when something goes wrong, we can fix it,” says Badrun, a committee member in Sikara village. Tobata, Donggala region.

Ensuring health services

Masliya, a village health cadre from Inoue, Dongala, received training and health support from PELKESI that she has been grateful to since her health clinic closed for several months after the disaster. PELKESI mobile clinics with volunteer doctors and nurses provided health services during this period, while government health clinics were unable to do so as the staff themselves were affected by the disaster. Health workers and villagers in areas where PELKESI became active after the disaster learned traditional health techniques, acupressure, and herbal medicines using local resources. Mothers were also taught how to cook with local foods and herbal drinks from plants they used to think of as useless or weed, which can be found in their backyards.

PELKESI assisted health personnel in obtaining an official policy and budget for providing supplementary food to infants and young children in ten villages (Simoru, Tuva, Cibalaya Utara, Sibalaya Barat, Pantuloan, Paya, Ino, Lero Tatari, Desa Wani Sato, Desa Wani Dua) ​​through a grant the village. Before the earthquake and tsunami, only two villages were offering extra food cost for children. Now, through many discussions between health personnel and host governments, all ten villages have policies to provide a budget for supplementary foods for children. This achievement is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New sources of income

New ways of making a living had to be found after the disasters. Johannes Rompuy a year ago was able to grow corn, peppers and other vegetables thanks to the irrigation available for crops from a new well built by CWS. He has now managed to harvest a crop to feed himself and his family

Besides facilitating agriculture by building or recreating irrigation systems, CWS and its partners have also gathered new ideas from community members to restore or create livelihood opportunities. These initiatives were launched months before the outbreak of COVID-19, but later also helped people bypass the lockdown. By introducing relevant safety measures, people can still operate their local stalls, do raising and drying fish, grind brown sugar, and produce snacks and coconut oil for home use. “We learned how important it is to think of alternative ways to process and sell our local products. Why not do something new with it?” Says Mirnawati from Lende Tovea Village, Donggala County.

How has COVID-19 changed the situation?

Given the pandemic at the start of 2020, humanitarian response activities that were nearing completion had to be slowed or adapted. Priority should be given to preventive education, printing and distributing educational materials for families, leading public education and sharing correct information about the virus. ACT members adhere to the health protocol as required in all of our interventions through many procedures; Do local radio broadcasts in Palu, introduced safety measures to staff and visitors in hospitals, active on social media, and distributed face masks to vulnerable groups (the elderly, people with disabilities and children). Although having to deal with COVID-19 presents an additional challenge to respond to disasters, members of the ACT Alliance are optimistic that they will reach the appeal targets in the coming months.

What is needed for the future is educating communities about the importance of growing vegetables and fruits for food security, health training and hygiene promotion to prevent local transmission of the virus, ensuring permanent safe water (water networks fed by gravity and wells), livelihood support for small and medium enterprises (including businesses from Home) and community disaster preparedness initiatives.

Photos: Yakkum YEU Emergency Unit

You can find the infographic in high resolution here.

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